It was the kind of game you hope will make you better. The Malcolm senior legion baseball team spent last weekend in Grand Island, playing five games in the uSave Invitational. Only one of the five games was really competitive. It was the only one Malcolm lost.
Even with a complete game, two hit, 10 strikeout performance on the mound from Connor Zegar, Malcolm was unable to generate the offense needed to get the win as the host team escaped with a 1-0 victory.
“Connor threw a gem,” Malcolm head coach Bradon Rieschick said. “He was in control the whole time.”
Grand Island’s lone run came after Evan Gydesen was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the fifth. A sacrifice bunt and a ground out moved him to third base to make way for a Carter Wald infield hit to bring Gydesen home.
“It’s tough to lose a game like that on an infield single,” Rieschick said. “Especially when it’s only their second hit of the game.”
Gydesen was equally impressive on the mound as he allowed just three hits while shutting out Malcolm.
“We didn’t swing it well,” Rieschick said. “About half of our outs were fly balls. It’s tough to beat a good team when you don’t make good contact.”
The one-run loss was the lone low-point in an otherwise solid week for a team that has struggled to get games in due to rainy weather. To go 4-1 at the tournament and pick up a midweek win over Ashland on June 22 shows the team is getting primed for a postseason run.
“I really wanted to see how we could handle five games in three days,” Rieschick said. “We learned a lot about our pitching depth. We played a lot of games in a short period of time and discovered plenty about ourselves as a team.”
Malcolm picked up wins against Kearney Jersey’s (11-0), Sheridan County (12-0), Geneva (12-7) and Minden (7-3) to make it a 4-1 weekend. The seniors also earned a 10-1 win at Ashland on June 22.
Frank put up impressive numbers during the week. The senior-to-be hit .471 while driving in six runs. Mason Wisnieski posted a .533 slugging percentage and a .922 OPS while hitting a double and a home run with four RBIs.
Zegar led the pitching staff last week with 9 1/3 innings pitched, allowing just one earned run and fanning 12 batters. Wisnieski tossed 6 2/3 innings while striking out 10 batters and allowing no earned runs. Maddox Meyer recorded five strikeouts in five innings without allowing a run.
“I couldn’t be happier with our pitching staff,” Rieschick said. “Our starting pitching was really good, and the bullpen guys stepped in when we needed to shut things down. We have the arms to make a deep run in the postseason.”
The Malcolm juniors picked up an 11-1 win over Adams on June 21 before running out of time at Ashland the next night in a game that ended in a 7-7 tie.
The Malcom seniors (12-2) and juniors (12-0-2) have a full week planned with games at Beatrice on June 28 before hosting Elmwood-Murdock-Nehawka on Wednesday, June 29. Malcolm will host host Utica/Beaver Crossing/Friend Friday, July 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and Syracuse on Sunday, July 3, starting at 3 p.m.
“Beatrice is always stout,” Rieschick said. “Chris (Belding) does a great job with his teams. It’ll be a good test for us with only one day off. Both of our teams will learn more about ourselves. We have a challenging week ahead.”
