They scored early, but they failed to score often. After scoring two runs in the top of the first in their final game of the Thom Stallard Memorial Tournament in Crete, the Malcolm seniors gave up three unanswered in a 3-2 loss to Omaha South.
A leadoff walk for Colt Reiling and a single from Maddox Meyer set the stage for Hayden Frank to drive in Meyer with a single to left and Mason Wisnieski to bring home Meyer with a sacrifice fly.
From there, the Malcolm bats went silent as only Reiling and Logan McGreer recorded hits over the next six innings while Malcolm stranded seven base runners.
“Their pitching wasn’t overpowering but we were missing,” Malcolm coach Tanner Soderberg said. “Their catcher played this spring at York College and came back to play at Omaha South this summer. He was a difference maker.”
Omaha South used three singles in the bottom of the first to tie the game. From there, Maddox Meyer kept the South bats relatively quiet until the bottom of the sixth when a pair of singles set up the game-winning sacrifice fly. Meyer threw just 73 pitches in the complete game loss.
“Our offense didn’t help a stellar performance by Maddox,” Soderberg said. “Playing good teams like this will benefit our guys down the road.”
It was Malcolm’s only loss in the June 10-11 tournament. Malcolm opened with an 11-1 triumph over Wilber in which the top four hitters in the lineup combined for eight hits and eight runs batted win.
Wisnieski went 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs while Frank and Meyer each had a double, two hits and drove in two runs.
“The work these guys put in, it’s great to see them getting rewarded,” Soderberg said. “Our lineup knows their roles and are working at being the best in those roles.”
A thunderstorm washed out Malcolm’s second game. Derek Erickson had a no hitter going into the third inning against Lincoln Lutheran when the game was called. Malcolm was up 2-0.
“We had them on the ropes and Derek was pitching well so it would have been nice to see that one play out,” Soderberg said. “Our batters did an awesome job of having competitive at bats. We’ll see them again soon.”
Malcolm opened day two of the tournament with a 7-3 win over the host team. Carson Frank earned the win against Crete as he fanned four in four innings pitched. At the plate, the younger Frank hit a double and drove in two runs.
“With the early run support, I liked that Carson didn’t relax,” Soderberg said. “He threw his fastball with confidence and was able to get Crete swinging at pitches in pitcher counts”
On June 8, Malcolm hosted Valparaiso and ran away with a 15-1 win. Cody Sykes earned his second win of the season as he struck out three Valpo batters in three innings. Brett Rhone fanned four in two innings of relief.
Sykes helped his own cause by hitting a bases-clearing three-run triple in the bottom of the third.
The seniors opened the week with a June 6 trip to Elkhorn North to face the Class B spring state champions. Elkhorn North came out on top, 5-2. The pitchers’ duel saw Meyer strike out seven batters while Carson Ripley and Brock Marler held Malcolm to a combined two hits.
“Elkhorn North is so talented and so well coached,” Soderberg said. “Facing them made our guys focus on the little things. The margin for error is small and we did a lot of things right. But, it wasn’t enough.”
The Malcolm juniors’ lone game of the week was a quick 19-4 win over Valparaiso. With the addition of a new 15-run mercy rule, Malcolm took advantage of a 13-run bottom of the third to end the game early.
Chase Smith picked up the win, pitching all three innings and allowed four hits and three earned runs.
“Chase has made big time skill growth because of hard work and want-to,” Soderberg said. “It’s great to see our guys see the impact of hard work.”
The Malcolm seniors (7-3) will see some familiar foes this week as they face Lincoln Lutheran (9-3) Tuesday in Lincoln before heading back to Crete (1-13) on Wednesday, June 14. Malcolm will host Alliance (15-2) Thursday, June 15, at 7:30 and will travel to Syracuse (8-9) for a Saturday afternoon game June 17.
The Malcolm juniors (9-0) will also visit Lincoln Lutheran (6-7), Crete (2-6) and Syracuse (6-5) before returning to Crete for a Sunday afternoon doubleheader June 18.
