Seward’s Peyton Quackenbush is congratulated by his teammates after scoring on a double in the July 17 game against Crete at Plum Creek Park in Seward.
The Seward juniors needed an extra inning July 17 to win the first game of a double header against Crete-Milford.
Seward ended up sweeping the games 9-8 and 8-0.
“It was good to see the juniors pull out wins, especially battling back in the first one,” Coach Ben Kuefner said.
Crete-Milford took an 8-7 lead in the top of the seventh, but Seward scored on a passed ball to knot the score at 8-8.
In the bottom of the eighth, Cameran Olson led off with a walk, and Dustin Hurley came in to run. Andrew Marshall was hit by a pitch and, with one out and Hurley on third after stealing the base, Dalton Leibhart doubled to center to drive in Hurley and walk off with the win.
Kuefner said Seward struggled with defense early in the game but was able to fight back.
Christian Fields led the offense with a 4-4 game, with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBIs. Leibhart was 3-5, and Olson and Derek Erickson had two hits each.
Erickson and Drew Covalt both pitched for Seward.
The momentum continued into game two, Kuefner said. Seward took a 2-0 lead after the first inning and added five runs in the third.
“We were able to hit the ball well and play good defense,” Kuefner said.
Marshall was 3-3 and Olson was 2-3 with a double and two RBIs for Seward. Isaac Spotanski pitched all five innings for the win.
“A lot had to do with our defense, too,” Kuefner said. “Errors hurt us a lot early in game one.”
The juniors (3-7) were to host Lincoln Lutheran July 21 in their only game of the week. They have three games on the schedule next week to close the season.
Seniors
The Seward seniors (5-3) were scheduled to play a double header in Fairbury July 15, but it was rained out and could not be rescheduled, Kuefner said.
The team is to play two at Waverly Wednesday, July 22, and host Waverly for two more Sunday, July 26, starting at 2 p.m. The team’s final games of the season are set for Tuesday, July 28, at home against Lincoln Lutheran starting at 5:30 p.m.
