Titans play final games of inaugural season

In the final night of junior Legion baseball for the 2022 season, Ainsworth traveled to Orchard to battle the Tri-County Titans in double-header action. It was a beautiful night for baseball and two very exciting games were played, according to Coach Jeff Shabram.

In the first game, Tri-County lost a heart pounder, 5-9, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom half of the last inning.

Starting pitcher for the Titans was Landon McAllister, with Wyatt Shabram and William Drobny pitching in relief. Runs were scored by Dane Miller, William Drobny, Riley Saul, Isaac Pavlik and Landon McAllister.

"The four runs scored in the final inning made things interesting, but then the top of the order came up and just managed to hit the ball right to the Ainsworth defenders, leaving the bases loaded to end the game," Shabram said.

Box score...

Tri-County 1 0 0 0 4 = 5

Ainsworth 0 0 2 2 5 = 9

"The second game was filled with even more excitement, as the baseball crowd got their money's worth with an extra-inning thriller," Shabram added.

When all the dust settled, Tri-County was just edged out, 7-8, by Ainsworth.

According to Shabram, it was a back-and-forth game with exciting baseball played by both teams.

"Opportune runs and lock-down defense in crucial situations was the theme of this game."

Wyatt Shabram was the starting pitcher for this game, with McAllister and Drobny pitching in relief.

Tri-County held the slim 1-0 lead, after a Connor Thomson RBI scoring Shabram, into the third inning, but Ainsworth's three runs came in a hurry.

Then, the Titan pitching kicked in and held Ainsworth from scoring again, leaving the bases loaded.

Tri-County's bats came alive in the bottom of the third on runs scored by Dane Miller and Wyatt Shabram, due to RBI hits by Thomson and Drobny.

Ainsworth scored three more runs in the next inning, only to be matched by the Titan's three runs in the bottom of the inning, scored by Keenan McAllister, Dontae Justo and Kaiden Bauer. Those runs were batted in by Joseph Pavelka and Shabram.

Connor Thomson added a run in the next inning to match the one Ainsworth run, sending the game into extra innings.

In that extra inning, "brilliant defense" was played by Dontae Justo, chasing down two deep fly balls to centerfield for flyouts.

"Overall the defense made so many crucial outs that game, and it was fun to see our efforts really come together, displaying high quality baseball," Shabram said.

Ainsworth would add one run in that extra inning. Tri-County wound up ending the game with a tagout at home plate.

"We were that close," Shabram said.

Box score...

Tri-County 1 0 2 3 1 0 = 7

Ainsworth 0 0 3 3 1 1 = 8

Shabram said, "Great job, boys, on a fun night of baseball. Everyone has witnessed our progress throughout the season, and we did make huge strides in our success on the field. It was also an extremely satisfying inaugural season of Tri-County junior Legion baseball. These boys practiced hard and played the games hard. It was a fun first season and everyone is looking forward to next season. The future looks very bright for Titan baseball."

According to the coach, the season was made possible on several fronts. Orchard American Legion Post #136 sponsored the baseball team this season.

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, all other family members, friends, neighbors and baseball fans from all communities where players reside were strong supporters of the Titans.

"The towns of Orchard, Page, Ewing, Verdigre, Niobrara, Center, and Bloomfield really came through in support of our team. And it was awesome to witness," Shabram said.

Plans for the 2023 season are underway.