Titans defeat Stanton, lose close game to Irish

SUBMITTED ARTICLE

The Tri-County Titans traveled to Stanton Tuesday, May 30, for American Legion baseball action. Tri-County came home with the win, 14-9.

Starting pitcher for the Titans was Ryan Rifer. He allowed six runs in three innings while striking out four. Wyatt Shabram came in for the save, allowing three runs and striking out seven Stanton batters.

The game was tight through four innings. Both teams scored three runs in the first inning. Tri-County runs were scored by Connor Thomson, Shabram and Rifer.

Then, in the second inning, the Titans only scored one run when Kaiden Bauer crossed home plate, while Stanton would score three on a "monster three-run homerun," according to Coach Jeff Shabram.

Tri-County's Jase Kotrous scored the lone run in the third inning. Stanton was held scoreless. In the fourth inning Tri-County failed to score, but Stanton extended its lead to 8-5 after plating two more runs.

Then the Titan bats came alive in the fifth and sixth innings.

"For the entire game, Tri-County did an excellent job of putting the ball in play, but for the first four innings, most of those hits were either deep flyouts or hard-hit groundouts," Shabram said.

Isaac Pavlik, Kotrous and Landon Nelson scored runs in the fifth inning. A.J. Hobbs, Jake Schroeder, Pavlik, Landon McAllister, Thomson and Shabram scored the sixth-inning runs.

Stanton was held to only three baserunners and one run over the final two innings.

The Titan defense shook off some early errors to finish the game strong. Dane Miller was the utility man in the infield patrolling third base along with shortstop.

"Riley Saul played an outstanding first base, along with a clutch hit later in the game to start the scoring spree," Shabram said. "Hobbs caught an outstanding game behind the plate."

Young outfielders Rogan Robertson and Landon Nelson earned some valuable playing experience.

Final RBI totals include Thomson, three; Shabram, three; Rifer, three; Miller, one; Schroeder, one; Pavlik, two; and Nelson, one.

Titans versus Irish

The Titans traveled to O'Neill, Friday, June 2, to play the O'Neill/Neligh Irish.

Shabram said, "It was a very well-played baseball game with highlights by both teams, but in the end, O'Neill/Neligh came away with the win, 3-1."

Rifer started on the mound for the Titans and threw a no-hitter with three strikeouts through the first three innings. But, he was forced to come out in the fourth inning due to his pitch count and the upcoming two-day Pender tournament.

"He was helped by stellar defensive play and catcher A.J. Hobbs calling a solid game behind the plate, which continued into the upcoming innings," Shabram said.

McAllister came in relief for the next two innings, allowing just two runs while striking out two.

"Landon did a marvelous job getting out of some tough bases loaded jams," Shabram said.

Thomson then came in for the final inning, striking out two batters and allowing one run.

Between solid pitching and some clutch defensive baseball plays, the Titans held some of the Irish big hitters in check.

Shabram said offensively, this game was about Tri-County doing a fine job putting the ball in play.

"But many times, the Irish defense was positioned just right to get the out. When we did get runners on base and advance them into scoring position, too many times we would leave the runners on base to end the inning, and that cost us in the end," Shabram said.

Pavlik had the lone Titan RBI single in the sixth inning, scoring Miller. Getting safely on base were Thomson, a walk and one base; Shabram, one base; Rifer, one base; Miller, two walks and one base and Pavlik, a walk and one base.