Titans sit 1-1 in area tourney play, weather forces postponements

Mother Nature has been interfering with the Area 1 American Junior Legion baseball tournament.

Originally, the Tri-County Titans were slated to play Creighton/Plainview, Friday, July 7, but opening games were moved to Saturday, due to rain.

The rain delay may have worked in the Titan’s favor, as they walked away with a 7-6 win over C/P.

Coach Jeff Shabram said, “It was a complete team effort, as Ryan Rifer started on the mound, followed by Jake Schroeder and A.J. Hobbs. Wyatt Shabram came in to close out the game.”

Tri-County would score two runs in the first inning when Shabram and Rifer crossed home plate due to RBI hits by Rifer and Isaac Pavlik.

Creighton/Plainview scored one run in the second inning and three runs in the third inning before Tri-County would get on the board again.

In the fifth inning, Titan runners, Shabram and Rifer, would score again, due to a two-RBI hit by Dane Miller, to tie the game.

Creighton/Plainview scored one run in both the fifth and sixth innings.

Schroeder scored a run in the sixth inning for Tri-County. Then the huge two runs scored in the seventh by Tri-County were by Miller and Schroeder to take a one-run lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Creighton/Plainview batters would then go down 1-2-3 to end the game.

“Sound pitching, solid defensive play, timely hits and aggressive base running helped lead the charge for the Titans,” Shabram said.

On Sunday night, Tri-County played Crofton in the semifinals of the area tournament in Crofton.

Shabram said, “This night was not the Titans’ night as Crofton won big by a score of 3-18.”

Pitchers for Tri-County were Shabram, Nelson and Rogan Robertson.

Rifer scored in the first inning on an RBI hit by Miller and then in the fourth inning, Jase Kotrous scored on an RBI hit by Schroeder, followed by Schroeder scoring on a wild pitch.

“This is one of those games that a team just needs to forget about and move on to the next game,” Shabram said.

Originally, the Titans were scheduled to meet Hartington, Monday, in the double-elimination tournament.

Mother Nature had other plans, bringing a deluge of rain and severe weather to the area.

At press time on Tuesday, the Titans were slated to play Hartington. A win would send the Titans to another contest against Crofton.

Results are available on SAM social media channels and website.