Prospects come up short in area world series

The 2024 Fall League Baseball season came to an end Sunday, Oct. 6 with the championship round of the Sioux City Area World Series. The O'Neill Area Prospects entered the semi-finals as the No. 1 seed vs. Mapleton, Iowa, in a re-match from two weeks ago. This time Mapleton had the upper hand as they defeated the Prospects. In a game that started as a good pitching and defensive battle, Mapleton was able to take advantage of some opportunities late in the game and won going away, 11-0.

The loss moved the Prospects to the third-place game vs. LeMars Gehlen. This game ended in heartbreak fashion as Gehlen won by one run in extra innings by a score of 4-3.

"The Prospects produced multiple base runners the entire game but just couldn't manage to plate all of them," said Coach Jeff Shabram. "And the pitching was top-notch as the game was tied 2-2 going into the extra inning. It was an exciting game but a tough pill to swallow when it comes right down to the end in this fashion."

The Prospects end the season as the fourth-place team in the Sioux City Area Total Baseball Development League, with a record of seven wins and three losses.

"What a wonderful season with a lot of high-quality baseball being played this fall," Shabram said.

Prospects members from the Tri-County Titans American Legion team include Wyatt Shabram, Connor Thomson, Ryan Rifer, Jake Schroeder, Jacob Pierzina, Max Bruce and Coach Jeff Shabram.

Prospects members from the O'Neill Irish American Legion team include Kol Otten, Beau Butterfield, Nate Brown, James Eby, Daniel Kluver and coaches Mark Otten and Steve Brown.

Shabram said the players and coaches would like to thank the families and fans of these players for the support all fall.

"This is a special group of boys who love playing baseball so much that they just couldn't stop after the summer season and they put together a storybook 2024 fall season that was a lot of fun to be a part of."