SMITH CENTER - In a quick turnaround trip to Smith Center, the Blues American Legion team lost in the first round of the zone tournament to Smith County Blue Raiders, 6-5.
After an uneventful first inning with Drake Blochlinger forcing three weak contact outs, with Blochlinger and Ayden Argo getting walked, Smith County struck first in the top of the second inning with a pair of runs and three extra-base runners. The Blues tied the game in the bottom of the inning, with Carter Graham and Caleb Hansen tying the game with Maddox Frey, Gehrig Bechard, and Blochlinger getting on base in the inning.
Smith County was handed another three-up-three-down inning in the third, but the Blues could only get a pair of baserunners on with Argo and Graham. Keeping the Raiders from scoring in the third, Hansen scored again in the fourth to give the Blues the lead, 3-2, after four innings. A three-run top of the fifth inning for the Raiders gave them the 5-3 lead and control late in the game, with the Blues failing to get a run on the board in the bottom of the inning. Smith County added a critical run on errors in the top of the sixth inning to make it a 6-3 game.
After a three-up-three-down sixth inning for the Blues, it came down to the bottom of the seventh. Rush LeDuc got a leadoff walk and advanced to second on an Ayden Argo single before getting out on a fielder’s choice that got Chane Parker onto first. Both Argo and Parker scored on a Frey double, but a groundout after ended the game.
In another relocated game, which was supposed to be in Marysville but moved to Concordia due to weather, the Blues fell to Marysville 8-7 with a walk-off loss.
The Blues started strong, with Blochlinger scoring first for the Blues in the top of the first inning after getting on first on an error and being brought home by a LeDuc single. Graham also got on base with a walk. Marysville hit hard in the bottom of the first, with four runs scored to take a 4-1 lead. Hansen scored in the top of the second to make it a 4-2 game, with Braytin Hake getting to third before three straight outs left him stranded.
In the third inning, a run by Parker made it a one-score game, 4-3, with Graham and Frey in scoring position. After the Blues tied the game with an Argo run in the top of the fifth, Marysville finally got back on the board in the bottom of the inning to keep a one-run lead. The Blues took the lead for the first time of the day with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, with Gehrig Bechard and Blochlinger scoring to take a 6-5 lead. Marysville tied the game in the bottom of the seventh to force the game into extra innings.
The Blues scored in the top of the eighth thanks to a Blochlinger single and a LeDuc single that scored Blochlinger to give the Blues the 7-6 lead. Marysville responded after a quick groundout for out one, hitting back-to-back doubles to tie the game 7-7 before another hit with two outs brought the second runner home to walk it off.
