Baseball district finals roundup: Douglas County West to state for first time

Baseball district finals roundup: Douglas County West to state for first time
Omaha Roncalli pitcher Creighton Silvain goes to catcher and Noah Rheinheimer after the final out of their victory over Platteview. (World-Herald News Service)

HASTINGS, Neb. — Douglas County West beat top-seeded Hastings 6-1 in the B-1 district final to earn its first state tournament berth. The Falcons were 2-14 last season. Hastings will go to state as a wild card.

In other games:

B-3 at Hickman: Norris 8, Gretna 1: The Titans rolled to victory, earning their eighth consecutive trip to state. The Dragons finish the season 11-9.

B-4 at Omaha Skutt: Omaha Skutt 5, Elkhorn 0: Jackson Gordon struck out 11 for the SkyHawks, the defending Class B champions. The Antlers qualified for state as the second wild card.

B-5 at Wahoo: Wahoo 6, Waverly 1: Senior Chase Stebbing picked up the victory for Wahoo, which heads to state for the first time since 2013. The Vikings finish the season 17-7.

Creighton Silvain pitches Omaha Roncalli to district baseball title, first state berth since 2014

SPRINGFIELD, Neb. — Omaha Roncalli pitcher Creighton Silvain proved to be too tough Monday night in the District B-6 final.

The senior tossed a two-hitter to lead the Crimson Pride to a 5-1 win over host Platteview. The victory boosts Roncalli into the state tournament for the first time since 2014 and ended the season for the Trojans.

“Their guy did a great job,’’ Platteview coach Bryan Dutcher said. “He kept us off balance all night.’’

Silvain said he was able to keep the Trojans guessing with his off-speed pitches.

“They were working tonight,’’ he said. “And the defense made some really good plays behind me.’’

After a scoreless first, the Crimson Pride went ahead in the second. Ethan Tyrakoski belted a two-out double to left center and came home on an RBI single by Nate Gorczyca.

Roncalli made it 2-0 in the third when Alex Rodgers walked and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan McGill.

Platteview scored its lone run in the third when Nathan Michaels scored on an RBI groundout by Hunter Babe. The Trojans had another runner reach third but he was stranded when Jordan Mathewson struck out.

“To only give up one that inning was pretty big,’’ Roncalli coach Jake Hoover said. “Creighton was fighting his control a little bit early but then he hit his stride.’’

The Crimson Pride tacked on two runs in the fourth, extending their lead to 4-1. Dave Mordeson scored on an RBI single by Justin Niederle and Rodgers then delivered a run-scoring single.

Roncalli closed the scoring in the seventh when Rodgers walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tommy Alitz. Rodgers, who has been offered a baseball scholarship by Nebraska, had two hits and scored twice.

Silvain finished off his complete game by striking out Michaels to end it.

“We didn’t think about anything but winning this game,’’ Silvain said. “I’ve never been to state in the spring so I’m really looking forward to it.’’

Dutcher said he was proud of his team, which finished the season 15-5.

“By far this is the best season we’ve ever had,’’ he said. “With the camaraderie and the chemistry, this was a special group.’’

Omaha Roncalli (14-4)….011 200 1 – 5 7 2

Platteview (15-5)…………001 000 0 – 1 2 3

W: Silvain. L: Roesler. 2B: OR, Tyrakoski.

Omaha Concordia reaches state baseball for first time with dominant win over Ralston

Since starting its baseball program five years ago, Omaha Concordia has been knocking on the door.

On Monday, the Mustangs finally marched on through.

After being district runner-up the past four years, Concordia reached the Class B state tournament for the first time with a 10-0 win over Ralston at the Omaha Home for Boys field. The game ended after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Concordia coach Dan Kraft said. “From Day 1, we had the goal that we were going to host (districts) and then we had the goal at making it to state. And we accomplished all of that.

“I give a ton of credit to our kids. They were on a mission and they got it done today.”

Concordia and Ralston split a pair of one-run regular-season meetings during a three-day span in April.

But Monday, the Mustangs grabbed the momentum early and never let go of it.

“We had it all clicking today,” Kraft said. “I’ve been telling them we’re capable of things like that and we showed it at the right time.”

It started on the mound where the team’s ace, lefty Buck Leinen, tossed a three-hitter. He retired eight batters in a row in the middle of the game.

Leinen pitched with the lead from the start as Concordia came through in early two-out situations.

In the first, Grant Meyer bounced a two-run single into center, then Tony Bellus lined an RBI single to center for a 3-0 lead.

Concordia tacked on two in the second as Braden Olson had a two-out RBI single, then the Mustangs put the game away with four runs in the third. Jack Torosian had a run-scoring single and Coleton Kanzmeier added a two-run ground-rule double. Concordia ended the game in the fifth when pinch hitter Damon Kissell rolled an RBI single to right.

In all, the Mustangs scored nine of their runs with two outs. Torosian, Bellus, Meyer and Ryan Ehresman finished with two hits apiece.

“I was really happy with our two-strike approach,” Kraft said.

Concordia (14-5) opens the state tournament at Lincoln’s Sherman Field against Omaha Roncalli at 4 p.m. Saturday. Ralston, which was looking for its first state berth since 2011, ends its season 11-13.

Ralston (11-13)……………….000  00 — 0  3  1

Omaha Concordia (14-5)…..324  01 — 10  13  0

W: Buck Leinen. L: Nathan Sailors. 2B: R, Nicholas Wilke; OC, Coleton Kanzmeier.

Official first-round state tournament pairings:

CLASS A

Saturday at Werner Park: No. 1 seed Omaha Creighton Prep (22-4) vs. No. 8 Lincoln Southeast (15-7), 10 a.m. No. 4 Omaha Burke (23-5) vs. No. 5 Lincoln Southwest (23-6), 1 p.m. No. 3 Millard West (19-7) vs. No. 6 Elkhorn South (19-8), 4 p.m. No. 2 Millard South (25-4) vs. No. 7 Grand Island (20-7), 7 p.m.

CLASS B

Saturday at Sherman Field: No. 1 seed Wahoo (16-4) vs. No. 8 Douglas County West (10-5), 10 a.m. No. 4 Norris (18-6) vs. Hastings (15-5), 1 p.m. No. 3 Omaha Roncalli (14-4) vs. No. 6 Omaha Concordia (14-5), 4 p.m. No. 2 Omaha Skutt (17-5) vs. No. 7 Elkhorn (18-9), 7 p.m.

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