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The Weimar Wildcats varsity baseball team needed extra innings to secure their Bi-District Championship and move on to the Area round of the postseason. After a blowout victory to start the series, the Wildcats got into a dogfight with the Falls City Beavers in the following games as they dropped a close one in game two and needed 11 innings to decide the victor in a decisive game three. The Bi-District Champions will move on to face Skidmore-Tynan at Yoakum High School starting on Friday, May 12 at 7 pm. Game two and, if necessary, game three will be the following day with action starting at 2 pm.
Game 1, W, 8-3
The Wildcats had a strong start against the Beavers as they came out with an impressive offensive outing. Weimar found success getting runners on base and bringing them home with some timely swings and big hits. Derek Rees had the biggest hit of the game as he knocked out a solo homer with one of his three hits in the game. Fellow senior, Brady Henke, also made an impact by picking up a hit and reaching base two other times on walks conceded by the opposing pitchers.
Henke also made an impact on the mound as he played a full game to get the Wildcats’ postseason run started. He struck out nine batters and walked just two as he limited the success Falls City found at the plate. Weimar’s defense picked up the rest of the slack as they prevented six hits from turning into runs for the Falls City offense.
Game 2, L, 4-3
Falls City took the second game of the series after taking advantage of a Weimar defense that did not have the same effectiveness from the prior game. The offense for Weimar also lost a little bit of juice overnight as they could not find the same success they did in their eight-run game one. Wyatt Lacina and Clayton Zinnante still managed to have strong hitting performances individually. Lacina went 3-for-4 in the game while Zinnante went 2-for-4 including a big hit for a double.
Huxton Kloesel and Camden Morrison combined on the mound to hold Falls City to less hits than they had in the previous game. They also combined for seven strikeouts on the Beaver batters. However, Falls City had a much better game on the base path and found the timely hits they were lacking in game one to tie the series at one game apiece.
Game 3, W, 4-3
The series finale was as tight as a game could be as the teams needed much more than the standard seven innings to decide a winner. After building up an early lead, the Beavers brought things back to tie the game at three runs apiece after the sixth inning. Both teams played a scoreless seventh, sending the clinching game into extra innings. With the game extended, both teams locked in with extra focus on the defensive end as they played scoreless baseball for the next three innings. The deciding factor came in the 11th inning in the form of Huxton Kloesel after he stole home base following an error and claimed the walk-off victory for the Wildcats.
Kloesel also contributed on the mound as he finished the game for starting pitcher Derek Rees. The duo combined for eight strikeouts as they each shared duties in the extra innings.
Offensively, the Wildcats got some big swings to create their initial lead. Wyatt Lacina knocked out Weimar’s second homerun of the postseason for two runs. Hudson Ervin and Weston Pavlik had two hits each to keep the offense humming as well.
