The North Platte FNBO Juniors scored in every inning except one in a double header, which they swept off McCook at Bill Wood Field on Monday.
The score was 9: 1 in both games.
“I thought we did a lot of good,” said junior coach Ryan Jones. “We’re getting better and better and learning to play the game right and it shows. McCook had some nice talents. They had some children who could hit. I was happy to win against a pretty decent team. “
North Platte (13-7) scored in the first inning of the opener when Cooper Hill sacrificed himself with a ground ball.
McCook tied the game in the second inning after a pass from Easton Geisler. But the Nationals rose again in the lower third when Geisler reached base after pitcher Kollin Werkmeister made a throwing error at first base. They extended the lead later in the inning when Tristan Beyer hit a victim fly ball to the right.
It was 4-1 in the next inning after another McCook mistake.
North Platte finished fifth. Isaac Irish scored when pitcher Bryson Gullion made a wild throw to second base to catch Kaden Thompson. Caden Joneson and Hill were then given two runs each to enforce the run rule.
The Nationals continued to take advantage of McCook’s mistake in the second game. The first run scored when Hill hit on a mistake in the first inning.
The next two runs came on the wild pitches by Layton Bortner in the second and third. Bortner was replaced by Nathaniel Miller in the third inning. Against Miller, Tyler Townsend hit a single in the middle to make it 4-0. Then, after a mistake in the shortstop, Thompson reached Gullion. Miller scored another run on a wild pitch to 6-0.
McCook came on the board in the fourth inning. But North Platte responded with three in the bottom half.
Joshua Dorwart relieved Joneson, the starting pitcher, in the fifth and he closed McCook to finish it again early.
“We’ve been pretty aggressive on the base paths,” said Jones. “We did a lot of hit and run and put a lot of pressure on their defense. It was nice to bring a few guys home every inning and take some of the pressure off our pitchers. It was nice to have a running rule in both games so we could save some pitchers. We have a double header on Wednesday and a tournament in Lincoln this weekend. “
Next, the Juniors will host a double header against Grand Island on Wednesday. “
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