Miscues, Errors Cost Neligh In District Tourney

A sloppy game defensively doomed the Neligh Senior Legion baseball team as they fell to Creighton, 9-1, Sunday in the district tournament at Crofton.

​Six of Creighton's nine runs came in off of Neligh errors.  Creighton gained the early momentum with three runs in the opening frame. Bryce Zimmerer, Levi Stacken and Maguire Mackelprang each scored on a Neligh error to give Creighton a 3-0 advantage.

Neligh answered with a run in its next at bat. Following a single by Hunter Reestman, Kaleb Pofahl roped a RBI double to center, cutting the deficit to two.

The pitching and defenses took over from there. From the third inning until after the fifth, each team had one hit. Creighton's Carson Lilly and Neligh's Jayden Arehart both pitched well in relief. Lilly gave up one hit and struck out four in three innings of relief, while Arehart allowed one hit and struck out six in 3 1/3.

Creighton's defense also helped Lilly on the mound by making a few spectacular plays in the field. In the fifth, John Novicki made a diving catch to steal a hit from Cole Belitz. Noah Lilly made the catch of the game in sixth. Arehart laced a deep shot to the left field fence, but Noah Lilly tracked the ball down and made an over-the-shoulder catch to rob Arehart of a potential triple.

Creighton used its defensive momentum in the bottom of the sixth to open up the game. Noah Lilly ripped a RBI single to center to start the scoring. With the bases loaded and no outs, Stacken singled to left for a RBI and an error allowed two mores runs to score. After Stacken came around to score, another error brought in Sam VanMetre as Creighton extended its lead to eight heading into the final frame.

Neligh recorded four hits in the contest and committed five errors. Cole and Tyson Belitz, Reestman and Pofahl each singled for Neligh.

Zimmerer led Creighton with two hits and two runs scored. Stacken recorded a hit, a RBI and a run scored, while Noah Lilly had two runs batted in.

Neligh (16-2) plays Atkinson Monday at 4 p.m. with the winner playing Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Creighton (15-6) faces Hartington Monday at 7 p.m. If Creighton wins, they face the winner of Neligh and Atkinson game Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., needing to win one out of a potential two-game series.