Stellar Pitching Guides Neligh Seniors To 9-1 Triumph

Cole Belitz’s gem led the Neligh Legion Seniors to a 9-1 win, in five innings, over Stanton Post #88 Senior Legion Thursday at Harold Cole Memorial Field.

“Our pitching is on fire right now,” stated Neligh coach Dan Murray. “It seems like no matter who we got out there, they’re doing a really good job throwing strikes, putting the ball in play when they have to and Cole (Belitz) did an amazing job tonight. I hated to pull him, but we have to get some work on these other kids too.”

The starting pitcher cruised through the first three innings, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced.

“Strikeouts are awesome to get,” Belitz said. “There’s no pressure in throwing them out or anything. The more strikeouts we can get, the better. I was lucky they (Stanton) weren’t able to hit it today.”

Neligh took advantage of several Stanton miscues to jump out to a 4-0 lead through three innings.

After drawing a walk in the first, Cole Belitz stole third, then scored on a throwing error by the catcher for Neligh’s first run of the contest.

Hunter Charf came around to score after a wild pitch in Neligh’s next at bat.

A throwing error and wild pitch extended Neligh’s lead to four in the third.

Neligh’s offense broke through in the fourth, recording five runs on four hits. Conor Ramold ripped a two-run single up the middle, scoring Austin Rice and Kaleb Pofahl. Tyson Belitz followed with a two-run double to left, then scored on a RBI single by Jayden Arehart.

“The first three innings were a little rough hitting wise,” Tyson Belitz said. “We put the ball in play, but didn’t get very many hits. In the fourth inning, we started putting the ball in gaps and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Andrew Herley pitched the fifth inning and Stanton tallied its first hit of the contest, with two outs, on Sam Christiansen’s RBI single up the middle.

Cole Belitz picked up the win on the mound. In four innings of work, Belitz did not allow a hit, struck out seven and walked one.

“We’ve had a pretty good defense all season,” he said. “We (the pitchers) just have to put the ball over the plate. Our defense is good enough they’ll get the job done.”

Herley threw the final inning and gave up one run on one hit and struck out three.

“Andrew (Herley) came in after not throwing at all this year,” Murray said. “He did a nice job of throwing strikes and putting the ball in play.”

Neligh accounted for five hits, but took advantage of six Stanton errors to score nine runs. Arehart had a triple and a RBI single, Rice scored twice, while Tyson Belitz and Ramold each had a two-run hit.

“We got off to a slow start,” Murray said. “We should have hit the ball a little bit better from the get go. I’m a little disappointed in that and the last two games we haven’t showed up till late, but I think we’ll get it. We got districts in two weeks and we’ll be ready.”

The Neligh Seniors (11-1) wrap up the regular season Tuesday at Osmond at 7 p.m.

“We have the tougher part of the schedule coming up,” Murray said. “We need to get the bats coming alive, be consistent and make contact. We’ll be fine.”

​Stanton 0   0   0   0   1 - 1
Neligh 1   1   2   5  x  - 9
WP: Cole Belitz