Hastings Defeats Fremont In Exhibition "Banana Ball" Game

Rich Ray

Sodbusters- 3, Moo- 2

Hastings- (I-R-H-E): 3-6-6-0; Fremont- (I-R-H-E): 2-6-3-3

Win: Taylor Gill; Loss: Jagger Edwards; Save: Eli Merritt

HR: Hastings: None; HR: Fremont: None

Hastings, Nebraska- Plenty of fun was had Saturday night at Duncan Field as the Hastings Sodbusters defeated the Fremont Moo, 3-2, in an exhibition "Banana Ball" game.

The two teams played under the rules set forth by the World Famous traveling baseball team, "The Savannah Bananas". The objective of the game is to score more runs than the opposition in each inning. If you outscore the opponent in the inning, you win that inning, and the final score reflects the amount of innings won, not overall runs scored.

Fremont outscored Hastings in the second inning. Connor Petersen led off with a walk. When a player walks, he may advance as far as he wishes to run. The opposition must have all nine players touch the ball before the play ends. Peterson advanced to second, then Jayson Willers was hit by a pitch. Three batters later, Blake Tablazon drew a walk and in the ball distribution melee, Peterson and Willers both scored to give The Moo two runs in the inning.

In the bottom of the second, Nick Jones drew a one-out walk and Anthony Chavez reached on an error. With runners at the corners, Fremont's Tyler Harrington executed a perfect hidden ball trip, tagging out Jones for the second out. Tyler Kissler drew a walk, scoring Chavez. Moo starter Carson Jasa got Kyle Hiltbrand to bounce back to the mound for the final out of the inning. Fremont outscored Hastings, 2-1 in the inning and led the game, 1-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, Hastings tied the game. After Fremont scored a run in the top of the fourth, Tyler Welsh drew a walk and got to second on a wild pitch. Jacob Nesvara reached on an error at shortstop to bring in Welsh. Tyler Kissler reached on an error at first base to put runners at the corners. Then, Kyle Hiltbrand singled, driving in Nesvara, to give the inning to Hastings, 2-1 and tying the game at 1-1.

The Sodbusters took the lead in the game in the bottom of the fifth. Against reliever Jagger Edwards, Taylor Gill was hit by a pitch, then stole second. Two batters later, Kale Jensen hit an RBI single, scoring Gill, to give the inning to Hastings, 1-0 and the lead in the game, 2-1.

Hastings extended the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Against reliever Cole Hupke, Rusty Wortman singled. Two batters later Luke Wenzel did as well, to put runners at first and second. Wortman took off to steal third. Cole Hupke stepped off the rubber and threw to third to try to retire Wortman, but Hupke's throw sailed over the third base bag, allowing Wortman to score, giving Hastings the inning, 1-0 and the lead in the game, 3-1.

The Moo won the eighth inning. Against reliever Kale Jensen, Carter Sintek tripled with one out. Two batters later, Darius Blasingane drew a walk, and in the ball distribution, Sintek scored and Blasingane ended up at second base. Blasingane stole third, then Easton Steck walked, scoring Blasingane in the distribution, giving Fremont a 2-0 advantage in the inning. With Hastings not scoring in the bottom of the eighth, the Sodbusters lead in the game was 3-2.

In the top of the ninth, Hastings reliever Eli Merritt got Tyler Hummel to ground out to third base and Jacob Ortiz to fly out to right field. Merritt then got Carson Jasa to fly out to right field, as well, to end the game.

With the game complete, both teams played out the "Showdown" portion of the game. Both teams had a chance to bat. The format includes one batter, one pitcher, one catcher, and one fielder who has to start with his foot on second base. In Fremont's chance at the plate, Hastings' Kyle Hiltbrand got Carter Sintek to pop up to the mound for the out. In the bottom half of the "Showdown", Kyle Hiltbrand faced Fremont's pitcher, Tyler Harrington. On a 1-2 pitch, Hiltbrand singled to right, to end the "Showdown", in favor of the Sodbusters.

Hastings starter Adam Deboer pitched 4.0 innings, giving up two hits, three runs, walked four, struck out five and hit two batters. Luke Wenzel pitched 1.0 inning, striking out one. Taylor Gill, who earned the win, pitched 1.0 inning, giving up one run, walked one and struck out two. Markos Cabranes pitched 1.1 innings, giving up one run, walked one and struck out two. Kale Jensen pitched 0.2 innings, giving up one hit, two runs and walked two. Eli Merritt earned the save, pitching 1.0 inning, retiring all three batters he faced.

Fremont starter Carson Jasa pitched 4.0 innings. The Arvada, Colorado native, headed to the University of Nebraska, gave up two hits, one earned run, walked three, had one wild pitch and hit one batter. Jagger Edwards took the loss. The San Antonio, Texas native at Columbia University pitched 2.0 innings, giving up one hit, two runs, walked two and hit one batter. Cole Hupke pitched 2.0 innings. The Brandon, South Dakota native gave up four hits, one run and struck out two.

Offensively, Hastings' Kale Jensen was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hayman Zaffino drew a walk, driving in a run and Kyle Hiltbrand was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

For Fremont, Jayson Willers, the Davenport, Iowa native at Morningside University, drove in a run, with a walk , and Hunter Palmer, the St. Michael, Minnesota native at South Dakota State, was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

More Information: Saturday night's exhibition game did not count in team standings, statistics, or records for either team.

Up Next: Fremont (31-20, 14-13) will play Hastings (16-35, 10-16) in the final game of the regular season, Sunday night. First pitch at Duncan Field will be 6:35pm. Fremont will open up the Independence League Baseball Association's best-of-five Championship Series, Tuesday night. Games one and two will be at Mike Lansing Field, in Casper, Wyoming versus the Casper Spuds. Both games, Tuesday and Wednesday, August 1st and 2nd will start at 7:30pm (CT) / 6:30pm (MT). Game three and games four and five, if necessary, will be at Historic Moller Field, in Fremont, August 4th through the 6th. The Friday and Saturday times for games three and four will be 7:05pm and game five, on Sunday, August 6th, would be at 5:05pm. For tickets to the games at Historic Moller Field, August 4th, plus 5th and 6th if necessary, go to: www.fremontmoo.com/tickets or call (402)-660-1217 for more information.

On The Air: All Moo home and road games are broadcast on radio on Big Dog Country, 98.9 FM and 1340 AM, KHUB. Games can also be heard on smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices by going to: www.fremontmoo.com/mixlr. All Moo home games have live video streaming at: www.fremontmoo.com and on YouTube at: BSDN Live.

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Sports Guide to Can't-Miss Experiences Compliments of the Fremont Moo

November 21, 2024

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