Another Omaha sweep for Seniors

July 14--Talk about a tough act to follow.

The Columbus Cornerstone Insurance Group Seniors on Thursday night at Pawnee Park Field were coming off a doubleheader sweep of Omaha North on Wednesday and faced with the tall task of topping the previous day's heroics.

Mission: accomplished.

Columbus completed another sweep -- this one at the expense of Omaha Central -- by scores of 4-3 in the opener and 5-4 in the nightcap.

In the first game, Cole Wilcox got the ball on the mound for the home side and had a rough first inning, but escaped after allowing only a single Central run to cross the plate for a 1-0 lead for the visitors.

But Wilcox certainly settled down after that, putting up goose eggs on the scoreboard for the next four frames, which gave his teammates a chance to battle back from the early deficit.

According to Columbus head coach Cody Schilling, Wilcox bounced back well from the early bump in the road.

"Cole pitched really well," Schilling said. "He wasn't as sharp as his last outing, but he did enough to get the job done and kept us in the game until our bats came around."

Central hurler Marcos Rivera was also dealing zeros, but the home side finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth.

Jared Nitz began by reaching on an error on Central shortstop Cole Kreber, then Jacob Morse popped out to right.

However, Brent Beard -- the previous day's hitting and pitching hero -- once again came through with a double to left, scoring Nitz all the way from first and levelling the score at 1-1.

Beard alertly moved up to third on a wild pitch, then trotted home on a Derek Smejkal single to center, giving Columbus a 2-1 advantage after four innings.

Wilcox returned to the mound for the top of the fifth and allowed a one-out single to Brock Lakin, followed by a double to Brandon Anderson, but stranded both runners by striking out the final two batters of the inning.

After the home side was held scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, Wilcox got the first two outs in the top of the six before being replaced by Jake Novicki after having thrown 104 pitches on the day, striking out seven.

But, Central was able to push across a pair of markers to take 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Beard continued his torrid hitting with a leadoff double, then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Aedon Eckart, followed by a Smejkal walk.

With runners at the corners, Colby Gilson singled in Beard to tie the score at 3-3.

Trevor Kaslon then strode to the plate with runners at first and third and singled on a 2-0 pitch to chase Smejkal home, giving Columbus the lead at 4-3.

Schilling attributed his club's ability to adjust accordingly to how the game unfolded in being able to prevail.

"Our guys are learning to just go with the game," he said. "You need to be able to know when to be aggressive and when to back off and be more patient at the plate."

After having put out the fire the previous inning, Novicki retired the side in order in the seventh in closing out the victory.

Kaslon finished 4-for-4 with a triple and the game-winning RBI, while Beard went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in.

Columbus 5, Omaha Central 4

In the nightcap, the home side quickly found itself looking down the barrel of a 4-0 first-inning deficit after starter Kaslon allowed four runs on four hits and a hit batter.

However, the lanky right-hander would settle down, not allowing another run the entire rest of the game, scattering only four more hits.

Schilling said Kaslon's first-inning struggles were down to an inability to locate his pitches.

"Trevor was having a control issue in the first, whether it was due to the humidity or his grip on the ball," he said. "So, early on he was having to throw strikes when he was behind in the count. But, after that he was a real bulldog the rest of the game."

Once again, it took a while for the Columbus offense to get untracked, but when the bats finally did heat up, a pair of two-run frames in the fifth and sixth innings brought the Seniors all the way back to even the contest at 4-4.

In the fifth, Kaslon hit a fly ball with two outs which was misplayed by Central right fielder Peter Koesters, allowing Smejkal and Gilson to score the go-ahead runs to make it 4-2.

Schilling said he felt much better about his team's chances at a successful comeback after they had halved the Central advantage.

"Once we got it back to 4-2, I was feeling pretty good about it," he said. "It was just a matter of getting guys on base and we finally did."

In the top of the seventh, Kaslon hit the first batter of the frame, but then bore down and retired the next three men on only four pitches.

Only fitting it was Kaslon who would start the winning rally with a one-out double in the home half of the seventh, followed by a Logan Mueller walk, leaving runners on first and second for Nitz, who lined out to right for the second out.

Jacob Morse was next up and after falling behind 0-2, worked the count full before havoc broke out on the bases.

Kaslon and Mueller both took off on a double steal, leaving Morse with a chance to end it, which he did by sending a ground ball to shortstop which resulted in a bad throw to first, allowing Kaslon to score the winning run.

Schilling said it was about time his club was on the winning end of a walk-off.

"We've had that happen to us four of five times this season," he said. "So, we've been wondering when it was going to be our turn to win one."

Columbus (17-19) has now won five straight and will next play at Beatrice on Tuesday to close out the regular season, before going to Gretna for the area tournament on July 20-24.

Scott Akanewich is the sports editor of The Columbus Telegram. Reach him via email at [email protected].

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