Columbus Seniors start slow, fall to Bellevue West 6-3

July 26--OMAHA -- After battling their way through the loser's bracket to win their district, the Columbus Seniors came out slow in an opening-round state-tournament loss.

The Columbus Cornerstone Insurance Group Seniors American Legion baseball team fell to Bellevue West 6-3 Saturday at Omaha Westside's all-turf field.

Bellevue West hit the ball well in the early innings to take a 4-0 lead, while the Seniors struggled to string together hits for the majority of the game.

"It's tough when you come out and compete hard and lose a game," Seniors head coach Tom Keiser said. "The biggest thing we're probably frustrated with is the fact that we didn't play particularly sharp till about halfway through the game. When you do that in a situation like this, it's generally not going to turn out very well for you."

The Seniors threatened in the top of the first, but they left two men on base with no runs scored after Blake Bubak was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice. Columbus didn't get a run home until the sixth inning.

Bellevue West's Christian Dumont scored Braden Madsen on a sacrifice fly after Madsen led off the first inning with stand-up triple.

In the second, Kenny Allred laced a triple of his own to score Duncan O'Boyle. A fielding error cost the Seniors another run as Allred came home from third.

In the third, CJ Hlavac walked, then advanced on a balk and a fielder's choice before scoring after Allred hit a double.

Columbus turned to Tucker Ramaekers to replace starter Tyler Morton. Ramaekers and Dylan Benne were able to keep Bellevue West, for the most part, in check for the final six innings.

"I thought our relievers did an excellent job today," Kesier said. "We knew that we were going to coach things a little bit differently because we're trying to win a game at a time. We had all hands on deck and I though Tucker and Dylan did a great job coming in. It was apparent that we had to command our off-speed stuff for strikes because if we threw too many fastballs across the plate, they would make us pay."

In the sixth inning, Nathan Sliva gave the Seniors their first hit since the first. Back-to-back errors on the catcher moved Silva to third, where he scored on sacrifice fly from Ramaekers.

Another Senior run came in the seventh on a Brandon Konz sacrifice fly to score Cade Hansen.

With runners on first and third base in the eighth inning, the Seniors executed a double steal with Hansen taking second base and Ramaekers nabbing home for the their final run.

Trailing 6-3 in the ninth, the Seniors went quietly with a groundout and a pair of soft popups.

"For not playing very sharp and not having their best stuff, I thought we did a good job of trying to find ways to keep the game close and give us a chance to win at the end," Keiser said.

The Seniors' four hits were accounted for by Morton, Sliva, Hansen and Jesse Carias.

For Bellvue West, Allred was a home run away from hitting for the cycle, with three RBI's and two runs scored.

"The biggest thing is we want to come out and be ourselves," Keiser said. "We didn't look like ourselves for three or four innings. It looked weird because it hasn't happened in three or four weeks. We've just been in a good groove and a very good demeanor and a very good effort level for four weeks straight. I think we were maybe unsure in the beginning. We maybe tried to feel our way through, but you've got to be ready take some chances and jump in right away."

Columbus will play the loser of Omaha Westside vs. Elkhorn Sunday at Omaha Westside.

Saturday at Omaha Westside

Columbus 000 011 100 -- 3 4 2

Bellevue West 121 002 000 -- 6 7 4

-- Pitching: WP -- Mitch Savine; LP -- Tyler Morton

-- Columbus Seniors Leading Hitters: Tyler Morton 1-5, Nathan Sliva 1-3, Cade Hansen 1-2, Jesse Carias 1-4.

-- Bellevue West Leading Hitters: Braden Madsen 1-3 3B, CJ Hlavac 1-3 2B, Duncan O'Boyle 1-3, Kenny Allred 3-3 3B 2B, Chase Hedrick 1-4.

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