Seniors use fifth-inning surge to get past Gretna

June 18--GRETNA -- A six-run fifth inning helped the shorthanded Columbus Cornerstone Insurance Group Seniors overcome an early 4-0 deficit in Friday's 6-5 victory over Gretna.

With only nine players available after Eric Mustard was promoted from the Junior Blues, Columbus played the road contest without any reserves while taking on an opponent that qualified its high school team for the Class B state tournament earlier in the spring.

"To show up with nine guys and do what we did was pretty phenomenal," Seniors head coach Cody Schilling said.

After two blowout losses Wednesday against Grand Island, Schilling was impressed by his team's ability to bounce back.

"I think the kids reached a point where enough is enough. I think the fact that we only had nine guys, they knew they needed to be warriors," he said. "They took that mentality and went out and competed as hard as they could."

Gretna took the lead in the second inning off Columbus starting pitcher Logan Mueller with two hits, two sacrifice flies, a walk and hit batter. Mueller got out of the inning by stranding two base runners.

Gretna starting pitcher Cade Herrman needed just seven pitches for his second straight 1-2-3 inning to open the game.

The home team added to its lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Caden Mason to go up 4-0.

Columbus started its rally with two outs in the fifth inning.

Cade Fullner and Aedon Eckhart drew walks, and Jared Nitz smacked an RBI single to get Columbus on the scoreboard. Alex Uhlig loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch, then Mueller followed with another RBI single.

Jacob Morse continued the hot streak at the plate with the third RBI single of the inning, and Hunter Schilling capped the six-run inning by hitting the Seniors' only double of the game, which brought in three runs.

"I think they just started to put together better at bats," Cody Schilling said of the big inning. "We were a little more patient and made them throw strikes. In the first few innings we weren't necessarily swinging at good pitches."

Mueller's day on the mound ended after the sixth inning, when Gretna loaded the bases via two walks and a hit batter. The Columbus pitcher escaped the jam by getting Mason to fly out to end the inning.

Eckhart earned the save for Columbus, but not without a bit of suspense.

Herrman collected his third hit of the game for Gretna, a one-out double in the seventh, and back-to-back singles made the score 6-5.

Mueller ended the comeback attempt when he fielded a hard-hit grounder to the shortstop position and threw to first for the final out.

The second game of the doubleheader was canceled by inclement weather.

The Seniors, now 6-11 this season, are scheduled to play a doubleheader at noon and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln North Star.

The full roster should be available, except for Jake Novicki, who is expected to be back from an injury in July.

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