The Abilene Rebels Senior Babe Ruth baseball team was able to get back on the field on Thursday, after a couple of rain-out dates, as they traveled to Herington for a double-header. The Rebels won the opener 10-3 in six innings and took the nightcap 16-0 in five innings.
In Game One, Abilene scored in their half of the first inning as Jordan McCord walked, stole second, and moved to third on a passed ball, Trenton Jurgensen sacrificed to score McCord, and Hunter Combes doubled but was stranded. Herington came up and took the lead in their half of the inning by scoring two runs on a walk, two singles, and an error.
The Rebels would score again in their half of the third inning as Combes walked and later scored, Tate Berry singled, Colton Mills doubled, and Dakota Faulkner reached on an error to drive one in. Herington would tie the game in their half of the inning on three singles. Abilene scored three more runs in the fourth inning as McCord walked and later scored, Jurgensen sacrificed, Combes was hit-by-a-pitch and later scored, Wyatt Youtsey sacrificed to score one, Berry singled to drive one in, and Mills singled to score a run.
Abilene would plate two more runs in the fifth inning as Noah Wildman singled and later scored, Faulkner walked and later scored, McCord sacrificed, and Jurgensen reached on an error driving in two. The Abilene offense scored a couple more in the sixth inning as Youtsey singled and later scored, Berry walked and later scored, Mills again singled, and Trey Hoerner singled to drive in two. The game would end due to the two-hour time limit that was in effect with a final of 10-3.
“We got off to a bit of a slow start and weren’t real patient at the plate but we finally settled in and played fairly well, though we did have a couple of slip-ups,” Abilene coach Billy Hansen said.
Offensively for Abilene, Colton Mills was 4-4 with a run scored, a stolen base, and an RBI, Berry went 2-3 with two runs scored, a walk, and an RBI, Combes was 1-2 with two runs scored, two stolen bases, was hit-by-a-pitch, and a walk, McCord scored two runs, had four walks, a stolen base, and a sacrifice, Hoerner went 1-1 with two RBI, and Youtsey and Wildman were both 1-3 with a run scored. On the mound for the Rebels, Wildman got the win in tossing four innings striking out three, walked two, allowed five hits, and three earned runs. Berry came in and closed the game going two innings and striking out one, walked two, allowed three hits, and no earned runs.
In Game Two, the Rebels scored two runs in the first inning on two hits, two walks, a hit batter, and a sacrifice. The second inning saw Abilene two more runs on a hit and three walks. A big third inning gave the Rebels a big lead as they plated seven runs on four hits, including a huge three-run homer over the left-field fence by Youtsey, and three walks. Inning four saw the Rebels get another run after a lead-off double by Wildman who later scored on a single by Glen Friederich. Abilene was able to stretch their lead in the fifth inning with four more runs on a walk, a hit batter, three hits for the 16-0 final in five innings due to the run-rule.
“We were great at the plate in this as we scored 16 runs and having 14 RBI … we hit the ball hard and had some fun,” Hansen said. “We got a great pitching performance out of Hunter and he was good at the plate too,” Hansen continued.
On the mound for Abilene, Combes went the distance for his first win of the year striking out 12, walked three, and allowed only one hit. Offensively for the Rebels, Combes went 3-3, including two triples, four RBI, a sacrifice, and a stolen base, Wildman was 2-2 with two runs scored, a walk, an RBI, and a stolen base, McCord went 1-1 with four runs scored, three walks, two stolen bases, and an RBI, Youtsey was 2-3 with two runs scored, a walk, and three RBI, Berry went 1-2 with two runs scored, a walk, was hit-by-a-pitch, and had an RBI, Hoerner was 1-3 with a run scored, a walk, and two RBI, Friederich went 1-3 with a run scored, a walk, and an RBI, and Colton Mills was 1-3, was hit-by-a-pitch, and had an RBI.
Abilene, now 6-2, will be at home this coming Sunday for a double-header against Rose Hill. Game times have changed to 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. instead of the original 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at Ted Power Field in Abilene.