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PENDER — The Hartington Post 4 Junior American Legion baseball team took down Pender here at Dave Nitzschke Field 5-2 on June 10.
Breiton Whitmire and Bodie Hochstein combined to scatter just three hits over seven innings with Whitmire picking up the win in relief after Hochstein had delivered over four innings in the start.
“This Junior team is playing a lot of baseball and it’s starting to show,” Hartington manager, Don Whitmire said. “We continue to get better and better, it’s fun to watch.”
Neither team scored in the first two innings before Post 4 broke the ice in the third.
Keyton Arens opened the Hartington half of the third with a walk and moved to second on a sharp single to left field by Tate Fischer.
Whitmire helped his own cause with a double to left field which scored Arens and sent Fischer to third. A strikeout and a fly out ended the threat.
Post 55 answered with a couple of runs in the the bottom of the inning and the score remained 2-1 until Hartington came to bat in the sixth.
Post 4 evened the game 2-2 with a run in the inning when Whitmire scored again after singling and advancing to third on a Pender error.
Whitmire would eventually steal home to make it 2-2.
Hartington took the lead for good in the top of the seventh when Sam Wiebelhaus got on with a single past the third baseman.
Arens bunted Wiebelhaus over to second then Fischer and Maverick Heine both singled. Fischer’s single moved Wiebelhaus to third and Heine loaded the bases.
Whitmire stepped to the plate and completed his 3-for-4 performance in the game with a single which scored Wiebelhaus. Hochstein made it four straight hits with a single past the first baseman which scored Fischer to make it 4-2.
After a pop out, Heine scored on a ground ball hit by Hunter Bensen and the scoring was done.
“This was a very good team we beat here tonight,” Whitmire said. “This should really help our confidence.”
The Post 4 Juniors are scheduled to take on Wisner-Pilger/Dodge-Howells June 12 at Felber Park before taking on Valentine on June 16, also at home. Hartington will travel to West Point on June 17.
Hartington Post 4 Juniors defeat Pender Post 55 Juniors 5-2. H 001 001 3 - 5 8 1 P 002 000 0 - 2 3 3 WP: Breiton Whitmire LP: Ryan Linkous. 2B: Breiton Whitmire (H); Wegner (P).
