Wayne Advances In Ralph Bishop League Tournament | Select

In the senior semifinals, the two old rivals went head-to-head for the second time this season, and Wayne’s Rolling Hills Post 43 made a big second half at the plate to get the edge it needed to advance .

“We made some errors and they took advantage of them to get in front of us,” said longtime Wakefield Post 81 coach Paul Eaton. “You can’t help a good team like Wayne and all it took was one inning.”

Rolling Hills Supply beat Wakefield 10-0 on May 24th.

“We actually hit the ball pretty well here tonight,” Wayne coach Robbie Gamble said. “We hit a lot of hard balls right at them and they made some great plays on some great shots. This is a very different Wakefield team than we played earlier in the season.”

Post 43 opened their half of the second inning with a couple of singles.

Adrian Contreras started things off with a powerful single to left field before Jase Dean lined a bunt single to left off Wakefield pitcher Tanner Thompson.

Zander Liston also ground out to Thompson to sacrifice Contreras and Dean to second and third before Wyatt Heikes doubled to right field to chase them home.

Wayne State recruit Kaleb Moormeier stepped to the plate and threw a hot shot to third that was fouled, leaving second and scoring Heikes for a 3-0 lead.

Brayden Rajaee-Hallgren was sent in as a courtesy runner for Moormeier and scored on a single to right by Gavin Redden.

Redden was thrown out by Wakefield catcher Jon Birkley trying to steal second base to end the inning.

“I was a little nervous going into this game,” Gamble said. “But we got the job done and we’re moving on. That’s what you have to do this time of year.”

Wakefield threatened in the fourth frame when Jacob Birkley led off with a walk and advanced to second on a Cael Johnson single after a strikeout.

Another strikeout and a force to second ended the threat and put Rolling Hills ahead 4-0.

Post 43 added a run in the sixth when Heikes singled with two outs and Moormeier was thrown out by Thompson.

Jaxson Kneifl singled past shortstop to load the bases before Redden drew a walk.

Aiden Liston earned the win on the mound for Wayne, while Thompson took the loss for Post 81.

FOR JUNIORS game, Kneifl had a big game at the plate going 3 for 3, scoring three runs and driving in four.

Wayne scored four runs in the third after taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of one, then added seven in the fourth to put the game away.

Pitcher Brodrick Tiedtke took it from there, and the game was stopped after the fifth by the run rule.

“I really don’t have to do much for these guys to get them going,” Rolling Hills coach Mike Sturm said. “We all get along and play well together. Brodrick pitched a good game and we made some plays behind him and hit the ball.”

The Rolling Hills Junior Legion improved to 14-2 on the season, while the Wayne Seniors improved to 18-1.

The Wayne Juniors will face Hartington in the North Division final at Wayne on Friday, while the Post 43 Seniors will play the winner of a game between Battle Creek and Crofton, also on Friday.

Wakefield 000 000 0 — 0 4 3

Wayne 040 001 x — 5 8 1

WP: Aiden Liston LP: Tanner Thompson. 2B: Wyatt Heikes (WAY); Cael Johnson (WAK).

WP: Brodrick Tiedtke LP: Tyler Schulz. 2B: Brayden Rajaee-Hallgren, Jaxson Kneifl (WAY).