PWG Deals St. Paul Seniors First Loss of the Season

It took all seven innings to decide a winner in last Thursday’s meeting between St. Paul and the Palmer-Wolbach-Greeley (PWG) Seniors. St. Paul came into the matchup unbeaten but were handed their first loss of the season due to some late-game heroics and a walk-off hit by PWG’s Cohen Grossart, 5-4.

PWG’s Boston Wood put his team on the board first when he, after a leadoff double, scored the game’s first run after a wild pitch went to the backstop.

That one run lead wouldn’t last long, however, as St. Paul controlled the following four frames, scoring three runs on RBIs from Levi Bader and taking a 4-1 advantage when Shane Kosmicki snuck a ground ball into right field for a base hit.

After that first inning blunder, St. Paul’s starting pitcher, Braxton Heater, settled in and held PWG scoreless over the course of the second, third, and fourth innings.

The starter ran into trouble in the fifth. After recording two quick outs, Dierks Nekoliczak and Grady Kelly put runners on first and second bases with back-to-back singles. With a runner in scoring position, Gatlin Reimers stepped into the batter’s box, worked a six-pitch at bat, then poked a single past second base to score Nekoliczak and cut the deficit to two runs. After walking the bases loaded, Heater was able to avoid disaster when he struck out Connor Baker on four pitches to stop the bleeding.

The scoreboard now read 4-2, and that would stick until the bottom of the seventh inning. To lead it off, Nekoliczak put himself on first base with a single to right field. Then, St. Paul started to feel the pressure. Kelly, Reimers, Treyven Straka, and Cordell Wagner drew four consecutive walks to tie the game at 4-4. Before the Howard County kids were able to find their first out, Grossart came to the plate, watched one pitch go by, then belted a base hit up the middle to score Reimers for the walk-off run.

Bryce Knapp led St. Paul at the plate, earning three hits and a run in his four plate appearances. Heater, Bader, and Kosmicki picked up two hits apiece, while Bader and Kosmicki combined for all four of the St. Paul’s RBIs.

Both squads finished the game with ten team hits, and, leading the way for PWG, Grossart matched Knapp with three total hits, driving in one run of his own. Nekoliczak earned two hits and scored two runs from the top of the batting order, while Kelly, Reimers, Donovan Burns, and Zaden Wolf each picked up solo hits.

The starting pitching duel was a close one. St. Paul’s Heater lasted six innings on the mound, and surrendering two earned runs on nine hits and eleven strikeouts. PWG’s starter, Kelly, also threw six innings, letting in four earned runs on nine hits, while striking out eight St. Paul batters.

In relief, Connor Baker gave up one hit and no runs. Zandyn Weller, in one inning of work, let in two runs on one hit.

Prior to their meeting, both teams had strong starts to their seasons. St. Paul notched back-to-back wins over Holdrege and Grand Island U-Save, beating the Phelps County kids on their home field 5-3, and toppling U-Save 9-6 with a late-innings rally.

PWG came into the evening with a 1-1 record after defeating Grand Island U-Save 7-2 and falling to Albion 3-2.