Broken Bow, Neb. – Inspire Rehab came awfully close to erasing a double-digit Central City lead but fell just short. Central City held on to win 11-9 after enjoying a 10-run lead midway through the third inning. Starting pitcher Colbyn Peters returned to the mound late to stifle a consistent and efficient comeback attempt in the B6 Seniors Area Tournament.
Central City opened up a 2-1 lead before their bats took off in the third. In the inning, they scored nine runs off eight hits and three walks to seemingly take control. Inspire Rehab used three different pitchers with the hopes of stopping the huge rally. When the dust settled, they were down 11-1 and faced an early end to their afternoon.
Fortunately for Holdrege, their bats would awaken alongside an impressive performance from relief pitcher Nick Taylor. After scoring a run in the bottom of the third inning, Holdrege came out firing in the fourth. Trey Weaver led off with a single and advanced to second after a Clay Bohr groundout. Nick Weides batted in the first run of the inning with a single. After another groundout, Beau Jensen dropped a single into centerfield with two outs that sent Weides home from second. Taylor followed up with a hard line drive to rightfield that sent Jensen home. An error kept the inning alive for Holdrege while also allowing courtesy runner JJ Bell to advance to third base. Immediately following the error, Central City reliever Logan Vakiner committed a balk on the first pitch of Zac Sundquist’s at bat. The mistake advanced the runners once more, and Bell was able to score the fourth run of the inning.
With the confidence back for the Holdrege Seniors, they were able to completely turn the tide. Nick Taylor shut the Central City offense down, making it possible for his team to have a chance at a comeback. Taylor’s 4 1/3 innings on the mound held Central City to no runs and only four hits the rest of the way. Inspire Rehab had to face Peters once again, however. He was swapped back to the mound in the fifth inning after moving to third base in the fourth.
Holdrege had their chances in the bottom of the seventh inning after Clay Bohr led off with a hard single to right field. A pair of runs would score setting up another walk-off opportunity with two outs. Central City still had an 11-9 lead and Peters on the mound. Zac Sundquist went to the plate with bases loaded, but a fly out to rightfield ended the game.
Central City improved to 15-6 and remains unbeaten in the B6 Area Tournament. They will play Minden tomorrow at 4 pm.
Holdrege fell to 16-10 and drop to the bottom of the bracket. Inspire Rehab will face Broken Bow tomorrow in an elimination game after Bow ended McCook’s season 10-6. Their game will start at approximately 7 pm with KUVR’s coverage beginning at 6:50.
