Broken Bow, Neb. – The Holdrege Inspire Rehab Seniors took down top seeded Minden 9-1 in Saturday’s B6 Area Tournament matchup. Holdrege used a consistent and relentless offensive effort to keep pressure on starting pitcher Logan Clark who had torched them a month and a half ago. The third game this season between the two rivals was not the usual nail-biting, closely contested game. Despite limited defensive mistakes from Minden, Holdrege was able to get all of their starting nine batters on base.
After building a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth, Inspire Rehab opened things up. Trey Weaver took the first pitch to left field for a leadoff single. Clay Bohr followed with one of his three total walks, and Nick Weides loaded the bases with a bunt. After that, Holdrege used four singles and a fielder’s choice play to score five runs in the inning and gain a seven-run lead.
Minden fought hard on the comeback attempt with Cade Harsin leading off the fifth inning with a four-pitch walk. However, Carter Harsin hit a ground ball directly to second baseman Lyndon Rodewald who stepped on the bag before throwing to first for a double play. Rodewald made a key play to keep Minden from gaining any momentum.
The bottom of the fifth inning began with Holdrege needing just one more run to end the game early. Bohr drew another walk to lead off the inning, followed by a Nick Weides single. Josh Janssen laid a bunt down the third base line that was mishandled by third baseman Austin Lutkemeier. After the error, Holdrege had loaded bases with no outs and had Beau Jensen coming to the plate. In a repeat of the prior day’s walk-off single against McCook, Jensen would once again use a single to call “game”. Courtesy runner JJ Bell was able to score on Jensen’s single to complete the mercy rule.
Holdrege Inspire Rehab advances in the winner’s bracket and will face the winner between Broken Bow and Central City on Sunday. The gametime is not yet decided.
Minden fell to the elimination bracket and will play Gothenburg on Sunday at 11 am.
