In their most recent matchup of the week, the Trojans took on the Tri-County Titans in Wakefield on Sunday, July 21.
After holding the Titans scoreless in the top of the first, Wakeifeld got to work early. In the bottom of the first, Cade Johnson and Adrian Flores managed a pair of singles to get the juices flowing offensively.
After a pair of singles drove in both baserunners, the Trojans were able to get another run before the inning ended to take a 3-0 lead immediately.
After Wakefield held Tri County scoreless in the second and third innings, the Trojans blew the game open with an explosive bottom of the third.
Eight of nine Trojans batted amidst a five-run third inning to give the Trojans an 8-0 lead by the time the Titans got the third out of the inning. The offensive boom was highlighted by three walks and a single.
After the Titans managed to score two runs in the top of the fourth in an attempt to claw back into the contest, Wakefield produced four more runs in the bottom half of the inning to grow their lead to 12-2.
The Trojans managed to hold the Titans scoreless in the top of the fifth to end the game early due to run-rule and get out with a 12-2 victory.
Johnathan Birkley was the offensive leader for Wakefield in their win. Birkley scored three times during the contest, and managed to get on base with a walk, a single, and a fielder’s choice.
Prior to their dominating victory over Tri County, Wakefield hosted Dakota Valley at home on Saturday, July 20 in a defensive battle.
Neither team had much success getting anything going offensively in this contest. Jesse Lundahl started on the mound for Wakeifeld, and threw to the best of his capabilities, but there was no budge from Dakota Valley’s defense to allow Wakefield to grow a lead.
Finally, in the third inning, Dakota Valley managed to get a run in off a double to make the score 1-0. Unfortunately, that’s the only run the visitors needed to walk away with a win.
While Lundahl and the Wakefield defense played well for the remainder of the contest and didn’t allow any more runs, the Wakefield offense couldn’t seem to find a groove.
In the sixth inning, Lundahl managed to get to third base after a walk off a bunt by Jacob Birkely, but Wakefield was unable to bring him in to tie up the ballgame.
Unfortunately, that was the closest Wakefield was to tying things back up, and Dakota Valley was able to walk away with a 1-0 win on the road.
Lundahl was the unofficial player of the game for Wakefield in the close loss to Dakota Valley. In the loss, Lundahl gave up just one run and finished with eight strikeouts on 104 pitches thrown.
Before their tightly-contested loss to Dakota Valley, Wakefield kicked off its week of games with a double-header against the Plainview Pirates in Wakeifeld on Thursday, July 18.
In the second game of the double-header, Wakefield came out of the gates hot and kept their foot on the gas pedal the entire time.
After Plainview managed to score two runs in the top of the first inning, Wakefield responded with three of their own to immediately retake the lead.
From there, Wakefield never trailed again.
In the bottom of the second, Wakefield used a wild pitch and a single to drive in two more runs to increase their lead to 5-2.
Then, in the bottom of the third, Wakeifeld used a single, a double, and a wild pitch to score three more runs to essentially put the game on ice.
While Plainview was able to score one more run in the top of the fourth, Wakefield simply responded with two more runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth to close the door on any sort of comeback Plainview wished to make.
When the final out was recorded, Wakefield had earned a 10-3 win.
Tayton Solomon was a big factor in the offensive showcase put on by Wakefield in their victory. Solomon finished the game with a double, a walk, and two scored runs for the Trojans.
Finally, in their first game of the week, Wakefield took on Plainview in the first game of their double-header. Much like the second game, this game was all Wakefield from the get-go.
Johnson and Flores each reached base with a double to start the contest off with a bang for Wakefield. The duo was followed shortly after by Johnathan Birkley, who ripped a single to keep the rally going. By the end of the first, Wakefield found itself up 3-0.
From there on, it was all Wakefield.
The Trojans once again scored three runs in the bottom of the second and followed that up with two more runs in the third to take a commanding 8-2 lead after three innings.
While Plainview did continue to fight, it wasn’t enough. Wakefield managed to score two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, and from there on just held their ground defensively to earn a 10-6 win and kick their week off right.
Wakefield ended the week with a record of 3-1, and is now preparing for the postseason, which begins on Friday, July 26.
The Trojans will begin their postseason journey with the Class C Area 2 tournament in Pender on Friday, July 26.
Wakefield is the four-seed in the tournament and is set to play Oakland in the first round. Their matchup will be the first game of the tournament, and will take place at 2:00 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament will take place from Friday, July 26 through Wednesday, July 31. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to compete at the Class C Nebraska American Legion Senior State Tournament, although Wakefield already has a spot in the state tournament because it’s the host team.