Imperial teams place 3rd, 4th at Tri-County peewee tourney

After a busy month of games, Imperial 1 and 2 faced off in the consolation game of the Tri-County peewee league tournament Friday in Paxton to end the season.
Quarterfinal wins
Imperial 1 earned the tournament’s top seed and started off their tournament with a 17-15 win over Sutherland July 6.
Noah Rau, Carter Kuenning, Cole Pankonin and Tucker Mollendor got Imperial 1 off on the right foot with first inning runs.
Sutherland cut the lead in half to start the second inning, but Austin Smith walked and scored in the bottom of the inning for Imperial 1.
The teams traded runs in the third inning with Krayton Paisley crossing home for Imperial 1.
After Sutherland scored three runs, but left runners stranded on third and first in the fourth inning, Imperial 1 broke loose for nine runs in the bottom half of the inning to increase its margin to 15-6.
Sutherland turned the tables on Imperial 1 in the fifth inning. Sutherland scored nine runs to start the inning and tie the game.
Mollendor and Jackson Cyboron led off the fifth inning for Imperial 1 and quickly scored to give their team the walk off win.
Imperial 2 advanced to the semifinals with a 10-1 win over third-seeded Wallace.
Imperial 2 held Wallace scoreless over four innings.
Three singles by Brextin Moreno, Tyce Hammerlun and Braxton Chubb led to three first inning runs for Imperial 2. Three more singles in the second inning, again by Moreno, Hammerlun and Chubb, helped score four runs.
After scoreless third and fourth innings, Imperial 2 led off the fifth with three runs. Lukas Fries and Tate Teply each singled, as did Hammerlun for his third hit in the game, to bring home Fries, Teply and Lleyton McDaniel.
Wallace loaded the bases and scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Conner Stromberger and Chubb pitched for Imperial 2, combining to walk eight and strike out eight.
Imperial 2 out hit Wallace 11-3.
Semifinal losses
Imperial 1 started off the July 8 semifinal games of the tournament with a 5-12 loss to fourth-seeded Ogallala 1.
Ogallala 1 took control of the game early with a five-run first inning.
Cole Pankonin scored in the first for Imperial 1, but the team also left Mollendor stranded on third base.
Imperial 1 left seven base runners stranded over the course of the second, third and fourth innings, while Ogallala 1 was able to score five more runs in that time frame.
Imperial 1 outscored Ogallala 1 3-1 in the fifth inning. Mollendor, Miles Hanes and Austin Smith came around to score for Imperial 1.
Each team added a run in the final inning with Mollendor reaching base for the fourth time in the game and scoring.
In the evening’s second game, Imperial 2 gave up eight runs in the first inning and one run in the second in its 1-9 loss to second-seeded Grant.
Evan O’Neil singled in the fifth and came around to score on a single by Teply for Imperial 2’s only run of the game.
Imperial 2 had four hits and no walks in the game.
Fries and Chubb gave up nine hits and three walks while striking out six for Imperial 2.
All Imperial consolation
The losses moved both Imperial teams into the tournament’s consolation game.
After a scoreless first inning, Imperial 1 was first on the board with a run in the bottom of the second when Mollendor came around to score.
Imperial 2 returned the favor with two runs in the top of the third inning. Rallying with two outs, Moreno doubled, Hammerlun hit a single and Destry Oxford doubled to give Imperial 2 a 2-1 lead.
After holding Imperial 1 scoreless in the bottom of the third inning, Imperial 2’s O’Neil singled and came around to score in the top of the fourth.
Imperial 1 erased the 1-3 deficit in the bottom of the inning.
Mollendor started Imperial 1’s at-bat off with a single and Parker Terryberry added another single. Paisley, Harrison Foote and Rau reached base and brought home runs to give Imperial 1 a 4-3 advantage.
Scoreless fifth and sixth innings put the win out of reach for Imperial 1, however.
Imperial 2 had three singles in the fifth inning, but took advantage of two hit batters and a walk to score five runs.
Two more Imperial 2 batters were hit in the sixth inning. Moreno and Hammerlun each stole two bases and used a passed ball to score insurance runs in the 10-4 win.
Imperial 2’s Stromberger and Chubb combined for the win. The pair struck out nine, while allowing eight hits and issuing three walks.
Rau, Pankonin and Kuenning pitched for Imperial 1, striking out seven, walking one and giving up nine hits.
Coaches reflect on season
Imperial 1 Coach Phillip Pankonin said, after being a coach for many years, this was one of the best seasons yet.
“This great group of young men have always shown such awesome integrity and sportsmanship,” Pankonin said, adding, they always stuck together as a team.
Pankonin also credited Aaron Cyboron and Lance Kuenning for their help this season.
“They taught the team skills and saw things that I didn’t and just working together was so helpful because we could focus on multiple things at the same time,” Pankonin said.
Pankonin thanked his team members and their parents for coming back each year and gave a huge thank you to Cyboron and Kuenning for all the time and help that they put into this team over the past years.
Imperial 2 Coach Eric McDaniel said it’s been fun to have been with this group of athletes since most of them were in T-ball.
“It’s fun to see them develop their skills, add new skills and grow as teammates and friends over the years,” McDaniel said.
After a slower summer last year, when McDaniel said his team played around seven games, Imperial 2 played 24 games this season, including three tournaments.
McDaniel was assisted this season by Dave Oxford, Josh Moreno and Mark Bomba.