Malcolm claims Class C Junior Legion State Championship

    If you like baseball, Imperial was the place to be July 15-19.
    While fans of the Imperial Pinnacle Bank Juniors didn’t get the ending they wanted, there was still plenty to enjoy during the Class C Junior Legion State Tournament. Enough to enjoy that organizers are hopeful a state tournament will return to Imperial in a couple years.
    The Horns’ tournament run ended July 18 with a 1-5 loss to tournament runners-up Palmer-Wolbach-Greeley.
    The Horns got off to the start they wanted to. As the visitor on the scoreboard, Imperial’s Thomas Reeves led off with a single and scored on a single by Gavin Wisnieski. The Horns’ offense stalled with runners on first and second, but the defense stepped up behind pitcher Kaden Vogt to hold PWG scoreless in the bottom half of the first.
    After Imperial was sat down in order in the top of the second, PWG took advantage of Horns’ mistakes. PWG singled then had a batter hit by a pitch. Two errors brought two runs home.
    From the third inning forward, Imperial was only able to get five baserunners. Carson Terryberry doubled in the fourth and Reeves had the Horns’ only other hit, a fifth inning single.
    PWG started off its half of the third with a home run and used another Imperial error to set up its fourth run of the game. Two singles in the fifth brought one more run home for PWG in the fifth inning.
    Vogt pitched a complete game for Imperial, allowing six hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
    The Malcolm offense was hitting on all cylinders throughout the tournament, including Malcolm’s semifinal win over Crofton.
    Malcolm jumped out to a 5-0 lead. While it did give up three runs to Crofton in the third inning, Malcolm got out of a bases loaded jam and went on to score three runs in the fourth inning and two in each of the fifth and sixth innings for a 12-4 win.
    The tournament ended July 19 with a 8-3 Malcolm win over PWG. Malcolm led off the third inning with five-straight runs to put the game out of reach.
    Malcolm finished the Legion season with a 26-2 record on the heels of a 25-3 high school season that ended in an NSAA Class C State Championship. Malcolm also won the 2022 Class C Legion State Championship with a championship game win over Imperial.