Post-Season Honors for Spring 2009 Season

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Omaha World Herald Statistical Leaders:   (April 18)  (May 7)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

CHICAGO (May 28, 2009) — In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE, today announced Logan Ehlers of Nebraska City High School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Nebraska Baseball Player of the Year. Ehlers is the first Gatorade Nebraska Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Nebraska City High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplaryif you could do it in a character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Ehlers as Nebraska’s best high school baseball player. Ehlers is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award to be announced in June.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior left-handed pitcher finished with a 10-0 record, three saves and a 0.20 ERA, recording 161 strikeouts against just 16 walks in 68.2 innings this season to lead the Pioneers (19-9) to the Class B state tournament. A returning First Team Super-State selection as named by the Lincoln Journal Star, Ehlers allowed only nine hits this spring, hurling four no-hitters and one perfect game. Also a first baseman, he produced a .329 batting average, 22 RBI, 19 runs scored and eight doubles.

Ehlers has maintained a 3.33 GPA in the classroom. A participant in the Leadership Nebraska empowerment initiative and a member of his school’s Awana Clubs International chapter and Varsity Club, he has volunteered on behalf of a local crisis intervention organization for victims of domestic violence. He has also served as a youth baseball and wrestling instructor.

“He’s as good a pitcher as there was in Nebraska high school baseball this year,” said Jerry Frerichs, head coach of Elkhorn High, which lost to Nebraska City earlier in the season, 2-1. “He’s a very, very good pitcher. He’s everything he’s written up to be. He has outstanding control. He’s hardly ever behind hitters. He’s always ahead of you. His fastball is in the mid-to-upper 80s, and he has a sharp breaking pitch. Either one is enough to get you out.”

Ehlers will begin his senior year of high school this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Ehlers joins recent Gatorade Nebraska Baseball Players of the Year Kash Kalkowski (2007-08 Grand Island Senior), Matt Freeman (2006-07, Elkhorn), and Ian Dike (2005-06, Lincoln Southwest) among the state’s list of former award winners.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear .
 

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Scotty Orcutt All-Star team won the 37th Annual Collin-Orcutt Memorial game at Seymour Smith Park Monday afternoon in dramatic fashion.  The two teams composed of Metro area seniors were tied at eight runs each after 8 1/2 innings, and Ryan Briggs settled matters with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Orcutt All-Stars a 9-8 victory.  For his heroics Briggs was named the Most Valuable Player for the Orcutt team, and Joe Waller, who went two-for-two with two RBIs for the Cornie Collin team, was named MVP for that squad. 

The annual All-Star game honors the memory of two longtime Metro area coaches, Cornie Collin and Scotty Orcutt.  Conrad "Cornie" Collin coached at South high school for 30 years, during which time his Legion ball clubs won thirteen city titles, four state championships, three Regionals and one Sectional tournament.  His 1948 Metz team reached the American Legion World Series in Indianapolis.  Edward T. "Scotty" Orcutt coached at Benson high for 30 years.  His Legion teams won three state championships and were state runners-up twice.  Orcutt's son Ed was present to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Winning pitcher Charlie Krueger tags Tyler Niederklein at the plate to prevent a go-ahead run by the Collin squad late in the game.  Niederklein was attempting to score on a wild pitch. 

Prior to the game Brandon Bass of Millard West was honored as the Most Valuable Player of the Metro Conference for the 2009 spring season.  The award, accompanied by a check for $500 was presented by Bobby Suggs, president of the Omaha Men's Senior Baseball League.

Chris Williams of Westside was presented with the Metro Conference Outstanding Senior Leadership Award and a check for $500 from Mr. Suggs on behalf of the OMSBL and Metro Credit Union. 

On their way home from the ballgame, many fans were treated to a view of this vintage B-17 bomber that flew at low altitude over the Metro area in observance of Memorial Day.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Westside Warriors prevailed in an exciting 6-5 eight-inning win over the Creighton Prep Junior Jays Thursday afternoon at Haymarket Park to claim the 2009 Class A State Championship.  Both teams scored two runs in the first inning, and the score remained deadlocked at 2-2 as Prep's Ryan Briggs and Westside's Chris Williams dueled on the pitcher's mound until the Warriors broke through for a go ahead run in the top of the fifth.  With two outs in the bottom of the seventh,  Prep was able to get the tying run across on an infield error on a ground ball that looked to be the third out.  Alec Williams responded in the top of the eighth with a three-run inside-the-park homerun to put the warriors up 6-3.  Prep battled back in the bottom of the eighth with two runs on a Charlie Krueger base hit before the final out was recorded. 

Head coach Bob Greco and senior Jory Goldstrom

Coach Greco's wife, Cathy

Alec Williams, 3-run inside- the-park home run.

Chris Williams, Winning pitcher

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Cougars win!  Gross High School won the 2009 Class B State Championship with a 4 to 2 victory over Lincoln Pius in the first game of the championship series  Thursday . Eric Brooner (#24 above) scattered 7 hits in a complete game performance for the Cougars.  It's the first Spring championship  for the Cougars since 1974, the year following head coach Mike Filipowicz's graduation from the school.  The Cougars finish the season with a 17-13 record.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Statistically speaking, there's nearly an eighty-eight percent chance that a team from the Metro Athletic Conference will be  crowned champion of the 2009 Class A State Baseball Tournament.  Seven of the eight teams in the tournament are Metro Conference teams, with nearly half of the sixteen teams in the conference qualifying for state.  Perhaps what is most surprising about the Metro's strong presence among the Elite Eight is not how many teams will be going to Lincoln, but which teams are -- and aren't -- making the trip in 2009.  

One the two Big Shockers of the 2009 District Tournaments was Omaha Northwest's elimination of Lincoln Southeast in the A-6 tournament at Grand Island.  The Huskies came into the four-team district tournament as the #4 seed with a 7-16 record.  Despite their record, Coach Todd Wesslund's ballclub showed improvement at the end of the regular season, going .500 over their last twelve games after starting the season by losing ten of eleven.  Included in those six late season wins was a nine-inning win over Millard North, a team that missed qualifying for the state tournament this year for only the second time in the past twenty-one years. 

Despite the Huskies' late season improvement, it is unlikely that anyone outside the program had any inkling that the Northwest club was capable of putting up twelve runs in the bottom of the second inning of the A-6 championship en route to a 13-5 elimination of powerhouse Southeast.  The loss ended the Knight's season at 19-6.  Cole Winans homered twice for the Huskies, and Drew Yost earned the win, scattering five hits and striking out six in 5 2/3rd's innings. 

The Huskies will likely lead off Saturday with their ace lefty, Kyle Kinman, who threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts in Northwest's semifinal win over the defending champion Islanders, the #1 seed and host team of the A-6 District.  The Cinderella Huskies are seeded #8 in Class A and will face #1 seed Prep (23-4) in the 10:00am opener at Sherman Field. 

Prep comes into Lincoln riding a twelve game win streak and having won eighteen of their last nineteen games.  By contrast with last season when there were high expectations for the talented Junior Jays to win state well before the first pitch of the season was thrown, the 2009 Prep team has flown under the radar and seemed content to let Westside and Papio South take the spotlight.  Prep surged into the #1 spot in the Wild Card standings on the final day of districts.  The Junior Jays feature quality pitching, with seniors Ryan Briggs and Charlie Krueger leading the way, and have the depth on the mound to go deep in the tournament.  Joe Kankovsky, Mike Pritchard, Krueger, Briggs and Jeff McNichols lead the offense.

The other combatants in the upper half of the bracket are the two Wild Card teams, #4 Millard West and #5 Lincoln Southwest, who will play at 1:00.  Millard West (26-8) is a pre-season favorite that has struggled at times this season but has the talent and depth to make a run at state.  The Wildcats, seeded number one in District A-4, were upset by #4 seed Bellevue West (8-17) in the other Big Shocker of the district tournaments. 

The Wildcats are 4-0 against Southwest this season.  The 17-8 Silver Hawks, the #1 seed in A-5, were bumped by #2 seed Millard South (22-9) in the championship game but edged out cross-town rival Southeast for the last Wild Card ticket to the state tournament.  As the only non-Metro team in the tournament and the only "home town" team still alive, look for Southwest to benefit from the unified support of Lincoln fans.  Southwest features efficient right-hander Adam Peters and a roster full of talented players that have not always played up to their potential. 

The favorites in the lower half of the bracket, Westside (30-4) and Papillion LaVista South (31-4), have reached the top of the standings by different routes with the Warriors relying on a pack of ten experienced seniors and Papio South using a blend of veterans and newcomers.  Former college teammates Bill Lynam of Papio South and Bob Greco of Westside feature similar approaches to the game, employing quality pitching, solid defense and an aggressive offensive attack.  Neither team is likely to beat itself.   And, both teams have proven big game aces -- eight-game winner Stephen Bougher for the  Titans and Husker signee Chris Williams for the Warriors.   The teams have two of the top catchers in the state -- Brian Donohoe for the Titans and Bear Opitz for the Warriors. 

Papio South, the #3 seed will be paired with #6 Millard South in the 4:00 game at Sherman.  Millard South has consistently been in the top five or six all season, propelled by a versatile offensive attack led by Ty Kildow, Colton Thomas and Brad McKewon.  The Patriots and Titans have only met once this season, with the Patriots prevailing 6-5 in eight innings in late March. 

The final opening day game in Class A will be played at 7:00pm between Westside and the longball-loving Omaha Bryan Bears (22-13), the #7 seed.  Westside will be looking to get back into a groove for the post-season after experiencing a bit of a slide late in the season when starting shortstop Andrew Dahir and his bat were sidelined by medical problems.  Although Dahir isn't expected back, the Wildcats have had a couple of weeks to patch together defensive and offensive replacements.  Senior Jory Goldstrom stepped up his game during Districts both offensively and defensively.  The gritty lead off hitter has hit four home runs in his high school career with three of them coming in the Warriors' last three games. 

The two teams last played on April 29 with Westside taking a 9-4 decision.  The Warriors will, no doubt, be motivated by memories of last summer's season-ending loss to the Bears in American Legion Area Tournament action.

The Bears took advantage Bellevue West's elimination of Millard West in the A-4 tourney by qualifying for state with a 7-6 district finals win over the T-birds.  Bryan hitters have put more than thirty balls out of the yard this spring, led by Aaron Beil with sixteen.  The Bears have plenty of talent but will need to play their best ball of the season to make a run at state. 

Winning today is key for claiming the championship.  A team that prevails  today can take the title with just three more wins.  Today's losers must survive six straight elimination games to earn the crown. 

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Photo by Bryan Johnson 

Elkhorn Class of 2009 (l-r):  Zac Malsam, Erik Christensen, Jake Pojar, Josh Bullock, Jake Long, Andrew Simpson and Patrick Johnson.  In front, holding the plaque - Matt Moylan.  Long, Bullock, Simpson and Patrick were all on the 2007 Championship team as sophomores.

On Saturday the defending state champion Elkhorn Antlers will begin their quest to parley a #1 seed in the 2009 Class B State Tournament into a third consecutive state championship.  First-round State Tournament action gets underway for Class B at 10:00am with the reigning state champs playing #8 seed Gretna (12-9) at Den Hartog Field in the opening game of the double-elimination tourney.  In 2007, the last year that all Nebraska high schools played in a single class, the Antlers claimed the Class A crown behind a stellar pitching performance by current Husker hurler Matt Freeman.  After being assigned to the new Class B division for the 2008 season,  the Antlers took the title in the inaugural state tournament of the new class with a win over Omaha Skutt Catholic in the "winner-take-all" second championship game.  The SkyHawks gutted out five straight elimination game wins after an opening day loss to Ralston and forced the second game by handing the Antlers their first loss of the tournament in the first championship game, 3-0.  

Elkhorn returns to Lincoln this weekend following a 6-0 District B-1 championship game win over Gretna and a 20-9 spring campaign.  The Antlers remained at the head of the class from the start of the season despite playing a very challenging schedule that included contests against six of the eight teams in the Class A State Tournament field.    The Antlers, coached by veteran head coach Jerry Frerichs, are led by a solid pitching staff, which includes senior right-handers Josh Bullock and Andrew Simpson and junior lefty Rob Wheeler.  Senior southpaw Patrick Johnson returned to the mound at the end of the regular season following shoulder surgery last fall and will be available for limited duty in Lincoln.  Offensively, the Antlers are led by speedy lead-off hitter Weston Foxx, power-hitting Jake Long, Bullock and Johnson.  Foxx, Bullock and Johnson are among the class leaders in total hits on the season.

In addition to the District Championship game, Elkhorn and Gretna also squared off twice in April with Elkhorn winning both.  In the inaugural Eastern Midlands Conference championship game on April 17, the Antlers battled back from a 9-1 deficit to the Dragons to claim the title by a score of 11-9.   The Dragons' first-year head coach Mike Hagge is likely to put Southeastern Community College signee Steve Weideman on the mound on Saturday.

Also in Elkhorn's half of the bracket is an opening round game between #4 seed Nebraska City (18-7) and #5 seed Lincoln Pius X (14-11).  The 1:00 game will be the first meeting of those two teams since an amazing pitcher's dual on the second day of the season in which the Pioneers' ace Logan Ehlers threw a perfect game for a 1-0 win, and Alex Heideman of Pius held the Pioneers to just two hits.  It's likely that the two hurlers will face off again on Saturday.  If the higher ranked teams prevail on Saturday, it would set up a rematch between Nebraska City and Elkhorn on Monday.  Their epic battle at Nebraska City on April 21st was one of the season's top games and resulted in a 2-1 Nebraska City victory with Ehlers striking out sixteen and having the big hit of the game.  Ehlers comes into the state tournament with an unofficial strikeout count of 149 on the season -- an eyepopping figure that, based on his season average, could yet increase by another dozen or more for each start the junior lefty makes during the state tournament. 

Pius comes into the tournament with a 4-2 record against the field, including a 9-0 win over Elkhorn on April 24th, the only other loss suffered by the Antlers to a Class B team this season.  The Thunderbolts also own two wins over Gross and one over Skutt with a loss to Beatrice.

2008 Runner Up Skutt (15-10) returns to Lincoln at the top of the lower bracket as the #2 seed.  The SkyHawks surged at the end of the season and took the District B-4 crown with a 3-1 win over the host team, Beatrice, behind a dominant pitching performance by 6'7" right-hander Zach Kroonquist.  Smooth fielding senior second baseman Michael Servais leads the defense.  The Skyhawks will play at 7:00 against the number seven seed, Omaha Roncalli Catholic (12-9).  Roncalli is led by junior southpaw Alex Terry.  Roncalli, like Gretna comes into the tournament courtesy of a Wild Card.

The 4:00 game in the lower bracket pairs the other two Wild Card qualifiers,  the third-seeded Beatrice Orangemen (16-6) and #4 Omaha Gross Catholic.  Both teams were the #1 seeds and host teams in district tournament action and fell, 3-1, in the finals to the #2 seeds -- Beatrice to Skutt and Gross to Pius.  Both teams will be fighting to avoid a first-round state tournament setback that would necessitate a lengthy battle back through the losers' bracket to reach the championship round.

The 2009 Class B State Tournament matches up the top eight teams and the top talent in the class in what looks to be a very exciting week of baseball action. 

Photo by Bryan Johnson and Lorrie Moylan

Photo provided by Alex Heideman

Photo by Ed and Patti Johnson

Photo by Marita Schroeder

Photo by Steven Branscombe