Four teams entered Saturday’s Class 1A opening round District doubleheader at Sigourney and when the dust settled just two remained. In the first contest of the night, Lone Tree got revenge on their rivals from Highland by a 9-3 score. The Huskies beat the Lions twice during the regular season, but it was Lone Tree that would win the most important meeting of the year. After a scoreless first, Lone Tree got on the board in the second with two runs as Dominic Graap and Emmett Burke came in on RBI hits from Burke and Ethan Bockelman. Highland answered with two of their own in the bottom as Ryker Miller tripled and was driven in on a Colten Sypherd ground out, before Bryce Hazelett scored on a pair of Lion errors. The Lions wasted no time getting the lead back with two in the third. Both Jack Patterson and Brock Nebergall came in on Highland errors to make it 4-2. Things stayed that way until the fifth when Lone Tree took control. The Lions sent eight to the plate, scoring four times. Harry Brenneman, Owen Eden, Burke and Bockelman all scored with the big swing a Brody Magruder two out, two RBI single. In the seventh, Bockelman drove in Burke to make it 9-3. That was more than enough for junior Jack Patterson, who locked down Highland on the mound to get the win, striking out nine and giving up just one earned run through six and a third.

The Lions out hit the Huskies 11-5 in total. Burke, Bockelman and Magruder at the top of the Lion lineup combined for seven hits, six RBI and four runs scored. Patterson also had a multi-hit night. After the game Lone Tree head coach Jacob Craven joined the KCII postgame show to talk about the keys to the win.

Craven said, “Jack (Patterson) threw great stuff. He had a good fastball, off-speed. He located well. We tell them to just throw strikes. Go out there and pound strikes. He did that tonight. I’m happy for him. He’s been our soul on the mound all season. Eleven hits for us, that’s awesome. The top three, they’ve been the soul all season. Emmett Burke is one of the best players in this conference, I’ll argue that against anyone. One of the best hitters I’ve ever seen. (Ethan) Bockelman, that duo, he doesn’t swing at bad pitches. He works the count constantly. He works walks and gets on anyway. He’s super fast, a state track kid. Brody (Magruder) had a really big swing. He’s been stepping up with some big hits lately.”

Highland was led by a two hit night with an RBI for Landon Roling. Sypherd also drove in one. He took the loss on the mound, working four and two thirds, giving up five hits, three earned runs and striking out six. Highland’s season ends at 11-14, Lone Tree advances at 7-13.

The nightcap saw the No. 8 in Class 1A Sigourney Savages put on a show for their home fans, pounding English Valleys 18-0 in just four frames. The Savages sizzled at the plate from the start. After pitcher Reid Molyneux put up a zero in the first, the Savages sent 14 to the dish in the bottom, scoring 10 runs on seven hits. Caden Clarahan had a full night in the first inning, driving in four in the frame including a three run bomb. Jake Moore had two RBI in the first, Cole McKay, Chase Clarahan and Brady Clark each had one. Moore and McKay both scored twice, Caden and Chase Clarahan, Lincoln Power, Ike Molyneux and Clark each came home once. After another zero in the top of two, three more Sigourney runs came in the bottom half, with McKay’s two RBI double and an RBI two-bagger for Moore that scored Chase Clarahan, Power and Moore. The Savages put the finishing touches on the rout with a five run third as Moore, McKay, Isaac Bruns, and Ike Molyneux all had RBI in the rally with Moore, McKay, Power, Ike Molyneux and Clark scoring. After the game, Sigourney head coach Lee Crawford gave his takeaways on the team’s performance.

Crawford commented, “I thought we had some great discipline on some pitches. Jake Moore set the tone. Cole McKay did his thing. Then Caden Clarahan got back into a groove tonight.”

The Savages out hit the Bears 14-2. Sigourney also drew four walks, were hit by four pitches and reached twice on EV errors. Eight of the nine in the Sigourney order scored a run, and seven of the nine had an RBI. Moore, McKay and Caden Clarahan at the top of the order combined on 12 hits, 12RBI and seven runs scored. Power had three runs scored, with Chase Clarahan, Ike Molyneux and Clark scoring twice each. Sigourney marches on now with an 18-4 overall record. The loss is the 44th in a row for the Bears as they end the year at 0-18. The two winners from Saturday, Sigourney and Lone Tree will now meet in Tuesday’s Class 1A District semifinal in Sigourney at 7p.m.