The Lansing Reds finally broke through at the American Legion Class A state tournament on Saturday, collecting their first state tournament win in nine years en route to a fourth-place finish. The Reds went 2-2 in the tournament, recovering from a Friday night loss to Hays to beat Andover Saturday and Pratt Sunday before being eliminated by the Salina Eagles on Sunday evening.
The fourth-place finish, head coach Jake Hanson said, was the best for a Lansing team at the state tournament.
“That’s the furthest Lansing has ever gotten,” Hanson said. “We got into the top half, and that’s something we were shooting for.”
After going two-and-out the past two years at state and falling again on Friday, earning a 6-3 win over the Andover Trojans was much needed, Hanson said.
“It was great to get that first one,” the Reds coach said. “It’s been a long time since we were able to pull off a win at the state tournament. And I think getting that first one had a lot to do with getting the second win. We found out it was possible. The kids really came together, it was a pretty well-played ballgame.”
Mike Miller started and earned the win on the mound, battling soreness to go four innings. Tyler Hoyt relieved for the second straight night before Zak Haller was called in to close to door by getting the final out.
“Mike started, he’s been dealing with elbow soreness so we didn’t know how much he’d be able to give us, but he went four strong innings,” Hanson said. “He gave up a few runs, but we responded. Hoyt came in and threw great for a couple innings and was able to get two outs in the seventh before he gave up a couple of hits. I brought Zak in, and he had to come out from behind the plate to get the last guy, which is a tough transition to make. The tying run was at the plate and he struck out the last hitter. It was a good win.”
The Reds’ next win came in dramatic fashion, plating a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to notch a 7-6 win over Pratt to stay alive on Sunday afternoon. Lansing had led 4-0 early, but Pratt rallied back to tie the game at 6-all heading into the bottom half of the final frame.
“It came down to the bottom of the seventh,” Hanson said. “Zak (Haller) led off with a base hit. Mike Miller was next, and he had had a rough tournament up to that spot, but he came up with a huge sac bunt. Ryan Dillon was pinch-running for Zak, so the bunt moved him over and then Clayton Pfrimmer hit one in the left-center gap and Dillon scored on a pretty close play at the plate. He beat the throw by about a step. We were all excited of course.”
“Clayton had struggled up to that point too, it was his first hit of the tournament. Mike’s not normally someone I would bunt, but he really came through. It was a great bunt down the third-base line. That was a great win for our kids and it kept us around for another few hours.”
With pitching wearing thin in just the third outing of the double-elimination tournament, Bryan Courtney took the mound to start the game and pitched six-plus innings to help the Reds to the win.
“We were already running short on pitching since Zak and Hoyt had each thrown two days in a row and Mike threw the day before,” Hanson said. “But Bryan came out with strikes. He bore down and got the first few hitters and got us into the dugout. Bryan was just going through the order, just locating his fastball and we made good plays on defense. It was great.”
On the whole, Hanson said the first half of the Pratt game was some of the best baseball the Reds had played all year.
“We played as well those first four innings as we did all season. We were talking and communicating. It was great.”
Pratt started inching closer, with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth, before tying things up two innings later. A Reds error helped to plate all three of those seventh-inning runs, but with the help of another solid relief performance by Haller they shut the door before Pratt could ever pull ahead.
“I had to bring Zak in to finish the final two innings, He got the win,” Hanson said. “I brought Zak in in a real tough spot and he responded again.”
The pitching shortage doomed the Reds in an 18-2 elimination loss to the Salina Eagles.
“We ran out of pitching. We went through about six pitchers. A few of the guys got hit around a little bit and a couple had trouble finding the strike zone,” the Lansing coach explained. “Salina was hot too, they hit several through our infield and dropped several in front of our outfielders.”
That paired with miscues in the field put the Reds in a big hole.
“We had a bad inning with three or four errors that were strung together,” Hanson said. “Our kids know they can’t make multiple errors in an inning, let along mixing walks in there, but they kept their heads up and handled it well. I was proud of how they responded, it was definitely a learning experience.”
Getting some younger guys state tournament experience, Hanson added, was a bonus of staying in the tournament for four games.
“The best thing about the tournament was that every kid had an opportunity to make a contribution. Danial Wilson came in on the mound and threw pretty well. He had a strikeout in the last inning and that was something we hadn’t been able to do (in that game). For a kid who’s going to be a freshman, for his first time throwing in a state tournament, that’s just good experience for him. And he also made a key play against Andover. ... Ryan Dillon came in to score the game-winner against Pratt pinch running. There wasn’t a kid who didn’t make a big play. ... It was really a good experience for the boys.”
Complete stats for the final three state tournament games were unavailable at press time.
Lansing will look to build on the fourth-place finish at state as they head into the American Legion Post 23 League tournament this week as the No. 1 seed. The Reds will play on Friday at 8 p.m., taking on the winner of a Thursday game against the Leavenworth Knights and LV Diamond Jaxx.
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The Lansing Reds finally broke through at the American Legion Class A state tournament on Saturday, collecting their first state tournament win in nine years en route to a fourth-place finish. The Reds went 2-2 in the tournament, recovering from a Friday night loss to Hays to beat Andover Saturday and Pratt Sunday before being eliminated by the Salina Eagles on Sunday evening.
The fourth-place finish, head coach Jake Hanson said, was the best for a Lansing team at the state tournament.
“That’s the furthest Lansing has ever gotten,” Hanson said. “We got into the top half, and that’s something we were shooting for.”
After going two-and-out the past two years at state and falling again on Friday, earning a 6-3 win over the Andover Trojans was much needed, Hanson said.
“It was great to get that first one,” the Reds coach said. “It’s been a long time since we were able to pull off a win at the state tournament. And I think getting that first one had a lot to do with getting the second win. We found out it was possible. The kids really came together, it was a pretty well-played ballgame.”
Mike Miller started and earned the win on the mound, battling soreness to go four innings. Tyler Hoyt relieved for the second straight night before Zak Haller was called in to close to door by getting the final out.
“Mike started, he’s been dealing with elbow soreness so we didn’t know how much he’d be able to give us, but he went four strong innings,” Hanson said. “He gave up a few runs, but we responded. Hoyt came in and threw great for a couple innings and was able to get two outs in the seventh before he gave up a couple of hits. I brought Zak in, and he had to come out from behind the plate to get the last guy, which is a tough transition to make. The tying run was at the plate and he struck out the last hitter. It was a good win.”
The Reds’ next win came in dramatic fashion, plating a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to notch a 7-6 win over Pratt to stay alive on Sunday afternoon. Lansing had led 4-0 early, but Pratt rallied back to tie the game at 6-all heading into the bottom half of the final frame.
“It came down to the bottom of the seventh,” Hanson said. “Zak (Haller) led off with a base hit. Mike Miller was next, and he had had a rough tournament up to that spot, but he came up with a huge sac bunt. Ryan Dillon was pinch-running for Zak, so the bunt moved him over and then Clayton Pfrimmer hit one in the left-center gap and Dillon scored on a pretty close play at the plate. He beat the throw by about a step. We were all excited of course.”
“Clayton had struggled up to that point too, it was his first hit of the tournament. Mike’s not normally someone I would bunt, but he really came through. It was a great bunt down the third-base line. That was a great win for our kids and it kept us around for another few hours.”
With pitching wearing thin in just the third outing of the double-elimination tournament, Bryan Courtney took the mound to start the game and pitched six-plus innings to help the Reds to the win.
“We were already running short on pitching since Zak and Hoyt had each thrown two days in a row and Mike threw the day before,” Hanson said. “But Bryan came out with strikes. He bore down and got the first few hitters and got us into the dugout. Bryan was just going through the order, just locating his fastball and we made good plays on defense. It was great.”
On the whole, Hanson said the first half of the Pratt game was some of the best baseball the Reds had played all year.
“We played as well those first four innings as we did all season. We were talking and communicating. It was great.”
Pratt started inching closer, with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth, before tying things up two innings later. A Reds error helped to plate all three of those seventh-inning runs, but with the help of another solid relief performance by Haller they shut the door before Pratt could ever pull ahead.
“I had to bring Zak in to finish the final two innings, He got the win,” Hanson said. “I brought Zak in in a real tough spot and he responded again.”
The pitching shortage doomed the Reds in an 18-2 elimination loss to the Salina Eagles.
“We ran out of pitching. We went through about six pitchers. A few of the guys got hit around a little bit and a couple had trouble finding the strike zone,” the Lansing coach explained. “Salina was hot too, they hit several through our infield and dropped several in front of our outfielders.”
That paired with miscues in the field put the Reds in a big hole.
“We had a bad inning with three or four errors that were strung together,” Hanson said. “Our kids know they can’t make multiple errors in an inning, let along mixing walks in there, but they kept their heads up and handled it well. I was proud of how they responded, it was definitely a learning experience.”
Getting some younger guys state tournament experience, Hanson added, was a bonus of staying in the tournament for four games.
“The best thing about the tournament was that every kid had an opportunity to make a contribution. Danial Wilson came in on the mound and threw pretty well. He had a strikeout in the last inning and that was something we hadn’t been able to do (in that game). For a kid who’s going to be a freshman, for his first time throwing in a state tournament, that’s just good experience for him. And he also made a key play against Andover. ... Ryan Dillon came in to score the game-winner against Pratt pinch running. There wasn’t a kid who didn’t make a big play. ... It was really a good experience for the boys.”
Complete stats for the final three state tournament games were unavailable at press time.
Lansing will look to build on the fourth-place finish at state as they head into the American Legion Post 23 League tournament this week as the No. 1 seed. The Reds will play on Friday at 8 p.m., taking on the winner of a Thursday game against the Leavenworth Knights and LV Diamond Jaxx.
