O'Neill Outlaws 3rd In League Tournament

O'NEILL OUTLAWS - front row (l-r):  Zeb O’ Bryan, Zach Renshaw, Wyatt Liewer, Bryce Heiser, Andrew Thompson, Josh Cuddy, Devin Jurgensmeier, Zach Wiese. Back row (l-r): coach Greg Appleby, Alex Thramer, Justin Appleby, Tyler Regan, Deven Fritz, Will Atkeson, Bailey Thompson and coach Mark Thompson.

The O'Neill Outlaws Pony League baseball team recently came home with the third place medals in the Quad County Pony League Tournament held in Neligh during the week of July 9-15. The Quad County League consists of 10 teams including:  Albion A,  Albion B, Battle Creek, Creighton, Neligh, Norfolk 1, Norfolk 2, Pierce, O'Neill Mustangs and O'Neill Outlaws.  This is only the second year the O'Neill teams have competed in the Quad County League.

The Outlaws came into the tournament with the number five seed and had to travel 40 miles down the road to face the number four seed, their cross-town foes the O'Neill Mustangs. This was a classic tight pitchers' duel between both teams throughout the game as Josh Cuddy and Justin Appleby took the hill for the Outlaws and Walker Liewer and Zach Haburchak climbed the bump for the Mustangs.  The Outlaws struck first on the night as they plated two runs in the top of the second with the use of some small ball after a Bryce Heiser double and a walk to Zach Renshaw. Great bunts from Alex Thramer and Devin Jurgensmeier plated the runs for the Outlaws.  The Mustangs responded right back in the bottom of the second with two runs on hits from Haburchak and Walker Liewer.

Pitching and good solid defense was the story for the rest of the game until the Outlaws were able to plate Josh Cuddy on a great suicide squeeze bunt from Outlaw catcher Bailey Thompson.  However, the Mustangs would not go down without a fight as in the bottom of the sixth inning, Dylan Belik hit a laser to center that was snagged by Outlaws center fielder Wyatt Liewer.  Tyson Hostert followed that first out with a triple down the right field line and that was followed by two walks to Mustang batters. Outlaws closer Justin Appleby was able to fan the final two batters to allow the Outlaws to escape with the win in a nail-biter 3-2.

Both O'Neill teams competed with great class and sportsmanship in an outstanding baseball game.  Haburchak had two hits to lead the Mustangs.  Appleby got the win in relief for the Outlaws and was aided by a strong starting performance from Josh Cuddy and a great defensive effort from Alex Thramer at second base and Wyatt Liewer in center field.  Bailey Thompson caught all 30 innings for the Outlaws in the tournament and followed that up with catching for seven more innings for the O'Neill Juniors on Sunday night in their Area Five Tournament Game.

In the Outlaws' second game of the tournament, they played the number one seeded Creighton team. The Outlaws lost 7-6, but rallied from a 7-0 deficit with two  runs in the fifth  inning and four runs in the sixth inning and left the bases loaded and had Creighton on their heels.  Hits for the Outlaws came from Bailey Thompson, Tyler Regan, Wyatt Liewer,  Zach Wiese  and Devin Jurgensmeier.  Tyler Regan, Wyatt Liewer and Bryce Heiser did a great job on the mound for the Outlaws against a very potent and experienced Creighton lineup.

The Outlaws then dropped into the loser's bracket on Saturday and downed the Norfolk 1 team 11-10.  The Outlaws juggled their pitching rotation using four pitchers to try to remain with pitchers available for Sunday and just squeaked out the win in the sixth. The Outlaws did pound out 10 hits on the game, led by a three - three performance from right fielder Devin Jurgensmeier and two hits each from Justin Appleby and Tyler Regan. Others with hits were Wyatt Liewer, Bailey Thompson, and Bryce Heiser. Appleby got the win on the mound with 1 1/3 innings of relief.  Josh Cuddy recorded the save ending the game on a double play with a liner to Regan at first who threw to second to double up the Norfolk runner after an Appleby double had plated Devin Jurgensmeier in the bottom of the fifth. 

The win over Norfolk moved the Outlaws into a rematch with the O'Neill Mustangs who had won their next two games after their loss in round one. The Mustangs won an exciting nine inning win over Albion A late on Saturday night. This one turned into another thrilling game between two very good O'Neill teams.  The Outlaws came out hot as they plated two runs in both the first and second innings to lead 4-1 going into the third inning. Josh Cuddy had a single and triple in the first two innings to spark the Outlaws offense.  The offense was also helped on a deep sacrifice fly from Bailey Thompson.  However, Mustangs starter Walker Liewer buckled down and shut down the Outlaws offense after that and only allowed one more Outlaws run in the fifth inning. Liewer threw a great game in throwing all six innings.  The Mustangs scored two runs in the third to cut the Outlaws lead to 4-3.  Josh Cuddy got the win in the game going a strong four innings and Appleby got the save in throwing the final two innings. Austin Hilker had a double to lead off the game for the Mustangs and Zach Haburchak had two hits to lead the Mustangs.

The Outlaws then had to turn around and go against a rested Battle Creek team in the Sunday afternoon heat and came out with fire as the Outlaws tallied four runs in the top of the first inning. Hits from Appleby, Heiser, Regan, Jurgensmeier  and Renshaw sparked the Outlaws outburst.  However, the Battle Creek team was ready for the challenge as they answered with three runs in the first.  The Battle Creek team was able to plate runs in all four innings to take the 16-6 win over the Outlaws. The Outlaws battled to bring the game to 9-6 with the bases loaded in the fourth but a great play from the BC third baseman thwarted the Outlaws rally and the Outlaws were eliminated from the tournament. Battle Creek went on to down Creighton twice in the two championship games to claim the Quad County League Title.  Appleby and Renshaw each had two hits against Battle Creek and Heiser and Jurgensmeier each had hits as they both had a great tournament at the plate.  The Outlaws also had great team play, defense, pinch-hitting and base running in the tournament from Andrew Thompson, Zach Wiese, Deven Fritz, Will Atkeson and Zeb O'Bryan.

The Outlaws finished the season with a 14-8 record and had an excellent season as all players were competing in their first year of Pony League as a young team against older and more experienced players and teams.  The team and all individual players improved immensely throughout the season and look forward to competing for the league title next year.

The O'Neill Mustangs also had a great year and finished in fourth place in the tournament.  Both teams were very competitive with all other towns that were mainly playing with one team throughout the season and all 27 O'Neill players should be proud of their accomplishments and should lead to a bright future for O'Neill baseball.

O'Neill Outlaws team members include:  Josh Cuddy, Justin Appleby, Bailey Thompson, Tyler Regan, Wyatt Liewer, Bryce Heiser, Zach Renshaw, Andrew Thompson, Alex Thramer, Devin Jurgensmeier, Deven Fritz, Zach Wiese, Zeb O'Bryan and Will Atkeson.

O'Neill Mustangs team members include: Austin Hilker, Tyson Hostert, Zach Haburchak, Kedron Koehler, Dylan Belik, Drew Young, Jacob Petersen, Cordelle Matthews, Walker Liewer, Jack Gutshall, Angel Castro, Jory Carson and Jon Hofer.