Bombers explode in home opener

Written by Andy Brown

Wednesday, 01 July 2009 07:00

Louisburg Bomber shortstop Alex Gentges reaches for a ground ball during the June 23 home opener at Lewis-Young Park. The Bombers swept Baldwin City with a 10-2 win in the first game, and Baldwin forfeited the second game. (Photo by Andy Brown)

Three weeks into the season, the Louisburg Bombers finally got to take the field on their home turf.

Inclement weather and tournament play have kept the Bombers away from Lewis-Young Park, but the June 23 doubleheader with Baldwin City was well worth the wait for many of the players.

Louisburg exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning of the opener and went on for a 10-2 victory over Baldwin City. The Bombers earned the sweep and didn’t have to play the nightcap. Baldwin City forfeited the second game due to the heat and lack of players.

“That was a great win for us in front of a home town crowd,” Louisburg coach Dan Henderson said. “It felt good to open with a win after going 3-6 on the road against some solid Legion programs in Burlington and Iola. Three of our losses were decided by one or two runs so I think our guy’s were really wanting this win at home.”

The Bombers (5-8) added Ottawa to their schedule late to get some more games in and fell to the older Ottawa squad 11-0 and 13-1 during a doubleheader Thursday at Lewis-Young.

The American Legion Post No. 250 team took a 2-2 game into the fifth inning, and the Baldwin City pitchers couldn’t find the plate. The Bombers took advantage of nine walks to score the eight runs with two fielder’s choices mixed in.

Cody Lambeth led the Louisburg bats with a two-for-two performance, while Alex Gentges, Adam Henderson, Jesse Morland and Chad Turney added a hit a piece.

“That was a close game all the way in to the fifth,” Henderson said. “The Baldwin starter had thrown a great game to that point but started to wear down and I think our guy’s sensed it, and took advantage of the opportunity he and the other two relievers provided us.”

Adam Henderson provided the Bombers with another solid start. Henderson pitched a complete game and allowed just two earned runs, five hits and had seven strikeouts.

“Adam had a solid outing on the hill,” Henderson said. “He gave up a couple nice hits early in the game when he floated his slider but seemed to settle in and get stronger as the game went on.”

Against Ottawa, the Bombers knew they were in for an uphill battle. Ottawa has many of the high school players on its roster that finished third at the Class 4A state tournament in May. Plus, many of them are at least two years older than the oldest Louisburg player.

In the opener, Ottawa scored six in the second and four more in the fourth to complete the run-rule victory. Taylor Caskey, Lambeth and Morland each had a hit for Louisburg in the loss.

The nightcap started well for Louisburg. Starter Anthony Juarez held Ottawa in check into the fourth inning and the Bombers had a 1-0 lead at the time.

However, Ottawa scored two runs in the fourth and fifth innings, three in the sixth and six in the seventh to complete the win. Adam Henderson and Juarez had the lone hits for Louisburg.

“The Ottawa team is 18 -0 right now and firing on all cylinders,” Henderson said. “They make few mistakes, they hit the ball very well, and they have a solid cadre of pitchers. This team took third in the 4A state championship at Salina and have since added to that mix of players. They are where we would like our program to be in a couple years, and I think our young guy’s got a first hand accounting of what it takes to play at that level.”

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry