PONCA — Between South Sioux City Post 307 ace Will Rohde and Ponca starter Kyan Byrne, it was quite a pitchers’ duel.
The two pitchers combined for 27 strikeouts on the night, but some key hits late helped the visitors eke out a 4-1 win over the Post 117 Juniors in action Monday night at the Ponca Sports Complex.
Ponca got the first threat of the night in the bottom of the first inning when Byrne led off with a double to left, but he advanced no further as Rohde settled down to strike out the side.
South Sioux would get its first chance to score in the third inning when Brody Barnett legged out a triple after smashing one into the gap in right center. Barnett was left stranded after Byrne was able to strike out Brayson Berg and encouraged a Brady O’Dell infield fly to end the threat.
The visitors again had a chance to score in the fourth after a one-out double by Charlie Aitken, but were left wanting as Byrne got back-to-back strikeouts to end that opportunity.
Ponca loaded the bases in the fifth. Ben Coughlin reached on a one-out single to left, Luke Jackson walked and Colby Rohde’s two-out infield single was followed by a pop-out by Byrne that ended that rally.
The ice was finally broken in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back singles by Berg and O’Dell got the SSC rally started, and two batters later, Aitken took a 1-0 pitch toward the wall in right center and both Berg and O’Dell raced home for the first two runs of the game.
Ponca got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Hudson O’Dell singled, stole two bases and scored on a Gunnar James groundout to make it 2-1. SSC would put it out of reach in the top of the seventh, though, as Berg had an RBI double and scored on a Ponca miscue. Will Rohde set Ponca down in order to end the game and give SSC the win.
SSC outhit Ponca 7-5 in the contest. Aitken had two doubles, O’Dell and Berg each had two hits and Brody Barnett added a triple. Five Ponca players hit safely, including Byrne’s double and singles by Hudson O’Dell, Pierce Ehlers, Ben Coughlin and Colby Rohde.
Both starters pitched fantastic games. Will Rohde struck out 15 and walked only one on 99. pitches, while Byrne had 12 K’s and no walks on 91 pitches over six innings. Dayton Mari struck out three in an inning of relief for Post 117.
