On Monday, June 20, Wagner traveled to White Lake to take on the Kimball-White Lake teeners. The 14Us would get off to a rough start as they fell behind 6-1 in the first inning. They would battle back, however, but would come up short by a count of 9-8.

Trasin Dilts made his first appearance on the big mound and things didn’t go as well as we had hoped as he would allow the six earned runs on four hits and four walks. Trasin gave it his all and he will improve as he gains more experience. He would give way to Malaki Segura who would come on to pitch the final three innings as this one would finish in four due to a time limit. Malaki allowed three runs, though only one of them was earned. Those runs were scored by way of three hits and three walks. He would strike out four batters.

Wagner would score their eight runs mainly by getting on base via the walk as they would draw 10 free passes. They couldn’t turn as many of those walks into runs, though, as they would only collect three hits. Frank Soukup, Preston McFayden, and Trasin Dilts would all get a hit, with McFayden’s being a double that drove in two. Javian Pesicka would draw three of the 10 Wagner walks and he scored all three times.

The 16U team would then take the field and they would cruise to a 15-1 win. The big news from this game was that Wagner lost 3rd baseman/pitcher/catcher Joey Cournoyer to a broken wrist. He will be tough to replace both in the field and at the plate. We all wish Joey a quick recovery.

Carter Cournoyer would start this game and go four innings. He allowed one unearned run on three hits and three walks while striking out nine and hitting one. Matt Link would then come on to finish things off. He pitched a scoreless inning while giving up one hit and hitting a batter.

Link was the big stick for the offense as he went 4 for 4 while scoring two runs and knocking one in. Ted Slaba was the other player with multiple hits as he had two hits and three RBI while scoring twice. Joey Cournoyer, Hunter Loeffler, Carlin Hopkins, and Daniel Soukup all had a hit. Joey would score three runs while Carter and Colby Krcil would each score twice. Wagner would collect 14 walks on the night to go along with their 10 hits.

On Wednesday, June 22, the teeners were on the road, this time traveling to Parkston for a pair of games. The 14U team struggled both at the plate and in the field as they fell to the home team by score of 6-1. Javian Pesicka started pitching and did a good job all things considered. He tossed six innings. Two of the six runs given up were earned. He struck out six, walked one and hit one.

Once again this team was only able to get three hits. Brady Cournoyer would have two of those while Trey Segura had the other. Ky Arpan would drive in the lone Wagner run on a bases loaded walk.

The nightcap game was started by Ted Slaba. He would get Wagner through five plus innings giving up three earned runs on four hits while walking two and striking out one. A side note here, Ted’s walk of a batter in the 4th inning ended his streak of consecutive innings without walking a batter at 28 2/3 innings. That’s quite the accomplishment.

When Ted came out of the game Wagner was holding a 5-2 lead. Wagner had a three run third inning that started off with singles by Daniel Soukup and Link. The next two batters would then be retired but singles by Loeffler and Krcil would bring in three runs. We would then tack on two more in the 4th without collecting a hit as we drew five walks in the inning.

Wagner would go down without a run in the 5th and 6th. After Link took over in the bottom of the 6th, the inherited runner would score to cut the lead to 5-3. Wagner would then add a couple of insurance runs in the 7th on an RBI single by Slaba and with Corbin Carda scoring on a wild pitch.

It would then come down to the final inning. The leadoff hitter would walk but would then be forced out on a fielder’s choice. Link would then strike out two of the next three batters to end the game in Wagner’s favor by a count of 7-4.

Link would pitch the two innings and give up one run on one hit while walking two, hitting one, and striking out three.

Wagner was once again quite adept at drawing walks, this time procuring 15 free passes. Daniel Soukup was the only Wagner player with multiple hits as he collected two singles. Daniel would also walk twice and score three runs. Slaba, Cournoyer, and Krcil would each add a hit and an RBI. Loeffler had one hit and two RBI on the evening. Pesicka and Link would also each have a hit.

These boys played very well against Parkston. The only thing to harp on would be that with eight hits and 15 walks a team should score more runs. And we certainly could have but we would leave 15 men on base, over two per inning. We’re doing a good job of drawing the walks, we just need to do a better job of cashing in on them.

On Friday, June 24, Wagner’s teeners would host Gayeville in two five inning contests. The 14U team started things off and came out on the short end of a 7-0 score. A common theme continues with these boys. The pitching has been more than good enough but the bats and the gloves have been severely lacking.

Frank Soukup would start this game and pitch five innings. He would give up seven runs, five of which were earned, on four hits while walking none, but hitting four, and striking out five.

Wagner was able to come up with only three hits, and only five total baserunners on the night. The hits were collected by Soukup, Brady Cournoyer, and Trasin Dilts.

The 16U game was started by Daniel Soukup with his battery mate being Carlin Hopkins, which was his first game behind the dish this year. Daniel would complete four innings giving up no runs on two hits. He would walk three, hit two, and strike out six. Hunter Loeffler would finish the game pitching one scoreless inning as Wagner would win by a count of 5-0.

Wagner’s offense was highlighted by an inside the park home run by Matt Link. Carter Cournoyer would double and hit a sacrifice fly. Daniel Soukup stayed hot as he singled twice in as many at bats. Loeffler would add a double and Ted Slaba a single to account for the other Wagner hits. The mostly quiet night at the plate was aided by three Gayeville errors that allowed us to score four runs in one inning.

On Saturday, June 25, Wagner’s 14U teeners hosted a 14U team from Parkston and would come up on the short end of a 12-3 score. Preston McFayden was Wagner’s starting pitcher. Preston would pitch three innings and give up 10 runs, with seven being of the earned variety. He walked five and struck out five and gave up nine hits. Malaki Segura would come on to pitch two innings. He would give up two unearned runs on two hits while walking two and striking out one.

Wagner would only collect four hits in this game. One of those was a two RBI single by Javian Pesicka. Malaki Segura also had a hit and an RBI. McFayden would add a double while Trasin Dilts added one hit.

Wagner’s 14U record is currently 5-9.

On Saturday, June 25, Wagner’s 16U squad hosted Winner in a doubleheader. The first game was quite the roller coaster. Wagner found themselves down 9-4 after three innings. They would then add two runs in the 4th, put up a nine spot in the 5th inning, and add two more in the 6th to take a 17-10 lead. Unfortunately, things would come undone in the 7th inning as Winner would score eight to come away with the 18-17 victory.

Carlin Hopkins would start for Wagner and go 2.1 innings giving up nine earned runs on eight hits, three walks, and three hit batters while striking out two. Hunter Loffler then came on to go 4.1 innings and give up six runs, three of which were earned, on five hits while walking six and striking out two. Ted Slaba would finish and take the loss as he would give up three runs with one being earned.

Matt Link and Colby Krcil would each collect three hits for Wagner. Slaba, Frank Soukup, Javian Pesicka, and Carter Cournoyer would each have two hits with one of Carter’s being a bases loaded double. Hopkins and Loeffler would each have one hit.

The second contest was more of a game and the nicest thing about it was that we got to end the day on a positive note with an 11-6 win. Carter Cournoyer pitched six innings to earn the win. All six runs allowed were earned. He showed excellent control as he walked no one and struck out seven while allowing eight hits. Link would pitch the final frame to finish things out.

Slaba, Cournoyer, and Frank Soukup each had two hits with Cournoyer driving in two runs. Hopkins had a big two-out bases loaded triple to give Wagner some breathing room late in the game. Loffler, Link, Krcil, and Daniel Soukup would each have a hit in this one with Link scoring three runs and driving in one.

Wagner’s 16U record currently sits at 11-4.