The Abilene Rebels baseball team wrapped up the Alumni Game weekend with a double-header sweep of Salina on Sunday. On Saturday, this year’s current Rebels team played a team of former members in the 6th Annual ABC Alumni Game, in which the Alumni team won 4-2 in a scheduled nine-inning game. On Sunday, the Rebels defeated Salina by run-rule in two five-inning games, both by a score of 12-0. Trenton Jurgensen tossed a five-strikeout no-hitter in Sunday’s opener and Noah Wildman went 6-7 at the plate in the two games.

In Game One on Sunday, Abilene scored three runs in their first at-bat as Wildman led-off with a single and scored, Jurgensen walked and later scored, Trey Hoerner was hit-by-a-pitch and scored, Bryce Riekeman singled to drive in two, and Glen Friederich hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a run. The Rebels led 3-0 after one inning of play.

The second inning saw the Rebels’ offense continue to roll by plating five more runs. Keaton Hocker led the inning off with a double to the wall in left field and later scored, Cade Mills and Adam Osland both walked and scored, Wildman had a two-RBI double to right-center, Alex Fetters tripled to right field driving in two, and Riekeman singled to bring in a run. In the Abilene half of the third inning, Friederich singled and scored, Hocker singled and scored, Osland walked and scored, Wildman singled to drive in two, and Jurgensen singled in a run. The Rebels only sent three to the plate in their half of the fourth inning, but they sent Salina down in order to get the run-rule in five innings, 12-0.

“Our defense was really on in this game and Trenton pitched really well, which was nice to see for his first outing,” said Abilene coach Billy Hansen. “I had him scheduled for no more than around 75 pitches, and he stayed well below that. I also liked how we were aggressive at the plate and put the ball in play.”

On the mound for Abilene, Jurgensen pitched a complete-game no-hitter striking out five and walked only one with some solid defensive play behind him. Offensively for the Rebels, Wildman went 3-3 with three runs scored and four RBI, Riekeman was 3-3 with three RBI and a stolen base, Hocker went 2-2 with two runs scored, Friederich was 1-2 with a run scored and a sacrifice, and Fetters went 1-3 with a run scored and a RBI.

In the nightcap, it was more of the same with good pitching and solid offense for Abilene. Osland got the start on the mound and kept the Salina offense off the scoreboard in his first start of the year. Salina’s only hit of the night, was a single in the first inning of Game Two. Wildman again led the game off with a single and he later scored, Hocker reached on an error and scored, and Hoerner singled to drive in a run for the early 3-0 lead.

In the second inning, Osland reached on an error and scored, Bret Ambrosier had a nice bunt single and later scored, Wildman doubled to drive in a run, Riekman had a RBI single, and Hoerner singled. A big third inning for the Rebels sealed the game up as Abilene scored six runs. Roman Sanchez walked and scored, Osland singled and later scored, Ambrosier reached on an error and scored, Wildman hit a two RBI double and would score, Riekeman was hit-by-a-pitch and scored, Hoerner reached on an error to drive in a run, and Richie Clemente reached on an error to bring in a run. Again, the Rebels would send just three to the plate in their half of the fourth, but would get the run-rule in five innings, 12-0.

“This second game was almost like watching the first game…it was really odd how identical both games were,” Hansen said. Adam was pretty good for his first time out this season. The plan was also to not have him throw too many pitches, as he was coming back from a minor arm issue, but he looked good. Alex was solid in relief too in striking out five of the six batters he faced.”

For the Rebels on the mound, Osland pitched three innings striking out five, walked one, allowed one hit, and hit a batter. Fetters tossed two innings in relief striking out five, walked none, and allowed no hits.

Offensively for Abilene, Wildman was 3-4 with three runs scored and three RBI, Hoerner went 2-3 with two runs scored and two RBI, Ambrosier was 1-2 with two runs scored and was hit by a pitch, Riekeman went 1-2 with a run scored, a sacrifice, and a RBI, and Osland was 1-3 with two runs scored.

Up next for Abilene is their first road trip this Tuesday. They will be in Hillsboro for a double-header beginning at 6pm. From what Coach Hansen understands, this is basically the CVL team who Abilene defeated three out of four times they played last season, but is the team who ended their season too last year at the State Tournament in Wellington.

In this past Saturday’s ABC Alumni Game fundraiser, the Alumni team won a fun and hard-fought 4-2 contest. The Abilene Baseball Club thanks the former players who participated or helped with the festivities, including:  Quinn Barrett, Coach Randy Barrett, Kerry McDonnell, Slade Volkman, Dalton Belzer, Aaron Rodda, Weston Riffel, Hayden Karraker, Carson Sherbert, Chase Mayes, Dakota Faulkner, Wyatt Youtsey, Vic Clark, Dillon Tarn, and Dalton Millican. Also thanks for their help off the field to Cathy Hansen, Deb Carlson, Caitlyn Fink, and Kristine Barrett. Thank you to all who purchased t-shirts as well to support the club. The 7th Annual ABC Alumni Game is planned for Saturday, June 1, 2019.