Wheatland claims title at NTC Tournament

Rain cuts short Zephyrs' final game on Sunday

By JEREMY WOZNICK

Star-Herald Sports Reporter

The Wheatland senior legion baseball team was crowned the champion of

this year's NTC Tournament on Sunday at Cleveland Field in

Scottsbluff.

The Lobos were the only undefeated team in the three-day tournament

with a 3-0 record. Sunday's final game between Wheatland and the

WESTCO Zephyrs was washed out because of rain.

The Rapid City Expos posted a 3-1 record to finish second in the

tournament. Alliance and Torrington both went 2-2. The Zephyrs were

1-2, while Colorado Springs Widefield and D'Evelyn (Golden, Colo.)

both went 1-3.

In Sunday's action, Widefield beat D'Evelyn 11-3, Rapid City topped

D'Evelyn 9-1, Rapid City bested Alliance 16-12 and Wheatland blanked

Torrington 12-0.

Although the Zephyrs weren't able to play their full allotment of

games in the tournament, WESTCO coach Mark Moran saw some positives

from his ball club.

"Overall, I thought we pitched pretty well and we played good

defense," Moran said. "We didn't hit the ball very well so we need to

improve on that."

Behind a 12-strikeout performance by Chase Wickard, the Zephyrs

opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over Widefield on Friday.

WESTCO's offense fell silent in both games on Saturday. D'Evelyn

recorded a 5-2 win on Saturday morning before Rapid City posted a 6-2

win in the nightcap. Nate Goodwin, Michael Hoppes and Jeremy Powell

all had solid outings on the mound in the two games. Hoppes struck

out eight in just three innings against Rapid City. However, the

Zephyrs could only muster eight hits combined offensively.

"We had guys on base in both games on Saturday," Moran said. "We just

needed that key hit. We didn't get it this weekend. But we did run

into some good pitching. All the teams threw good pitchers at us.

It's good because it's going to help us later on in the season. When

you see guys throwing good, hard fastballs and real sharp breaking

balls early in the season, it's going to help you later on because

you already have that experience."

The Zephyrs and Express will host Douglas, Wyo., on Wednesday

beginning at 5 p.m. The first 200 fans through the gate will receive

a free T-Shirt in honor of WESTCO Night.

Moran said Hoppes is scheduled to get the start on the mound for the

3-6 Zephyrs.

"We played them last year in a real close game that we won 4-3,"

Moran said of Douglas. "They were a good matchup for us. They were

real young last year so I'm guessing they return nearly all those

guys this year."