By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Larned Babe Ruth baseball finishes 1-2
Larned Babe Ruth Champions
The Kansas Babe Ruth 15-and-under state champions from Larned features front rowTrevor Bartz, Jacob Grosfield, Jack Stelter, Colin Labouchardiere, Gunnar Cline, Ian Orth; back rowCoach Kyle LeRoy, Coach Chad Erway, Carlos Ibarra, Kaden Pontius, Logan Erway, Dillan Smith, Aidan Symth, Mello Bryant, Coach Russell Smyth.

JUNCTION CITY — Albany, Minn. eliminated Larned 4-1 Tuesday from the Central Plains Babe Ruth Regional 15-and-under baseball tournament. Albany finished 3-0 in pool play and plays Scott County, Iowa in the semifinals.
Larned finished 1-2 in pool play, beating Pioneer, Colo. 20-1 and losing 9-0 to Bismarck, N.D. Larned’s coaches are Kyle LeRoy, Chad Erway and Russell Smyth.
The Babe Ruth champion qualifies for the Babe Ruth World Series Aug. 9-16 at Longview, Wash.

ALBANY, MINN. 4, LARNED 1 — Mello Bryant scored Larned’s tying run on a second-inning wild pitch. Bryant singled and stole second and third base. The rally fizzled when Kaden Pontius was thrown out at third base. Ian Orth and Dillan Smith also singled.
Larned starter Dillan Smith limited Albany to two runs in his first six innings. Albany string together three first-inning singles for a run. A hit batter scored in the fourth inning. A pair of bases-loaded walks handed Albany two seventh-inning runs.

LARNED 20, PIONEER, COLO. 1 — Aidan Smyth and Jack Stelter each drove home three runs to spark Larned past Colorado. Larned scored 15 runs in the second inning. Colorado pitchers passed out 12 walks and hit six batters. Pitchers Mello Bryant and Stelter combined to work five innings.
Dillan Smith and Bryant delivered RBI singles and Gunnar Cline drove home a run on a first-inning groundout. In the second inning, Stelter drilled a three-run double and Aidan Smyth drove home three runs with a pair of singles. Bryant and Trevor Bartz drove in runs. Smyth and Logan Erway scored on errors. Five runs scored on hit batters, bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch.
Kaden Pontius doubled home two runs in a two-run third inning.

BISMARCK, N.D. 9, LARNED 0 — Bismarck pitcher Peyton Eagleson struck out seven batters and threw a one-hit shutout. Kaden Pontius singled for Larned’s base hit. Bismrack’s Seth Dietz and Jack Johnson each drove home two runs.
Larned pitcher Aidan Smyth yielded five earned runs and struck out four batters.

BABE RUTH 15 AND UNDER
MIDWEST PLAINS REGIONAL
Winner qualifies Babe Ruth World Series
Aug. 9-16, Longview, Wash.
AMERICAN POOL—Scott County, Iowa 10, Alliance Neb. 0; Charleston, Mo. 18, Junction City 0; Charleston 5, Scott County 2; Charleston 16, Alliance 1; Scott County 8, Junction City 1
NATIONAL POOL—Albany, Minn 27, Pioneer, Colo. 0; Bismarck, N.D. 9, Larned 0; Albany 10, Bismarck 0; Larned 20, Pioneer 1; Albany 4, Larned 1; Bismarck 25, Pioneer .0

WEDNESDAY SEMIFINALS—Albany, Minn. (3-0) vs. Scott County, Iowa (2-1); Charleston, Mo. (3-0) vs. Bismarck, N.D. (2-1)  

ALBANY, MINN. 4, LARNED 1 

Albany, Minn. 100 100 2 — 4 12 0
Larned 010 00 0 — 1 3 2
Robert, Tanner (7) and Jones. Smith, Smyth (7) and Stelter. W—Robert. L—Smith. 3B—M—Ethan.

LARNED 20, PIONEER, COLO. 1 

Colorado 010 00 — 1 1 2
Larned 3(15)2 0x — 20 9 5
Kearse, McKinney (2), Lambert (2) and Martinez. Bryant, Stelter (3) and Stelter. W—Bryant. L—Kearse. 2B—L—Pontius, Stelter.

BISMARCK, N.D. 9, LARNED 0 

Larned 000 00 — 0 1 4
Bismarck 300 204 x — 9 6 0
Aidan Smyth, Erway (6) and Stelter. Eagleston, Patton (7) and Berger. W—Eagleson. L—Smyth. 2B—B—Walker.