ACGC eliminates Benson/Hancock junior legion

By Sam Peterson
Swift County Monitor
The Benson/Hancock junior legion team finished the regular season with a 3-8 record, which gave them the sixth seed in the North Central Sub-State Tournament. In the first round, Benson/Hancock went on the road against the third seed Starbuck on July 19 and lost 8-5. With the loss, Benson/Hancock entered the elimination bracket and took on the seven seed Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City at home on July 23. Benson/Hancock only managed one run and fell 6-1 to ACGC to end their season.
Starbuck 8
Benson/Hancock 5
This was the third time this season Benson/Hancock faced off with Starbuck and had lost the previous two games 6-3 and 11-1. The third matchup was the closest of all three, but Starbuck still managed to earn a three-run win over Benson/Hancock in the first round.
Starbuck put Benson/Hancock on their heels right away in the game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and another in the second to take a 3-0 advantage early in the game.
The lead continued to grow when Starbuck added four runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 7-0.
Benson/Hancock finally got on the board in the top of the fifth with a single run. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ambrose Rinkenberger was hit by a pitch to allow Jeremiah Hess to score. Starbuck responded in the bottom of the fifth with a run of their own to make it 8-1.
Benson/Hancock stayed alive by going off in the top of the sixth for four runs. With two outs and the bases loaded, Gunner Curfman drew a walk to bring Landon Skarsten home. In the next at bat, a single from Max Nygaard cleared the bases to score Gunner Curfman, Anthony Aikens and Cooper Koenig to make it 8-5.

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