Islanders blank Fremont, advance to district final
GRAND ISLAND — Grand Island was dominant in all three facets of the game — pitching, hitting and defense — on its way to an 8-0 home victory over Fremont Friday in the Class A, District 6 semifinals at Ashley Park.
The No. 10-rated (Omaha World-Herald) and second-seeded Islanders advanced to play at top-seeded Papillion-La Vista South at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the A-6 final with a berth in the state baseball tournament at stake.
Against the Tigers (11-18), Brock Cushing pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout to earn the win. The junior right-hander struck out 13 and walked one, throwing 76 strikes in a 106-pitch outing, as Grand Island played error-free defense behind him.
Sam Schroeder was 4 for 4 at the plate with a RBI to lead the Islanders’ 11-hit attack. Grayson Sack was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Gabe Ruiz hit a three-run homer for Grand Island (19-8), which had previously beat Fremont 7-4 on the road back on April 17.
The Islanders got all the offense they would need with a four-run fourth. Schroeder opened the scoring with a run-scoring single before Ruiz plated three more, blasting his first home run of the season.
Sack had a two-run single in the fourth, extending Grand Island’s lead to 6-0. In the sixth, Ian Arends stole home on the back end of a double steal and Ethan Mader added a RBI single for the Islanders.
Papillon-La Vista South (17-8) beat Lincoln North Star 6-0 in its A-6 semifinal Friday. Grand Island edged the Titans 2-1 in their previous meeting on April 10 at the Lincoln Northeast Triangular.
Six district champions and two wild-card teams will advance to the state tournament. The Islanders are sixth in the Class A wild card standings entering their district final.
Grand Island 8, Fremont 0
Fremont (11-18)……….000 000 0—0 5 3
Grand Island (19-8)….004 202 x—8 11 0
W—Brock
Cushing. L—Jaxon Moore. 2B—Grand Island, Miles Nelson, Sam Schroeder. HR—Grand Island, Gabe Ruiz.