It was a gutsy come-from-behind performance by the Fairbury Jeffs baseball team. On April 8, the Jeffs faced Centennial and came away with an 11-10 victory, ending a six game losing streak.
Centennial looked sharp on offense to start the game, going up 5-0 in the first inning. Keeping their heads down, the Jeffs scored one run in the second and stopped the offense by the Broncos to cut the lead to 5-1 in favor of Centennial going into the third inning.
A 4-0 third inning put the Jeffs in a bind. Down 9-1, the Fairbury offense rallied, scoring four runs in the fifth inning, holding Centennial scoreless. It was 9-5 in favor of Centennial when the Broncos scored one run in the sixth.
In the final inning, the Jeffs outscored Centennial 6-0 to take the lead and get the ‘W.’
Leading FHS in hits was sophomore Dakotah Neumiller, picking up four hits and two RBI. Leading the Jeffs in RBI was CJ Goeking, with three hits and four RBI on the day.
Lucas Livingston had one hit and two RBI while senior Grady Chappell had two hits and one RBI. Garrett Roelfs had one hit and one RBI while Dom Joe had one hit as did Jamison Runge.
FHS had 10 RBI while the Broncos had eight.
The Jeffs had a definite advantage in stealing bases, racking up eight in the game, while Centennial had only three. Leading FHS with three on the day was Neumiller while Goeking had two. Jacob Nippert, Chappell and Runge each had one stolen base.
FHS only committed two errors in the game while Centennial had four.
On the mound, Miles Tatro had four strikeouts and Nippert had three.
On Thursday, the Jeffs hosted Falls City. What started out looking like a windy game for FHS wound up being smooth sailing as the Jeffs won 6-1. Falls City jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but a 5-0 offensive explosion in the third put FHS up 5-1. Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth inning but the Jeffs tacked on a run in the sixth for good measure. FHS out-hit Falls City 8-3 and the Tigers held a 5-1 advantage in errors over the Jeffs.
Dom Joe and Grady Chappell led FHS with two hits each. Lucas Livingston had a double in the game while Jacob Nippert proved clutch for the home team, knocking in two RBI on one hit. Dakotah Neumiller had one hit and one RBI while Landon McBride had one hit and one RBI on a double for the Jeffs.
Chappell and Neumiller each picked up a stolen base in the contest.
On the mound, Joe looked to be in fine form, striking out 11 Falls City batters, giving up only two hits, pitching a complete game.
