The Plainview Post #148 Senior Legion baseball team saw its 2025 season come to an end with a loss to Crofton in the 2025 Nebraska Senior Legion Class C Area One tournament in Orchard on Saturday, July 26.
Plainview entered the 2025 Class C Area One tournament with a season record of 6-11, which landed the squad the number six seed.
Post 148 was joined in the tournament by Hartington, Tri County, Crofton, Ponca, and Creighton.
In Plainview’s final game of the season, the squad took on Crofton at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 26 after losing its first game of the tournament the day prior.
In the win-or-go-home contest against Crofton, Plainview started out strong as it managed to plate two runs on an RBI fielder’s choice off of a ground ball by Caden Ickler to make the score 2-2 after one complete inning.
Crofton responded to Plainview’s game-tying runs with grace, however, and managed three more runs over the next two innings to take a 5-2 lead into the fourth.
From there, the game stood still, as neither squad managed much offensive production.
However, after Crofton plated three more runs in the top of the sixth to make the score 8-2, Plainview was finally able to get its bats going again.
In the bottom of the sixth, behind an RBI single by Karter Lingenfelter, an RBI ground ball by Rece Frahm, and an RBI single by Kaleb Gardner, Plainview scored four runs to get back within two with one inning still to play.
That, however, was as close as Plainview got to making the comeback, as Crofton held Plainview scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to earn the 8-6 win and end Post 148’s season.
Leading the way for Plainview in its final game of the season was Ickler and Frahm, who finished with two RBIs each.
Just one day prior to the squad’s season-ending loss to Crofton, Plainview started off its 2025 Clas C Area One tournament journey with a battle against the tournament’s number one seed, Hartington, on Friday, July 25.
Despite Hartington’s better regular-season record and much higher seed, Plainview showed no fear and nearly pulled off what would’ve been the upset of the tournament.
Throughout the first five innings of the first-round contest, the matchup was a defensive masterpiece, as neither offense managed to put a run on the board.
Going to work on the mound for Plainview was Ty Diedrichsen, who gave up just one hit through the first five innings of play and allowed zero runs.
Unfortunately, while Diedrichsen and the Plainview defense were standing ground, Plainview’s bats couldn’t produce what it needed to in order to capitalize and take the lead, and the contest remained 0-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.
Unfortunately, that was when Hartington’s patience at the plate finally paid off.
Behind two hit-by-pitches, a walk, a wild pitch, and a ground ball, Hartington managed to scrape together two runs to go up 2-0 and put Plainview just three outs away from a first-round loss.
Despite not scoring a run the entire game up to this point, Plainview responded to the adversity well, and with a walk followed by an RBI single by Gage Walton, Plainview was back to within one run with just one out on the board and the tying run on first base.
After the RBI single, Hartington elected to intentionally walk Cooper Aerhart, which put the game-winning run on first base for Post 148.
However, despite the pressure of the situation, Hartington settled in and did what it needed to do to get the next two Plainview batters out before Post 148 could score another run.
This final effort from the Hartington boys awarded them the 2-1 victory, and sent Plainview down to the loser’s bracket.
Leading the way for Plainview in its highly-contested first-round loss was Diedrichsen, who hurled ten strikeouts on 5.2 innings pitched and allowed just two earned runs.
With an 0-2 performance at the Class C Area One Senior Legion tournament, Plainview finished its 2025 season with a record of 6-13.