CHANUTE — Neosho County lost both its Paul Lindblad Tournament games before the event was cancelled on Sunday due to rain.
The team opened the tournament with a 13-1 loss to Iola on Friday.
Neosho County was only able to manage two hits in the game as they faced three All-State pitchers with Iola rotating their arms to keep pitch counts low.
“We played some tough competition and it is really good for our boys to see that sort of thing,” Neosho County coach Cody Lassman said.
The first of those pitchers was Daylon Splane, who many players on the Humboldt-heavy roster played with during the Cub high school season.
Third baseman Wyatt Seufert smiled as he waited in the on-deck circle for his turn at the plate in the first inning, stating that he was “in Daylon’s head.”
Five pitches later, Seufert was called out on strikes and — still smiling — said “I guess not” as he returned to the dugout.
Neosho County’s top performer at the plate was Dagen Goodner who was 1-for-2 with a run scored. His hit came off All-State pitcher Ben Cooper.
SATURDAY
The road did not get any easier on Saturday when Neosho County faced two-time defending state champion Ottawa.
Ottawa was able to beat Neosho County 13-3 in three innings as they mixed pitchers to try and reserve pitch counts for Sunday.
“Defensively, we are coming around,” Lassman said. “We struggled (against Iola) at the plate, but (against Ottawa) we got the bat on the ball a little. They just hit the ball well against us. I think we will be better moving forward.”
Josh Vanatta, Dagen Goodner and Seufert each pitched in the loss.
“We are trying to develop them all, because we need them all,” Lassman said of his pitching staff. “They are doing as good of a job as I can expect from them for where we are at. I’m proud of them and proud of the way we played.”
UP NEXT
Neosho County will play at Burlington in a doubleheader on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
