Grand Island baseball has ‘work to do’ after dropping Class A state-opener

OMAHA, Neb. (KSNB) - The first round of the Class A state baseball tournament began Friday in Omaha. No. 8 Grand Island made the field as a wildcard and drew top-seed Millard West for a showdown at Werner Park.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage on a leadoff home run and the offense never looked back after that. The Islanders conceded their first state tournament game since 2019 in a 10-0 run-rule loss.

“We proved we could battle with anybody and today running into Millard West, they’re the No. 1 team for a reason,” Grand Island baseball coach Kirby Wells said. “Top to bottom, 1-9 they swing it really well, they play good defense, their [pitcher] was really good today as well.”

The season isn’t over for GISH quite yet, they’ll play a win-or-go-home Monday against Gretna at 10 a.m. from Werner Park.

“The guys were excited,” Wells said. “Very proud of the season we’ve had. Super proud of our guys and the year we’ve had. We’ve still got some work to do and we’re going to hit the reset button, practice tomorrow and get after it.”

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