Broncos Fall in Extras to Silver Lake, Will Face Burlington for Third Place
MANHATTAN-The Russell-Victoria Broncos Baseball team's hopes for a Class 3A State Championship came to an end on Wednesday with a 2-1 loss in eight innings to Silver Lake in the Class 3A State Semifinals at Tointon Family Stadium.
The game between the fourth-seeded Broncos and eighth-seeded Eagles was scoreless through three innings. In the top of the fourth, Silver Lake's Drew Womack led off by reaching on an error then scored one out later on a bloop RBI double by Miles Kibbee which gave Silver Lake a 1-0 lead. Russell-Victoria starting pitcher Sam Thielen then avoided further damage when he got Ben Renfro to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Thielen was in a battle with Silver Lake Pitcher Dayne Johnson who allowed just one hit the entire game, an infield single by Max Evans in the bottom of the fourth. The Broncos broke through in the bottom of the sixth when Jaxon Ross led off with a walk and was lifted for pinch-runner Kooper Hamlin. Hamlin then stole second when second baseman Lane Rey dropped the throw from catcher Dominic Monhollon. Hamlin moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Walker Middleton who collided with Womack at first base. Bronco coaches argued there was interference but the umpires ruled none had occurred. Thielen then lifted a fly ball to left field which was caught by Silver Lake's Jax Ross who then dropped the ball allowing Hamlin to score to tie the game 1-1. It was thought that Ross had committed an error but Thielen was not able to remain at first base as the umpires ruled that Ross dropped the ball on the transfer from his glove to his hand.
Earlier, it appeared Russell-Victoria was going to have a golden scoring opportunity when Kyle Huser led off the bottom of the fifth by lacing a ball that was heading to the left field corner only to be robbed thanks to an outstanding catch by Ross.
The Broncos looked poised to win the game and advance to their first ever State Championship contest in the bottom of the seventh, but Evans, who broke the state record for most hits in a season with his 55th on the infield single, grounded out to third and Wes Dreiling and Huser were retired behind him, sending the game to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Bo Decker who had just entered the contest in right field made a spectacular catch on the inning's first pitch when he ran down a long fly ball Womack. However, the next batter, Kipton Kruger lined a triple into the right field corner and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kibbee to give the Eagles the lead once more. Johnson then set Russell-Victoria down in order in the bottom of the eighth, sending Silver Lake (18-11) to the State Finals where they will face number seven seed Girard on Friday, May 29 at 4 p.m.
Trey Zorn (5-2) took the loss in relief for Russell-Victoria (23-6) and the Broncos will now face third-seeded Burlington for Third Place on Thursday, May 28 at 5:45 p.m. The Wildcats lost a 2-1 decision of their own to Girard in Wednesday's other semifinal. The Broncos will seek their third 3rd Place finish at State after similar finishes in 2014 and 2016.
Thursday's game, which will be the final game of the 2026 season will be broadcast live on KRSL 95.9 FM, online at KRSL.com and streamed on Alexa devices.