Miller's Pitching Gem Sends Broncos to Doane Bracket GPAC Final
(Crete, NE) – The Hastings Broncos advanced to the Doane Bracket GPAC Championship game, thanks to a terrific pitching performance by senior Markus Miller, pitching a complete game shutout in the 7-0 win over Briar Cliff. Hastings will play in their first GPAC Site final since 2015 tomorrow at noon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
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2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 7 | 7 | 0 |
(Crete, NE) – The Hastings Broncos advanced to the Doane Bracket GPAC Championship game, thanks to a terrific pitching performance by senior Markus Miller, pitching a complete game shutout in the 7-0 win over Briar Cliff. Hastings will play in their first GPAC Site final since 2015 tomorrow at noon.
In the first inning, junior Jared Delgado was hit by a pitch and junior Samuele Bruno reached first on an infield hit with one out. Sophomore Peighton Vargas roped a single to right, bringing in Delgado, then the throw from the right fielder to home plate was offline, resulting in Bruno scoring to go up 2-0.
Hastings put up five runs in the second, getting runners on second and third with one out to start the inning. On a 3-1 pitch to Delgado, he grounded a single down the right field line to drive in both runners. After a hit by junior Evan Morrison and Bruno reaching via hit-by-pitch, Vargas hit a slow roller to first, allowing Delgado to easily score. Junior Levi Fletcher capped the scoring with a two-out, two-run RBI-single to left, scoring Morrison and Bruno to go up 7-0.
Briar Cliff never found a rhythm against Miller, who held the Chargers to one base runner per inning or fewer throughout the whole game. They had singles in each of the first three innings, but only had one more hit the rest of the game.
Miller pitched all nine scoreless innings, only allowing four hits and did not walk a batter until two outs in the ninth. He finished the game with six strikeouts, ending his performance with 108 pitches. Vargas went 2-4 with two RBIs, while Delgado and Fletcher each were 1-4 with two RBIs.
Up next, Hastings will move on to play in the Doane Bracket GPAC championship game. The winner of Northwestern and Doane will face Briar Cliff at 3pm. Hastings will take on the winner of that game tomorrow at noon. With a win, Hastings moves on to the GPAC Tournament final on Monday. With a loss, Hastings would play a second championship game against the same team for a chance to advance to Monday's final.
