The Junction City Reds fell to Charleston, Missouri 19-0 in a run rule shortened five innings in their opening game of pool play in the 2018 Midwest Plains Babe Ruth 13-15 Year Old Regional Tournament. The tournament opened at Rathert Field Saturday with the Reds playing in the final game of the evening.

The other first round games included a 10-0 win for Alliance, Nebraska over Scott County, Iowa, in five innings while Albany, Minnesota defeated Pioneer Colorado 27-0 in five innings and Bismarck, North Dakota downed Larned, Kansas 9-0 in a full seven inning ballgame. Pool play continues on Sunday, with the Reds playing Alliance, Nebraska at 8:30 Sunday evening.

In their game against Charleston, Missouri the Reds kept the score close early trailing just 4-0 after four innings. But the fifth was a different story with Charleston running away with the win. The Brigade made some mistakes, with some occurring early in the game. Reds Coach Denver Kell stated after the contest. “They hit the ball at us, we made a few errors, then the guys started coming into the dugout and they not mentally prepared anymore and so you’re battling  that. We’ve got to build through that and get mentally tough here.” Kell added he was still proud of his players and probably 50% of them battled all the way through the game.

As far as opening day of the tournament went Kell said it went excellent. “Jim Poole and Ed Lazear’s staff out here, they did a phenomenal job getting this field ready so that we could get started on time. ” Kell added all of the volunteers stayed and worked hard and they got all four games in that were scheduled for Saturday.

Prior to the game between Junction City and Charleston the formal opening ceremonies were held with Junction City Commissioner Phyllis Fitzgerald and Geary County Commissioner Keith Ascher throwing out first pitches.`