Witmer's hat trick lifts GICC past Omaha Brownell-Talbot

OMAHA Austin Witmer had three goals to lead Grand Island Central Catholic to a 3-2 win over Omaha Brownell-Talbot on Monday.

Witmer scored at the 3:42 mark of the first period and then added second-half goals at 16:20 and 35:50 for GICC (2-2). Manny Juarez, Justis Stolz and Erick Ortiz each had an assist for the Crusaders.

"Obviously, Austin Witmer had a big day for us," GICC coach Bruce Bombeck said. "We had a lot of shots on goal but we just didn't get a lot of goals."

The Crusaders controlled much of the action, getting 16 shots on goal in the first half. Despite that, the score was tied 1-1 at the half. Witmer's second half goals were just enough to get GICC the win.

"We probably allowed them to stick around with us longer than we should have," Bombeck said.

Witmer was helped by the play on defense of Zach Starostka, who Bombeck commended for his play.

"He has great speed and aggressiveness," Bombeck said. "He had his best game for us today."

G.I. splits doubleheader with Columbus

Grand Island made a valiant rally in the last inning of the nightcap, but fell just short in getting a doubleheader split with Columbus on Monday.

G.I. won the first game 12-10 and lost the second game 10-9.

The Islanders trailed 10-1 in the seventh inning of the second game when they started a rally with two outs. Eight runs later, the Islanders saw their chances put away when Columbus' second baseman snagged a liner behind second base with the tying run on third base and the winning run on second base.

"We gave them six runs in the first two innings with errors," Grand Island coach Rick Kissick said. "We've got things we need to work on, but I've got to give our kids credit for playing hard all the way to the end. Their second baseman made an outstanding play or else we would've won that game."

Grand Island's Kash Kalkowski had a big day at the plate for the Islanders. In the first game, he had six RBIs on two, two-run doubles and a two-run home run. Luke Farrar went 3-for-5 in the first game and drove in the go-ahead run with a two-run single in the seventh. Brandon Tjaden and Grant Baird added home runs in the first game.

Kirby Wells had a double in the first game while Slade Bolles, Kalkowski and Casey Griffin doubled in the nightcap.

Grand Island 12, Columbus 10

Grand Island 222 202 2 12 14 3

Columbus 060 201 1 10 8 1

WP Hines. LP Massman. Save Meier. 2B Col: Johnson, Van Dyke. G.I.: Kalkowski (2), Wells. HR Col: Stanton. G.I.: Kalkowski, Tjaden, Baird.

Columbus 11, Grand Island 10

Grand Island 001 000 8 9 10 3

Columbus 332 020 x 10 11 4

WP Alms. LP Farrar. 2B Col.: Farmer, Ramecher, Blatchford. G.I.: Bolles, Kalkowski, Griffin.