Baseball: Ogallala defeats Imperial in Senior Legion Baseball on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026

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By: Evan Troxel

In a game that was technically an exhibition (I believe) or at least it essentially was an exhibition (even if it wasn't) with no District Tournament higher or lower seeding/ranking to still play for, the Ogallala Adams Bank & Trust Senior Legion Baseball team defeated the Imperial Senior Legion Baseball team 11 to 10 in 5 1/2 plus innings due to a two-hour time limit at the Ogallala American Legion Field in Ogallala, Nebraska, on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026.

Tai Le started the game on the mound for Ogallala and he pitched two innings while Ogallala's Daniel Dowdy pitched four innings and the first three innings he pitched he only gave up one run in total!

Thomas Reeves had two hits for Imperial and Brextin Moreno had three RBI's at least and drove in a total of four runs.

Tristan Jablonski pitched two innings for Imperial and only gave up two runs.

Luke Minster and Keegan Florom each had two hits for Ogallala and two runs scored while Joey Kupper led Ogallala with two RBI's.

Imperial and Ogallala each scored two runs in the first inning.

Imperial then scored three runs in the second inning and took a 5 to 2 lead.

Ogallala then scored five runs in the third inning and took a 7 to 5 lead.

Ogallala then scored two runs in the fourth inning and led 9 to 5 after four innings.

Imperial then scored a run in the fifth inning and trailed 9 to 6 after five innings.

Imperial then scored four runs and took a 10 to 9 lead after 5 1/2 innings!

Ogallala then got their first three batters on-base to start the bottom of the sixth inning, scored two runs and won due to a two-hour time limit 11 to 10!

Imperial had ten runs, eight hits, ten people left on-base and five defensive errors.

Ogallala had eleven runs, eleven hits, six people left on-base and six defensive errors.

For Imperial, in the top of the first inning, Thomas Reeves singled on a grounder to the third base side, stole two bases and scored on a Conner Stromberger sacrifice fly to right field.

Kaden Vogt got on-base right after Thomas Reeves on a walk, stole two bases and scored on a throwing error (with two outs already) by the Ogallala third baseman.

In the bottom of the first inning, Ogallala's Tai Le got hit by a pitch and stole second base.

Then, Levi Nolt reached on a fielding error by the Imperial catcher (which the catcher probably should have had).

Jackson Saner then singled to right field, and Tai Le and Levi Nolt both scored on the same play but Nolt scored as a result of a throwing error by the Imperial right fielder.

So, I felt Jackson Saner only earned one RBI on the two-run hit and not two RBI's.

In the top of the second inning, with the game tied at two apiece, Cohen Lambert walked and advanced to third base on a line drive to left field by Imperial's Evan O'Neil.

O'Neil doubled on the play.

With one out already, Brextin Moreno reached on a fielding error by the Ogallala third baseman Porter Tjaden as that was probably the defining play of the entire game! Cohen Lambert scored on the play. Imperial 3, Ogallala 2.

Tjaden was standing in the infield grass (near the infield dirt) and he (or his teammate, the shortstop) picked up the baseball.

Evan O'Neil then tried to go to third base from second base on the same play after Cohen Lambert scored and O'Neil got caught in a pickle and shortstop Levi Nolt eventually tagged O'Neil out for the second out of the inning.

Moreno then stole second base on a separate play.

He scored on a Thomas Reeves single to right field and Reeves advanced to second base on the throw home to try to get Moreno out. Imperial 4, Ogallala 2.

Kaden Vogt doubled home Reeves to right field and Imperial led 5 to 2.

In the bottom of the second inning, Joey Kupper got hit by the pitch and then got caught stealing, catcher to shortstop during the next at-bat.

Preston Runge singled, Tai Le popped out to the shortstop on the second base side and Levi Nolt doubled on a line drive to left field but Ogallala failed to score in the inning as Jackson Saner struck out and the Imperial catcher threw down to the Imperial first baseman to complete the strikeout to end the inning.

In the top of the third inning, the new pitcher for Ogallala Daniel Dowdy came into the game to replace third baseman Porter Tjaden and he walked the bases loaded, but got out of the jam by striking out Thomas Reeves looking!

Dowdy also struck out Gunner Browning swinging with one out already in the top of the third inning and runners on first and second.

In the bottom of the third inning, Conner Stromberger took over as the new pitcher for Imperial. Ogallala's Luke Minster singled to the shortstop.

Minster then moved to third base on a throwing error by the pitcher on a pickoff attempt.

Lou Menotti then got hit by the pitch. Keegan Florom then singled on a ground ball to left field, Minster scored on the play and Lou Menotti advanced to second base on the play.

Imperial 5, Ogallala 3.

Daniel Dowdy then reached base on a bunt single.

Menotti scored on a wild pitch and Florom and Dowdy each moved up one base.

Imperial 5, Ogallala 4.

Joey Kupper then walked to reload the bases.

Keegan Florom then scored on a passed ball and the game was tied at five apiece.

Dowdy moved up to third base and Joey Kupper moved up to second base on the play.

Preston Runge then singled and Dowdy and Kupper each scored on the play and Ogallala led Imperial 7 to 5.

Runge advanced to second base on the same play that Dowdy and Kupper each scored, on a throwing error by the pitcher.

Runge then got picked off by the Imperial pitcher to the Imperial second baseman for the first out of the inning.

Tai Le and Levi Nolt each walked while Jackson Saner struck out for the second out of the inning.

Luke Minster then grounded out to the Imperial second baseman to end the inning and Ogallala scored five runs on four hits and Ogallala led 7 to 5 after three innings.

To start the top of the fourth inning, Ogallala's Daniel Dowdy then got Kaden Vogt to ground out to third base and then Dowdy struck out Conner Stromberger swinging and Tristan Jablonski also swinging.

To start the bottom of the fourth inning, Ogallala's Lou Menotti hit a ground ball to left field and doubled.

Keegan Florom then hit a double to the center fielder in left center field and Menotti scored on the play.

I still question whether there should have been an error on the Imperial center fielder or not.

Imperial 5, Ogallala 8.

Daniel Dowdy then advanced Keegan Florom to third base on a bunt back to the pitcher for the first out of the inning.

Joey Kupper hit a grounder back to the Imperial pitcher and Imperial conceded the run and Florom scored and Ogallala led 9 to 5.

Imperial possibly could have thrown to home plate on the play and maybe gotten an out at home plate instead.

Preston Runge then flied out to right field to end the inning.

To start the top of the fifth inning, Destry Oxford grounded out to third base.

Cohen Lambert reached on a fielding error by the Ogallala third baseman.

Lambert then advanced to second base on a wild pitch.

Evan O'Neil then reached on a fielding error by the Ogallala third baseman.

Craton Buller then singled to left field on a line drive over Ogallala third baseman Tai Le's head right after the Ogallala coach told Tai Le to move closer to home plate and Lambert advanced to third base and O'Neil advanced to second base.

Brextin Moreno then walked, Imperial scored and trailed 9 to 6.

Ogallala's Daniel Dowdy then struck out Thomas Reeves and Kaden Vogt, each swinging, to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Tai Le hit a bunt back to the Imperial pitcher Brextin Moreno for the first out of the inning.

Moreno then struck out Ogallala's Levi Nolt looking.

Jackson Saner then grounded out to the Imperial third baseman to end the inning.

To start the top of the sixth inning, Conner Stromberger reached on a fielding error by the Ogallala second baseman.

Stromberger then advanced to third base on a throwing error by the Ogallala left fielder on the same play that Stromberger got on-base.

Tristan Jablonski then walked and stole second base.

Destry Oxford then singled on a ground ball to center field and Stromberger and Jablonski each scored on the play!

Imperial 8, Ogallala 9.

Destry Oxford then stole second base.

Canton Skomp then singled to the second baseman on an infield hit and Oxford moved to third base.

Skomp then stole second base.

Evan O'Neil then struck out looking and Craton Buller struck out swinging and Ogallala's Daniel Dowdy recorded two strikeouts in every inning he pitched in on Tuesday night!

With two outs and runners on third base and second base, Brextin Moreno singled to right field on a pop up near the right field line that was an easier play for the Ogallala right fielder and the Ogallala second baseman to make and the Ogallala first baseman backed up a lot and almost made the catch on an extremely difficult play!

A miscommunication by the Ogallala defense about who would catch the baseball allowed the baseball to hit the ground first and Imperial scored two runs on the play and Oxford and Skomp each scored on the play.

Imperial 11, Ogallala 10.

Thomas Reeves then grounded out to second base to end the top of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ogallala's Luke Minster got right to work and hit a double to right field on the third pitch of the at bat.

Lou Menotti then singled, Minster scored on the play to tie the game and Menotti advanced to second base on a throwing error (I guess by the Imperial right fielder or second baseman).

Keegan Florom then got intentionally walked due to being extremely successful at the plate on Tuesday night up to this point and obviously both teams knew this was going to be the last half inning of the game due to the two-hour time limit.

Richard Handy, who pinch ran for Lou Menotti, stole third base while Florom stole second base.

Daniel Dowdy then struck out swinging for the first out of the inning.

Joey Kupper then hit a fly ball to left field and it was caught for the second out of the inning. Richard Handy tagged up from third base and scored pretty easily (I think) and Ogallala won the game at that point 11 to 10!

For Imperial, on the pitching side of things, Tristan Jablonski pitched two innings giving up three hits, two runs, one earned run, one walk, two hit batters and one strikeout.

Conner Stromberger pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up four hits, five runs, five earned runs, three walks and one hit batter and zero strikeouts.

Brextin Moreno pitched three and 1/3 innings giving up four hits, four runs, four earned runs, one intentional walk and three strikeouts.

On the offensive side of things for Imperial, Brextin Moreno, went 1 for 3 with two walks and scored one run and drove in four people but officially according to me had three RBI's. He singled once, stole one base and reached base four out of five times on Tuesday, July 21st.

Thomas Reeves went 2 for 5 with two runs and one RBI. He had two singles and stole two bases.

Kaden Vogt went 1 for 3 with one walk, one run and one RBI. He doubled once and stole two bases.

Conner Stromberger went 0 for 2 with one run, run sacrifice fly RBI and he got hit by the pitch once. He reached base twice in four chances on July 21st.

Tristan Jablonski went 0 for 3 with a run scored, one walk and he reached base twice. He also had one stolen base.

Destry Oxford went 1 for 3 with one run and two RBI's and he walked once. He had one single and one stolen base.

Cohen Lambert went 0 for 2 with one walk and two runs scored. He reached base twice in three chances.

Canton Skomp went 1 for 1 with a run scored. He stole one base.

Evan O'Neil went 1 for 3 with a double and walked once. He reached base three out of four times on July 21st.

Gunner Browning went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts. He hit into zero double plays.

Craton Buller went 1 for 2 with a single.

For Ogallala, Tai Le pitched two innings giving up four hits, five runs, three earned runs, two walks, one hit batter and one strikeout.

Daniel Dowdy pitched four innings giving up four hits, five runs, one earned run, five walks and eight strikeouts.

On the offensive side of things for Ogallala, Tai Le went 0 for 2 and scored a run. He got hit by a pitch and walked and stole three bases.

Levi Nolt went 1 for 3 with a run scored. He doubled, walked and also reached base on a fielding error and also stole two bases.

Jackson Saner went 1 for 4 with one RBI. He singled.

Luke Minster went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. He singled and doubled.

Lou Menotti went 1 for 2 with two runs scored. He got hit by a pitch once and also doubled.

Richard Handy went 1 for 1 scoring the game-winning run and he also had one RBI. He singled and stole two bases (one for sure)!

Keegan Florom went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and he drove in two runs and officially I am crediting him with one RBI. He singled, doubled, walked twice and was intentionally walked one of those two times. He stole at least one base and maybe two bases.

Porter Tjaden went 0 for 1.

Daniel Dowdy went 1 for 2 with one run scored. He singled once.

Joey Kupper went 0 for 1 in four plate appearances with one run scored and the game-winning RBI. He walked once and was hit by the pitch once.

Preston Runge went 2 for 3 with two singles. He drove in one run that was not an RBI.

Ogallala and Imperial's Senior Legion Baseball seasons are both over with as they both lost in their respective district tournaments from July 24th through July 28th, 2026.

Imperial lost on July 24th against Valentine 7 to 15.

Imperial then won on July 25th against the Bridgeport Bombers 10 to 0. Then, they won again against the Security First Regulators (Sheridan County/Gordon-Rushville) 9 to 8 on July 26th.

Imperial then won again against Valentine 12 to 4 on Monday, July 27th.

Imperial lost to the PWG Blue Ducks in Rushville, Nebraska, in the Class C Area 7 District Tournament on Tuesday, July 28th, 2026, 7 to 13.

According to Gamechanger.com, Imperial finished the season with a won-lost record of 9 wins and 13 losses.

In the first two games of the District Tournament, Ogallala lost to Sidney on July 24th, 4 to 1, and also against Alliance 9 to 1 on Saturday, July 25th, 2026.

According to Gamechanger.com, Ogallala finished the season with a won-lost record of 5 wins and 22 losses.

Both Imperial and Ogallala can now focus 100 percent on the 2027 and 2028 Legion Baseball seasons and also on the upcoming high school and middle school fall sports season.