Sports

Following an impressive inagural season as part of the Farmers Valley Football League, the Sutton Mustangs will kickoff their second season on the gridiron with a top three match-up from a year ago.

Sutton will take their talents to Thayer County to open the 2023 season for a Sunday, Aug. 27, matchup with the defending 8-man League champions in Thayer County.

Sutton wrapped up the 2022 season as the third-place team in the 16team 8-man division of the Farmers League. Ravenna would claim the runner-up spot a year ago.

Sutton will then have a pair of back-to-back home games, hosting Nuckolls County on Sunday, Sept.

10, before hosing BDS on Sunday, Sept. 17, with the playoff portion of the season set to get underway on Sunday, Sept. 24, with the final round of the playoffs set for Sunday, Oct. 1.

2023 SUTTON ROSTER

Professional sports teams often note that injuries are part of the game. That notion is never too far from professional athletes’ minds, but it can be a harsh reality for student athletes to confront, especially if they have never before been sidelined by injury.

Though there’s no foolproof way for athletes to avoid injury, student athletes and their families can consider these preventive measures to reduce their risk of being sidelined.

• Use diet to athletes’ advantage. A healthy diet benefits people from all walks of life, and it can be especially beneficial for student athletes.

Precisely what defines a healthy diet depends on variables specific to the athletes, such as age and gender, but Nemours Childrens Health notes that balance is vital for teenage athletes. Avoid cutting back on carbohydrates, which provide fuel for young athletes.

Myles Smith, the son of B.J. and Meredith Smith of Sutton, capped his 2023 competitive summer of golf this past week during the 2023 Nebraska Junior Tour golf championships in Omaha on the Field Club Country Club’s course.

Smith was one of four Clay County players that took on the championship tournament action, with Smith finishing as the runner-up in Omaha in the 12-13-year-old age group.

Soon-to-be Sutton junior Jadyn Friesen wrapped up the championship tour, played at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln with a 12th-place finish, while two Clay Center youths, Landry Borer and Hutchins Mihm, competed at the Field Club in Omaha.

For Smith, his nine-hole round started with a pair of bogeys on the first two holes, followed by six straight par’s on holes three through eight, before wrapping up the tournament with a bogey on the final hole to card a 38 and claim the runner-up title of the season-ending tournament.

Maddie Schiermeyer catches a ball making it her second out of the evening during the first round of Fairfield’s Co-Ed Baseball tournament Friday, July 28.

Former Harvard Legion Baseball players gathered for the first-ever Ronnie Schwindt Memorial Legion tournament Saturday, July 29. Posing with a photo of Ronnie are, in back from left: Keith Perkins, Terry Owens, Doug Stone, Dave Aspegren, Chuck Conway, Tim Yost, Addison Jarzynka, Jason Brandenburger, and Kyle Spotts. Kneeling in front from left: Myles Ferguson, Clay Harmon, Braxton Harmon, Justin Harmon, Baby Shore sitting on grandpa Case Shores’ lap, Clayton Sandord, Drew Conway, Adam Sabata, Landon Scott, Jarod Owens, and Joel Barnett. Players came out to honor their number one fan, Ronnie; the span of years playing Legion baseball ranged from 1969-2023.

After coming off a big 8-1 win over Aurora in the Class B, Area-5 opening-round tournament win, Saturday, July 22, the Sutton Senior Legion baseball team ran into a big roadblock in their route to a trip to the Class B state tournament in Pierce. The top seeded Post-61 Seniors, behind a three-run fourth inning by York, fell victim to a 4-2 loss to drop Sutton to 27-5 on the year.

The loss put Sutton in a must-win situation for the remainder of the double-elimination tournament, played on Kernel Field in Central City.

York grabbed a 1-0 lead after two innings of play, before Sutton tied up the game in the bottom of the third frame, as Weston Ohrt scored on a Myles Jones sacrifice to set the game at a 1-1 tie.

In the top of the fourth, York touched up Jones’ pitching for three runs, as a single hit, two hit batsmen, and a fielding error set York up with a 4-1 lead.

The 13th annual Harvard United Church of Christ 5K Run/1 Mile Walk will be on Saturday, July 29, which will also kick-off activities for Harvard’s

150th Celebration.

The event will start at 8 a.m., at the intersection of East Walnut Street and North Harlan Avenue.

Participants can register on the day of the race between

7-7:50 a.m., for an entry fee of

$20. For ongoing updates about the UCC’s Run/Walk, visit their Facebook page: Harvard UCC

5K& 1 Mile.

The Sutton Senior Legion Baseball team took to the diamond for the first time since a 5-0 July 2 win over Tri County, and ran their season record to 25-4 with a pair of wins, defeating Twin River 2-0 in the opening round of a triangular date with the Titans and the Fairbury Landsharks.

Sutton upended Fairbury in the late game of the three-team outing, 6-1.

In the opener, Sutton gained their third win of the season over Twin River, out hitting the Titans 5-0 en route to the 2-0 victory.

Sutton scored both runs in the bottom half of the third inning, as Myles Jones and Declan Peterson scored, Peterson on a Nething single in the inning.

Leading the offensive attack at the plate was pitcher Myles Jones, as he was 2-3 at the plate with a pair of singles. Weston Ohrt drilled a double in the win, while Nething and Peterson both singled to lead Sutton’s five hit affair.

Several competitors of all ages came out Wednesday, July 12, for the third-annual bull riding event at the Clay County Fair. Competitors from the area included Suttonites Tyson Scheidemann, above, Dylan Poppe, bottom left, and Korey Poppe, bottom right. 

Win and advance is seemingly the Sutton Junior Legion baseball teams mantra during the Class B, Area 1 post-season tournament.

During the second round of the winners bracket pairings of the tournament, held at Sutton’s DLD Park, that mantra grew as Sutton, the second seed in the tournament, behind an 11run fifth inning, blew past third seeded Beatrice, 15-3, sending the Post 61 crew to the winners bracket final, against top-seeded Seward, a 9-1 winner over York.

Sutton and Beatrice battled to a 1-1 tie after two innings of play, before the Mustangs touched up the Beatrice pitching staff for three runs in the top of the third to claim a 4-1 lead.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Sutton had a bunt fest to help lead Sutton to the 11 run, top half of the fifth to all but seal the 15-3 win and move Sutton to 21-6.

Thomas Bonde helped Sutton gain the big win, both on the mound and at the plate.