The Atlantic baseball team had a lead for much of the night and fought to the bitter end but came up short 3-2 to Glenwood in a Class 3A Substate 8 Quarterfinal on Friday in Glenwood.

The Trojans grabbed the lead with two runs in the third inning. Nolan Waters led off with a single. Easton O’Brien then laid down a bunt and Glenwood pitcher Kayden Anderson picked it up and tried for the put out at first but hit O’Brien in the back of the helmet with the throw. That allowed O’Brien to reach second and put two in scoring position for the Trojans. Jayden Proehl then drove in one on a sac-fly to center. Two batters later Garrett McLaren brought in another run with a double. Atlantic would hold that lead until the sixth.

Glenwood had lots of base-runners early but never got the key hit needed to score. The Rams stranded 7 runners in the first three innings and left a total of 12 on base in the game. The Rams got two on right away in the sixth with Caleb Dressel earning a walk and Nolan Little dropping in a single. Jayme Fritts moved the runners over with a bunt and Atlantic chose to load the bases by walking Kayden Anderson. Lane Nelson then walked in a run and he was pulled from the game for Wyatt Redinbaugh. JD Colpitts then drove in another run with a single and a passed ball during Risto Lappala’s at bat allowed courtesy runner Nolan Clark to come home and give the Rams the lead.

Atlantic did get the tying run over to third in the 7th. Easton O’Brien earned a two-out walk, stole his way to second, and then moved to third on a bad pickoff attempt by JD Colpitts who came on for the final out. Jayden Proehl ended up striking out to leave O’Brien at third and end the game. Atlantic Head Coach Joe Brummer was proud of the way the guys fought to the end.

The Trojans were down a couple starters with unfortunate injuries earlier in the week. Ethan Sturm and Carter Pellett both suffered season ending injuries on Wednesday and Coach Brummer was proud of the way some young guys stepped in.

The Trojans end their season at 9-18. Glenwood improved to 18-9. The Rams will travel to Harlan for a Substate Semifinal on Monday. Harlan advanced with a 2-0 win over Carroll.