Aurora Cooperative Juniors end year at state

Despite being the hottest day of the year, the Aurora Cooperative Post 42 Juniors team couldn’t get its offense to catch fire Monday afternoon.
Aurora fell behind early and couldn’t quite chip away as Alliance eliminated Post 42 11-2 Monday at the Class B American Legion state baseball tournament from Hank Overin Field in Wayne.
The Aurora Cooperative Post 42 Juniors team ended its season with a 21-9 record, including a win at the state tournament and its first appearance in the state field since 2017.
Temperatures Monday afternoon soared into the triple digits, hitting 104 degrees at first pitch.
Alliance wasted little time, taking a 2-0 lead as the designated visitors before using a five-run second to lead 7-0 through two.
Aurora had two runners on in the second, but a tough double play ended any threat for Post 42. 
The Aurora Cooperative Juniors scratched onto the board in the fourth inning that began with a leadoff double from Sawyer Kiner.
That led to a RBI double from Tate Bendorf, but Aurora was unable to do any more damage with two runners on base.
Aurora’s second run came in the fifth as Jack Carstensen and Landen Hansen started off the inning with singles before Dylan Ronnau grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring one in. However, Alliance again got out of a jam with two Aurora runners on base.
Alliance added three insurance runs in the sixth inning and Aurora was unable to avoid the eight-run rule. 
The Aurora Cooperative Juniors had seven hits in the game, including two from Hansen while Ronnau and Bendorf had RBIs.
Bendorf and Carstensen combined efforts on the mound, allowing six earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts.
Looking at the season as a whole from the Aurora Cooperative Juniors, the team finished with a 21-9 overall record.
Landen Hansen led the team in batting average, hitting .407 on the year in 26 games, totaling a team-high 33 hits with 12 RBIs and 31 runs scored. 
Sawyer Kiner batted .370 on the season with 30 hits, including one home run, to go along with a team-high 29 RBIs and 16 runs scored.
Knox Suchanek wasn’t far behind with a .352 average, including 19 hits and 16 RBIs. Jack Carstensen hit .338 from the leadoff spot, totaling 22 hits and 19 RBIs.
Mason Wiens hit .325 while scoring 27 runs while Jakobe Slagle hit .333 with 18 runs scored.
Dylan Ronnau was Aurora’s ace on the mound in 2026, totaling 35-1/3 innings, including eight starts and a 2-0 record. Ronnau allowed 10 earned runs with 58 strikeouts and 23 walks, including a 1.98 earned run average. 
Kyson Phillips tossed 22-1/3 innings, much of those in relief efforts, allowing 31 hits and six earned runs with 12 strikeouts and a 1.88 ERA.
Knox Suchanek was the other Aurora pitcher up over 20 innings, totaling 21 with most of his efforts in relief. Suchanek totaled 18 hits with six earned runs and 23 strikeouts, including a 2.00 ERA.
Sawyer Kiner, Jack Carstensen, Tate Bendorf, Keagan White and Landen Hansen all threw over 10 innings throughout the summer. As a team, Aurora struck out 198 batters and tallied a 4.82 ERA.