The Atlantic Trojans 2026 season is over following a walk-off, 2-1 victory by the Harlan Cyclones. It was an incredibly hard fought game on both sides. Kale Jensen delivered on both sides for the Trojans, pitching 4 hitless innings and gave Atlantic the lead in the 6th. Unfortunately for Atlantic, Harlan responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game and ultimately won the game on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Jonas Reynolds. Atlantic’s season came to a close Friday night.
The game was scoreless until the Trojans broke through in the 6th inning, so there was not much offense to speak of through the first five innings. Kale Jensen got the start for the Trojans, while for the Cyclones it was Jonas Reynolds. The first baserunner Jensen allowed was in the 2nd inning with two away after Harlan’s Jacob Spangenberg reached on an error. Hudson McLaren then made a fantastic throw to cut down Spangenberg who was trying to steal 2nd base. The 2nd inning also saw Atlantic’s first hit of the ball game but nothing came of the Zayden Parker single.
Jensen found himself in a bases loaded jam with just 1 away in the third inning. A mound visit by head coach Nathan Block proved to be positive as on the first pitch Colton Schneider flied out to left field, and a few pitches later Kale got out of it clean on a ground ball to third base. Offensively, the Trojans got nothing going in both the third and 4th innings.
In the top of the 5th, Atlantic saw their first baserunners in almost three innings with back to back walks. Reynolds worked his way out of what would be his final inning. Coach Block brought in the lefty Jack Muller in bottom of the 5th, who had runners on 2nd and 3rd with just one away but back to back strikeouts kept the scoreboard clean.
The game flipped on it’s head in the 6th inning. Sawyer Tarrell led things off with a single and Hudson McLaren was right behind him with a walk. Kale Jensen stepped up to the plate against a very good Harlan pitcher in Colton Schneider and lined a double into the left center gap scoring Tarrell and giving Atlantic a 1-0 lead. That was all Atlantic would get in the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Harlan responded immediatley. Jacob Spangenberg hit a double into left field that scored Cade Nelson who was on first via walk.
Tied 1-1 going to the 7th, Colton Schneider struck out the side. Schneider then stepped in the box in the 7th and drew a lead off walk. He advanced to third on a steal and a throwing error. Two batters later, Jonas Reynolds hit a shallow fly ball into right field, Schneider scored, and Atlantic’s season came to a close. In what was one of the most thrilling games in the Trojan’s 2026 season, Head Coach Nathan Block shared his thoughts postgame:
The 6th inning rally was the moment of the game for Atlantic, and it was led by the guys at the top of the lineup:
Coach Block feels his guys had a shot all game:
The seniors on this team were the engine behind the wins they tallied up throughout the season and were a big reason why this game was close the entire way:
The Atlantic Trojans season came to an end Friday night in Harlan by a score of 2-1.
