Scott City baseball splits with Hugoton
Hugoton, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–On a 90-degree Saturday afternoon, Scott City and Hugoton battled in a pair of big GWAC games. The Beavers were looking to pick up their first GWAC baseball title, while the Eagles were looking to ride momentum into postseason play. In the end, there would be a split, as Hugoton took game one 2-0, while the Beavers picked up a 12-1 five-inning victory in game two.
Hugoton 2, Scott City 0, Game 1
The Eagles would score early and late in this one, and trust their defense for the win. Hugoton scored first in the bottom of the first on an RBI walk by Cody Perez that scored Adam Mendoza to make it 1-0 Eagles. It would remain a 1-0 game until the bottom of the sixth inning, when courtesy runner Weston Johnson would score on a Scott City throwing error to first to make it 2-0. The Beavers would chase starter Jayce Korf out of the game in the top of the seventh with one out on a strikeout. Scott City would get a walk, but a flyout with the tying runs aboard would be stranded, and Hugoton picks up the win. The Beavers left eight runners on base, and never got a runner to third.
Jayce Korf got the win, going 6 2/3 innings, giving up three hits and struck out nine. Zevin Littell picked up the save, giving up a walk and getting the final out. Littell had both of Hugoton’s hits. JP Harris had a complete game, going six innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits, with eight strikeouts. Easton Lorg, Brady Welker, and Ryan Cure each recorded a hit.
Scott City 12, Hugoton 1, Game 2
Hugoton would score the first run in the game in the bottom of the first inning on a one-out single by Sawyer Harper that scored Adam Mendoza. Scott City would respond and in a big way in the top of the second inning. In total, the Beavers would send 15 batters to the plate, scoring 11 runs on six hits, while taking advantage of three Eagle errors. Lawson Bailey scored the first run of the game, and Blaine Culp would drive in two runs on a single to left field to give Scott City a 3-1 edge. Later in the inning, Bailey would drive in two more runs on an infield single, and the scoring was capped off on an Aaron Ruelas two-run single to push the score to 11-1. The Beavers added a run in the third on a Jeffery Nix RBI walk that scored Brady Welker to make the score 12-1. Neither team would score the rest of the way, as Scott City would get a strikeout, and pick a runner off the bases in the bottom of the fifth to clinch at least a share of the GWAC title.
Harrison King started off the pitching, giving up a run on a hit with a strikeout in two innings of work. Easton Lorg struck out three and didn’t allow a hit in two innings to pick up the win, and Brady Welker struck out two and gave up a hit in the fifth. Aaron Ruelas had two hits and drove in two runs, and Lawson Bailey and Jeffery Nix had a hit and two RBI in the victory. The Beavers ended up with eight hits in the game. Taking the loss was Chay Burnett, who gave up 11 runs, just two earned, in two innings of work. Zevin Littell pitched the final three innings for the Eagles. Sawyer Harper had an RBI single, which was one of their two hits in the finale.
Coach David Dirks Postgame
Scott City is 14-4 on the season, finishing 10-2 in GWAC, and have claimed at least a share of the league title. It is their first GWAC baseball crown. They will close their season at Syracuse on Tuesday. Hugoton is now 10-8 overall, 6-4 in league, play. They’ll face Cimarron on Thursday to wrap up the regular season.
