Scott City baseball sweeps Hugoton
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–It was perhaps one of the nicest days to play baseball on Tuesday, as Scott City met up with Hugoton for their first home game since April 5. It would be a big day for the Beavers, who were trying for a chance of the league title. Scott City would run-rule the Eagles in game one 12-2 in five innings, and completed the sweep with a 5-1 game two win.
Scott City 12, Hugoton 2, Game 1 (5 inn)
Hugoton jumped out early to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, after Adam Mendoza scored on an error. The Beavers would rally to tie the game in the bottom of the frame, as Aaron Armendariz grounded out, which scored Brady Welker. A five-run second inning propelled Scott City, as Trey Ryan got things going with a two-run double to give the Beavers a 3-1 lead. Welker would drive home a run, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Scott City added three more in the third, capped off by a RBI double by Aaron Ruelas to make it 9-1. The Eagles scored a run in the fourth on an error and Scott City would get the run back in the bottom of the inning on a Welker RBI single. In the bottom of the fifth, Lawson Bailey closed the game out with a two-run triple to make the final 12-2.
JP Harris threw 77 pitches in five innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on three hits and had nine strikeouts. Brady Welker and Lawson Bailey each had three hits and drove in two, and Trey Ryan had two hits with a pair of RBI for the Beavers. Adam Mendoza took the loss for Hugoton giving up 12 runs, nine earned, on nine hits, and had five strikeouts in four-plus innings. Zevin Littell and Marquis Brown drove in a run for the Eagles.
Scott City 5, Hugoton 1, Game 2
Scott City would score a run in the first two innings to build an early lead. In the bottom of the first, JP Harris reached on a ground ball that scored Aaron Armendariz to take the 1-0 lead, and in the second, Harris would have an RBI walk to make it 2-0. The Beavers would add two more runs in the fourth inning, on a balk call and a passed ball. Adam Mendoza would score for Hugoton in the fifth inning on a passed ball to pull them to within 4-1, but the Beavers answered back with a run in the bottom of the fifth on an Evan Fry RBI single. Both teams would be held scoreless in the last two innings, as Scott City completed the sweep with a 5-1 win.
Brady Welker went the distance, striking out 11 in seven innings of work. He gave up a run on five hits. JP Harris and Evan Fry each drove in a run for Scott City. Angel Riberal took the loss, giving up two runs, on earned, on 1 hit in 1-and-one-third innings of work. Ryle Riddlesperger gave up two runs, one earned in two-and-two-thirds work with three strikeouts, and Zevin Littell gave up an unearned run on three hits and three strikeouts in two innings of work. Adam Mendoza had three hits in the game.
With the win, Scott City closed out the regular season with an 11-7 record overall, 8-4 in GWAC play. With Holcomb sweeping Colby and Cimarron sweeping Goodland, it forced a three way tie in the league. Holcomb would win the tiebreaker for the GWAC title, Cimarron would finish second and Scott City third, as the Longhorns were 3-1, Bluejays 2-2 and the Beavers were 1-3 among the head-to-head matchups between the schools. This is based on the league tie-breaker rules in the constitution. Hugoton dropped to 6-12 overall, 2-8 in league play, as they will face Ulysses on Thursday to wrap up the regular season.
Scott City will be the third seed in the Holcomb regional unofficially, and it looks like they’ll take on Hugoton on Monday at Williams Stadium in Garden City, hosted by Holcomb. Cimarron will be the top seed, Holcomb the second, Goodland the fourth, followed by Southwestern Heights, Hugoton, Colby and Lakin.
Coach David Dirks Postgame
