Buster Baseball Wins Series at Pratt Moves to 6-2 in Jayhawk West

Pratt KS – Garden City Pitcher Bradley Spires went the distance Saturday in game one earning the win. It took Spires, 96 pitches to move Garden City to 4-1 in Jayhawk West play. In the bottom of the first Pratt’s Justin Crouch’s 3 run home run put Pratt up 3-0. BJ Dean’s RBI single allowed the Beavers to go ahead 4-0. Pratt ended the inning with four runs on five hits. In the top of the second, Garden City’s Nolan Barrientos and Alex Buechler both singled to start the inning. Kaleb Zimmer reached base safely on a fielder’s choice advancing Barrientos to third. Kevin Czarnecki’s RBI single to right field scored Barrientos and placed Kaleb Zimmer at third. Tyler Alitz singled scoring Zimmer making the score 4-2 Pratt. Mason Fischer’s sac bunt scored Kaleb Zimmer. Jaxon Mohr’s 2 RBI single followed scoring Kevin Czarnecki and Tyler Alitz. The Busters finished the inning with four runs on five hits duplicating Pratt’s runs and hits in the previous inning. Garden City was held scoreless in the next two innings. In the bottom of the fourth Pratt would pick up two runs aided by two errors by the Busters. Pratt picked up three runs on three hits going ahead 7-4. The Busters would answer. Mason Fisher and Jaxon Mohr hit back to back singles. Zach Barton, with no outs, hit an RBI single scoring Fischer. With Mohr and Barton on base, Rocky Desantis was walked; loading the bases. Nolan Barrientos was also walked allowing Mohr to score and Garden City trailed by one run. Alex Buechler came to the plate and scored Barton on a sac fly knotting the score at 7. Kaleb Zimmer would then reach base safely on a fielder’s choice, and Kevin Czarnecki’s 2 RBI double scored Barrientos and Zimmer. Tyler Alitz flied out to end the inning and the Busters led 9-7. Garden City would pick up two more runs in the top of the ninth. Alex Buechler made the score 10-7 on a home run. Kevin Czarnecki’ RBI double would end Garden City’s scoring with 11 runs on 12 hits. In the Bottom of the seventh Spires would need 11 pitches to end the game striking out Johnson to end the game.

In game two Garden City got hot jumping out to a 15-1 lead. The Beavers scored one run in the bottom of the first. Garden City scored six runs in the third, one run in the fourth and eight runs in the fifth. The Beavers would begin to make a game out of it starting in the bottom of the fifth. Pratt scored 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth and one run in the bottom of the sixth. Going into the top of the seventh Garden City led 15-6. The Busters would go scoreless for the remainder of the day. Garden City starting pitcher Jake Eikleberry was replaced by Garret Bryant. Bryant gave up one run in the bottom of the seventh allowing the Beavers to pull within eight runs and give them some momentum going into the bottom of the eighth. The Busters would see three pitchers on the hill to secure the game. Josh Thomas and Oscar Gamboa combined gave up four runs before Colten Kibler came in for the save. Kibler pitched 1.6 innings as he allowed no runs or hits and struck out three. Garden City scored 15 runs on 9 hits but was plagued by 7 errors. Pratt scored 11 runs on 15 hits and dished out two errors. Garden City was led by Kevin Czarnecki with one run, two hits and 3 RBI’s. Kaleb Zimmer checked in with one run, two hits and 2 RBI’s. Catcher Jaxon Mohr contributed 2 RBI’s on one hit and scored two runs. Teammate Alex Buechler added two runs, one hit and 2 RBI’s. The Busters finish the series tomorrow afternoon with a double header. Game one is at 1pm followed by game two at 3pm.

In game three on Sunday afternoon Garden City was unable to get their bats going. Pratt Pitcher Colton Lorance earns the win going the distance. Lorance gave up one run on four hits. The Busters only run came in the top of the second. With bases loaded and no outs Garden City First Baseman Nolan Barrientos grounded out to Beaver second baseman John Lassiter; on the throw from Lassiter to First Baseman Justin Crouch for a double play. Rocky Desantis who had singled scored the run from third base. With two outs Catcher Chris Lobato lined drive to third base leaving Kaleb Zimmer stranded at third to end the inning. The remainder of the game would be ground and fly outs for the Busters. Pratt scored six runs on eleven hits and no errors.

Garden City bounced back in game four taking control of the series in the first inning defeating Pratt 16-3. In the top of the first the Busters went through the order. Garden City scored eight runs on seven hits highlighted by Tyler Alitz’s two run triple. Rocky Desantis and Kaleb Zimmer would contribute two RBI singles each. Zach Barton and Mason Fischer RBI singled and Rocky Desantis scored on a sac fly by Kevin Czarnecki. In the bottom of the first Pratt scored one run and remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Garden City scored two runs in the top of the fourth and one run in the top of the sixth. The Beavers chipped back scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Garden City Pitcher Tyler Clapper went six innings earning the win and moving the Busters to 6-2 in Jayhawk West Play. The win would not come easy. At the Bottom of the fifth Clapper loaded the bases with no relief in sight. Clapper had given up four singles and two runs. With two outs and bases loaded Pratt First Baseman Justin Crouch popped out to center field to end the inning. The bottom of the sixth was just as tense as Clapper hit batter Tanner Johnson placing him at first. Clapper then struck out Jordan Sibley. Jordan Jones singled and Johnson advanced to second. Trey Trahan then grounded out to first baseman Barrientos and the inning appeared secure. With two outs Clapper walked Jared Lupo and the bases were loaded. Ryan Morris pinch hitting for Gaige Webster swung hard at the 1-1 pitch for the line drive out to left field to end the inning. Garden City would pad their lead in the top of the seventh scoring two runs to avoid the nine inning game. An Alex Buechler triple and a Desantis single would eventually turn into runs fifteen and sixteen. Ace closer Colton Kibler made light work of the Beavers and the game ended in seven.

The Busters move to an overall record of 11-12 and 6-2 in the Jayhawk West. Garden City travels to Lamar on Tuesday March 19th. Lamar is ranked 5th in the NJCAA Division I Polls. Game time is set for 1pm MST. The Busters travel to Clarendon on Wednesday March 20th for a 2pm game. Both games are set for 9 innings.