GC Elite remains perfect; sweeps Holcomb

Garden City, Kan (westernkansasnews.com)-There’s something special brewing in Southwest Kansas this summer. If you haven’t heard, the Garden City Elite legion squad is pretty good. 

Hurlers Edgar Montoya and Davin Acker were overwhelming in a two-game sweep 5-1 and 12-4 of Holcomb Tuesday night at Clint Lightner Stadium. 

“He (Edgar) pitched a heck of a game,” catcher Thomas Solorio said afterwards.

Montoya scattered four hits in the opener, striking out four while only allowing one run. 

He had to be dominant early in game one after the Elite (9-0) got off to a slow start against River Rats ace Sloan Baker. The Scott City product held Lyle Befort’s team in check through three innings before Garden City finally broke through with a run in the fourth on Mario Montoya’s RBI single. 

“We weren’t focused in the first game,” Solorio said. “We changed that around in game two.”

Following the run-scoring hit, Baker worked his way out of trouble after yielding a two-out double to (Edgar) Montoya and plunking Isaiah Rodriguez. He ended the frame by striking out Derek Cook. 

Acker scored on a pass ball in the fifth to make it 2-0 before a defensive lap in the sixth cut the lead in half. That was before the Elite plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

In game two, Acker got off to an inconsistent start on the hill. He gave up a lead-off triple and a run in the in the top of the first before the Elite bats finally woke up. 

Solorio, who drove in two of the 12 Garden City runs in the finale, scored on Marcus Zapata’s line-drive double to left field to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Rodriguez followed with a run-scoring double to give the Elite a 2-1 advantage. 

After Holcomb tied the game in the second, Garden City grabbed it right back in the bottom half-thanks to Addison Deherrera’s RBI single. 

Acker settled down and retired six out of the next seven River Rat hitters. His offense then went to work-scoring five in the third and four in the sixth. The game ended on Ian Jones RBI single up the middle. 

Acker allowed four runs on five hits in six innings. 

Next up: Garden City vs. Hugoton-Wednesday, June 18-6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Lightner Stadium

Box Scores: elite_holcomb game 1 |elite_holcomb game 2

Other Scores

NBC

Hays 15, Liberal 4

Dodge City 10, Loveland 2

Legion

Liberal 14, Dodge City 6

Dodge City 20, Liberal 7