Beaver baseball takes two from Holcomb
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The 2019 Scott City baseball squad has accomplished plenty of firsts in a long time. Entering Thursday’s doubleheader with Holcomb, they had been on their longest win streak in a long time, and clinched their first winning season since 2013. One more thing off their bucket list would be a win against Holcomb. They were able to check that off and add to their season accomplishments with a 3-1 win in game one, and completed the sweep with a 11-1 win in six innings over Holcomb.
Scott City 3, Holcomb 1, Game 1
Game one of the day would rely on defense and pitching, as runs were at a minimum. Scott City would score their first run of the game in the second inning on a Ryan Cure RBI single that scored Jeffrey Nix to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead. In the third, Blaine Culp would drive in Jose Trejo on an RBI groundout to give Scott City a 2-0 lead. Culp would also reach on an RBI single in the fifth inning that scored Trejo to extend the lead to 3-0. Holcomb took advantage of an error in the seventh inning, as Kade Johnson grounded out, scoring Jace Tweedy. That would be their lone run, as Scott City snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Longhorns in a 3-1 win. It was also their first win in the series since 2013.
Harrison King went 6 2/3 innings to pick up the win, giving up an unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts. Easton Lorg faced one batter to pick up the save. Ryan Cure had two hits in the game and Blaine Culp drove in a pair of runs for Scott City. Trey Cox went 4 1/3 innings for Holcomb and took the loss. He gave up three runs on two hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Kolby Johnson and Caleb Clumsky had the lone hits for Holcomb.
Scott City 11, Holcomb 1, Game 2 (6 Innings)
While Holcomb would score the first run in game two, Scott City would have the last laugh. The Longhorns grabbed the early lead 1-0 in the top of the first on a two-out double by Trey Cox that scored Peyton Kruleski. In the bottom of the frame, a Kevin Herman RBI triple would tie the game at one that scored Easton Lorg, and Harrison King followed that up with an RBI single that scored Herman to make it a 2-1 Beaver lead. The score wouldn’t change until the fourth inning. Scott City would score four in the inning, capped off by two-run single by Ronnie Weathers that scored King and Jeffrey Nix. After adding another run in the fifth, Scott City added four runs in the sixth, as they scored their final three runs on passed balls, and completed the sweep with an 11-1 win.
Kevin Herman was the big story for Scott City. The junior struck out a career-high 16 batters in six innings, and gave up a run on four hits, walked two and hit three batters. He also drove in two runs in game two. Harrison King and Ronnie Weathers each had a hit and two RBI. The Beavers only had four hits, but walked 17 times, and were hit by pitch three times. Corbin Goddard took the loss, going just 1 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits, struck out two and walked three. Trey Cox would have three hits in game two for the Longhorns.
With the win, Scott City closed out the season with 10 straight wins to improve to 13-7. That matches the most wins in a season since their Class 4A state tournament qualifying team finished 13-11 in 2010. They also closed out league play at 7-3, their best record in GWAC play since they finished in second place in 2012, which was also the last time they finished in second. They clinched at least a share of second place. Ulysses is a game back, as they will face Hugoton next Thursday. Holcomb closed out their league record at 1-9, and finished in a tie for fifth place in the league with Goodland. It’s their lowest finish since 2013. The Longhorns wrap up the regular season on Monday at home against Lakin.
Coach David Dirks Postgame
