Dodge City picks up road win in Hays

Hays, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The winning streak has reached three for the Dodge City A’s, as they held off the Hays Larks Monday night at Larks Park 6-2 on a perfect night for baseball in Hays.

After both teams were scoreless in the second inning, the A’s batted around in the third inning, putting up five runs on five hits. Dodge City scored first on a Conner VanCleave RBI single that scored Carlos Arellano. Jake Cruce followed that up with an RBI single, scoring Kyle Cullen, then Owen Jansen singled in Van Cleave from second to make it 3-0. The scoring was capped off by a Jordan Vojovich two-run double to make it 5-0 A’s. All the runs came with two outs.

That score would hold up until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Hays would get an RBI groundout from Devin Hager that scored John Renzel to pull the Larks to within 5-1. Hays picked up a run in the seventh on a lead-off inside the park home run by Scott Wolverton to make it 5-2. Wolverton’s hit was to left center field, and Dodge City centerfielder Kyle Cullen made the catch, but ran into the wall full steam and dropped the ball. Cullen would stay in the game.

In the bottom of the eighth, Hays had one more shot at rallying, as they loaded the bases, but a flyout ended their threat. The A’s got a sacrifice fly from Cullen that scored Arellano to make it 6-2, and the Larks went down in the order in the bottom of the ninth.

Brady Rodriguez picked up the win, giving up a run on five hits and had three strikeouts. Brock Knoten would puck up his second save of the year, retiring the side in order in the ninth. Owen Jansen had a three-hit game with a run scored and an RBI, while Jordan Vojovich drove in two runs.

Tyler Blomster took the loss, giving up five runs on six hits with five strikeouts in five innings of work for Hays. John Rensel had a two-hit game for the Larks, and Scott Wolvert hit an inside the park home run.

Both teams finished with eight hits. Hays left 11 runners on base, while the A’s stranded five.

Dodge City will be at home Tuesday night, as they face the Liberal Bee Jays for the first time this year. Game time is at 7:30 at Cavalier Field, with a 7:15 pregame on Superhits K95.5.

Coach Tony Gonzalez Postgame