Elite finish 5th in Dodge; Befort grabs win No. 100

Dodge City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-Over the past four summers, Lyle Befort has become synonymous with two incontrovertible facts: his teams will outwork you and they’re never out of it; no matter the deficit. 

So it was to no one’s surprise that it only took him four years of bypassing vacations for baseball diamonds and 100-degree heat to pickup a milestone that most summer coaches need a decade to achieve: the 100-win mark. 

“This group has good chemistry,” Befort said following his team’s 7-2 victory over Hooker in the fifth place game of the Dodge City Tournament on Sunday. “Things are really starting to come together.”

Befort was as even keel as ever. And this despite his team blowing a 9-0 lead in a 14-13 loss to host Dodge City on Saturday. 

“We faced some really good teams and really good pitching,” Befort explained. “We have some things to learn and get better at.”

But at 10-2, there isn’t a whole lot to complain about. The only other loss the Elite suffered was a 6-0 decision at the hands of Butler County, the same team that dismantled Befort’s club in the finals of the Clanton Tournament last July.