Goodland baseball stuns Scott City

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansanews.com)–Sometimes you can expect the unexpected. That’s what happened in Scott City Monday afternoon in the Scott City Regional. Scott City came in as the heavy favorites over the struggling Goodland Cowboys, who hadn’t won since April 4. Scott City hadn’t lost since April 9.

The Cowboys would put the bat on the ball early, with four runs on five hits in the second inning, and hung on in the end for a 6-5 upset over the No. 2 seed Scott City in the Regional quarterfinal at the Scott Recreation Complex.

After a scoreless first inning, Goodland would string together four runs on five hits in the second inning to take the early 4-0 lead. The Cowboys would have two extra base hits in the inning. Scott City would rally back to score two runs in the bottom of the second, as Jose Trejo would have Scott City’s first hit of the day on a two-run single that scored Ryan Cure and Ronnie Weathers to cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Beavers cut the deficit in half in the firth inning, on a Jeffrey Nix fielders choice that scored Kevin Herman.

Goodland would add two runs in the sixth to take a 6-3 lead. Their first was on a Chase Johnson RBI groundout that scored David Wood. The second run of the inning was controversail. It sounded like the Cowboy batter had swung and tapped the ball foul with his bat, and the ball would go to the backstop. The home plate umpire did not call it that way, and DJ Knox scored on the no-call to make it 6-3.

Scott City would rally back in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kevin Herman’s RBI single scored Easton Lorg to cut the deficit to 6-4. Nix would sacrifice fly in Blaine Culp to make it 6-5. With two outs and the tying run at second, the Beavers would be caught stealing third to end the game, and the season would end in the first round to the Cowboys.

Last year, Scott City was swept by Goodland in the regular season, and knocked off the Cowboys in the first round. This year, the roles were reversed.

For Goodland, Ryan Volk went six-plus innings, giving up five runs, three earned, on four hits, with four strikeouts and five walks. Andrew Wood had two hits and an RBI, while Chase Johnson drove in two runs for the Cowboys, and Henry Cole picked up the save. Goodland had nine hits in the game, but had four errors.

Easton Lorg took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits with two strikeouts in one and two-thirds innings. Harrison King gave up two runs, one earned on three hits with six strikeouts in five-plus innings in relief. Jeffrey Nix would drive in two runs, and Kevin Herman had two hits with an RBI. The Beavers had five hits and committed one error.

Scott City saw their 10-game winning streak come to an end, and finished the season at 13-8. Goodland snapped a 12-game losing streak.

In the quarterfinals, Cimarron defeated Southwestern Heights 18-5, Colby edged Lakin/Deerfield 5-3 and Hugoton shutout Holcomb 9-0.

The semi-final games saw Colby defeat Cimarron 9-1, and Hugoton defeated Goodland 13-7.

Colby and Hugoton will face off for the Regional Championship Wednesday at 6 pm in Scott City.

Coach David Dirks Postgame