Scott City baseball earns split with Ellis
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Tuesday’s doubleheader with Scott City and Ellis turned out to see dramatic finishes. With the dramatics came a pair of one-run finals, with both teams picking up a win. The Railroaders rallied late to take game one 4-3, while the Beavers held off a surge late to hang on for the 20-19 high-scoring affair.
Ellis 4, Scott City 3 Game 1
The first game of the day would be a fast game compared to the last game of the day. Ellis jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, a lead that would hold up until the fifth inning. After being retired 13 consecutive times to start the game, Scott City final got a baserunner, and finally scored. The Beavers would take advantage of three Ellis errors, and pick up three his of their own to lead 3-1. That score would not change until the seventh. Scott City retired the first two batters. The Railroaders would not give up, picking up an infield single and then another base hit. With a full count and two outs in their last at bat and last strike, Easton Smith drilled a ball to center field past the diving efforts of Scott City’s Kevin Aguilera, and had an inside the park home run to give Ellis the 4-3 lead, which they would not surrender. Smith went five innings on the mound, giving up three runs on three hits with eight strikeouts. Dalton Hensley finished off game one and got the win, pitching two scoreless innings for the Railes. Smith went 2-3 with three RBI’s, while Hensley scored twice and had two hits. Gustavo Gonzalez took the loss, going all seven innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, with five strikeouts. Todd Morris, Justin Faurot and Drew Duff had an RBI each for the Beavers.
Scott City 20, Ellis 19 Game 2
Three hours, 26 walks and 39 runs later, the Beavers held on for the win that didn’t come easy. Ellis took the early 2-0 lead, only to see Scott City counter with seven runs to take a 7-2 lead. That would not hold up long, as the Railroaders scored six in the second inning, while the Beavers retook the lead with seven runs in the bottom of the second to expand their lead to 14-8. Scott City added four runs in the third to lead 18-8, and it looked as if they would cruise to a win. Ellis had different plans, as they took advantage of a couple Beaver errors in their seven-run fourth to pull to within 18-15. The Beavers added a run in the fifth and sixth inning, setting up dramatics for the seventh. The Railroaders scored three runs to pull to within 20-19 with one out. Ellis had the tying run round third and got caught to far off the base on the Brayden Bittel single, and Easton Smith was tagged out, leaving the tying run at second base. A ground out on the next pitch ended the Railroader threat, giving Scott City the win. Aaron Hoopes picked up his first win of relief, giving up 10 runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Kevin Aguilera went 3-5 with three RBI’s, and Drew Duff had two hits and drove in three runs. Kyle Cure also had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. The Beavers ended up with 14 hits and a season high in not only runs scored, but runs allowed. In the win, Scott City’s 20 runs were the most scored since scoring 22 runs against Holcomb in 2012.
After Tuesday, Scott City is 2-12 on the season, and will visit Colby on Friday, while Ellis is 10-4, and will host Ulysses on Friday.
