DODGE CITY, Kan. - Unable to come up with a timely hit, the Dodge City Community College baseball team dropped a 7-3 decision to Pratt Community College before bouncing back for a 16-5 win in game two at Cavalier Field in Dodge City on Saturday, April 15th.
DC3 is now 28-14-1 overall and 15-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference after winning their fourth KJCCC series in six tries this season.
A short-lived lead in game one saw the Conquistadors take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a
Jake Pederson RBI single to score score leadoff batter
Cade Engle after holding the Beavers to a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first.
After stranding a runner at third in the bottom of the second, PCC would do all of their damage in the top of the third by scoring seven runs on five hits and one error as a pair of singles and a fielder's choice with no out recorded would put the bases loaded with no outs. Pratt would then collect an RBI single followed by two-RBI double before a pair of walks and error would knock starting pitcher
Joe Buckendorff out of the game. Two more runs would come across home plate on a wild pitch and RBI single before the inning would finally end with the bases loaded.
Dodge City would collect just one hit in the bottom of the third before going down in order in the bottom of the fourth to send things to the top of the fifth, where a 4-6-3 double play would erase a leadoff batter getting on base followed by a pop out to end the inning.
Brayden Cook would cut the Beaver lead to 7-3 with a two-out, two RBI double to left field to score Engle and
Jonny Chavez, but no more damage would be done by DC3 as runners would be stranded on second and third.
Looking for a rally, the Conquistadors would be unable to do so as Pratt reliever Hayden Wheeler would get the save by not allowing a hit in the final two innings of play.
Buckendorff dropped to 3-4 on the mound this year by taking the loss, tossing just two-plus innings and giving up seven runs (six earned) on four hits and striking out one.
J.T. Mossberg would toss the final five innings, allowing just one hit and walking one while setting down four Beaver batters.
Cook would be the only DC3 batter with multiple hits in the game, collecting one of the two extra-base hits that Dodge City had in the game (
Richard Fullerton).
Needing a win in game two to secure the series victory, DC3 would turn in a performance to rival games one and two of the four-game series as the Conquistadors would take a 2-1 lead after the first inning and and score in every inning except the bottom of the fifth.
Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the first,
Dauson Tate would come through with a two-RBI double to left field to score both Engle and Cook and give Dodge City the lead for good.
Cole Bergdall would come around to score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second before Dodge City would break things open in the bottom of the third by scoring four runs on a Bergdall two-RBI single followed by an Engle two-RBI single.
DC3's six-run lead would quickly be cut down to 7-4 as PCC would plate three runs in the top of the fourth with a single and double to start things off before a sacrifice fly would make the score 7-2. An RBI double would bring home the second run of the inning before a failed pickoff attempt would move a runner to third which would eventually score on an RBI single.
Dodge City would get two runs back in the bottom of the fourth on a Fullerton sacrifice fly to score
Talon Schaller before the second DC3 run of the game would come home on a wild pitch with Tate racing home to make the score 9-4.
A scoreless fifth inning would send things to the sixth where Pratt would score a single run on two hits, but would leave two runners on base after
Jeremy Hidalgo would come on in relief of
Cole Brandon.
Sophomore
Jon Coss would deliver the big blow in the bottom of the sixth by hitting his first home run of the year to the deepest part of the Cavalier Field to drive in three runs and cap off a four-run inning, putting DC3 up 13-5 and needing just two runs in the bottom of the seventh to end the game early.
Pratt would get a one-out single in the top of the seventh before an inning-ending double play would bring Dodge City back up to bat where a Cook leadoff double and Pederson walk put the game-ending run on first with no outs. Schaller would just miss out on ending the game on the first pitch he saw by pulling a pitch down the left field line and foul before smacking his team-leading 13th home run of the year to end the game by the 11-run margin.
Brandon picked up his fifth win of the year to improve to 5-2 on the year after throwing five and one third innings while giving up five runs (three earned) on nine hits and striking out six.
Jeremy Hidalgo tossed the final 1.2 inning, giving up just one hit.
Schaller, Tate, and Coss all had three runs batted in for the game while Engle had three hits in five at-bats with two RBI. Bergdall had two runs scored and two RBI while picking up one hit.
A week off sees DC3 next in action on Saturday, April 21st for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Seward County Community College in their second-to-last KJCCC series of the year. A perrenial power in the Jayhawk Conference, the Saints are 16-28 on the year and 9-15 in the KJCCC after getting swept by Barton Community College this weekend.
