Dodge City baseball continued KJCCC play on Thursday opening a four-game series with Barton as the top two teams in the KJCCC West did battle in a doubleheader in Great Bend. The Conquistadors would take the series opener 3-1 and then split the day falling 13-7 in game two.
The Conqs' win in the series opener snapped a 19-game home winning streak that Barton had dating back to last season as the Conqs are now 15-15 on the season and 7-3 in conference play.
The series moves to Dodge City on Saturday, March 25th for a doubleheader at Cavalier field starting at 1:00 pm.
Game 1 – Won 3-1 at Barton
The Conqs would strike first in the series opener taking the lead in the top of the second as
Cooper Schneider singled on a bunt to third scoring
Cooper Tomkinson. The lead was extended in the top of the fifth as
Carson Wright pushed a double to right field to bring
Zandt Payne home to make it 2-0 Conqs. In the bottom of the fifth Barton broke through as an error in the inning got the Cougars a base runner and then a single later in the frame brought in Barton's first run. Conqs would get insurance in the top of the seventh as Wright brought in a run and then
Tristan Wolf who had stymied Barton's bats all game finished out the game helping the Conqs claim the 3-1 win.
Wolf tossed a complete game giving up just one unearned in seven innings on seven hits and no walks while striking out four.
Andrew Detlefsen helped led the Conqs offense going 2-4, while Tomkinson was 2-3 with a run scored. Schneider was 1-1 with a run scored, RBI, and two walks, while Wright finished 1-3 with a double and two RBI. Payne added a 1-3 game with a run scored, a walk, and a double.
Game 2 – Lost 13-7 at Barton
It was early offense for the Conqs again in game two of the doubleheader as Detlefsen and
Ethan Hewell each recorded RBI singles to give the Conqs a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Conqs doubled their output in the top of the second with two more runs on a Payne RBI double and an RBI groundout by Wright. Barton scored four in the bottom of the second to tie the game taking advantage of an error by the Conqs. In the top of the third, the lead swung back to the Conqs on a sacrifice fly by
Nick Mesquita and a two-RBI single by Payne to score three in the inning making it 7-4 in the third. In the bottom of the fourth the Conqs would see Barton tie it up again playing three runs and then the Cougars took the lead with a five-run outburst in the sixth and one more in the seventh leading to the 13-7 win for Barton.
Payne led the Conqs' 10-hit attack going 3-5 with a double, while Detlefsen went 2-4 with a run scored and RBI. Hewell added a 2-4 performance with a run scored and RBI.
