Dodge City baseball opened their KJCCC series with Colby at home on a blustery day in Dodge City and plenty of offense would be in store for the doubleheader as the Conquistadors came away with a pair of wins 19-12 and 19-17. 

The doubleheader would feature 67 combined runs along with 62 total hits between both teams. 

The wins for the Conqs moved them to 17-17 on the season and 9-5 in KJCCC play setting themselves up for a chance to win the series against Colby as the series transitions to Colby on Saturday, April 1st for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 pm. 

Game 1 – Won 19-12 vs Colby 
The day started off with Colby jumping on top early as the Trojans nearly batted around in the first inning scoring three runs, but the Conqs had an answer in the bottom of the first. An infield base hit, a Colby error, and a walk would allow the Conqs to load the bases and Andrew Delefsen would blast the first of many home runs on the day hitting a grand slam to give the Conqs the lead at 4-3. Conqs would add another run and lead 5-3 after one inning. Colby doubled their score in the top of the second by plating three more runs but a solo home run by Cooper Schneider tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the second. In the third, the Trojans had an outburst of offense batting around and scoring six runs to lead 12-6 but the Conqs would outscore Colby 13-0 the rest of the way. 

In the bottom of the third Caden Matlon led the inning off with a triple and would come into score later in the inning then in the fourth, the Conqs scored six highlighted by an RBI double by both Carson Wright and Matlon each, and a three RBI home run by Brian Hallum. Add another run in the fifth and five more in the sixth which included a two-run home run by Donnie Rhyne and a solo home run for Hallum. The Conqs would keep Colby off the scoreboard from the third inning on with Ashton Jenkins coming in out of the bullpen to shut the door and help the Conqs win 19-12. 

Jenkins earned the win on the mound tossing four scoreless innings of action giving up just one run and retiring the final 12 batters he faced. 

Offensively the Conqs' 15-hit attack saw contributions from top to bottom of the lineup. Schneider was 3-5 with three runs scored, a home run, and RBI, while Wright was 2-3 with two doubles, three runs scored, a walk, and an RBI. Matlon added a 3-4 game with a triple, double, two RBI, and three runs scored, while Rhyne was on base four times finishing 1-1 with a two-run homer and had two walks, and was hit by a pitch. 


Game 2 – Won 19-17 vs Colby
The early portion of the game was eerily similar to the game as Colby would tally three runs in the first and second innings, but the Conqs had early offense also scoring four in the first and two in the second. In the bottom of the first, a two-RBI single by Hallum highlighted the inning and then a solo home run by Alex Galyean highlighted the second inning for the Conqs. In the bottom of the third, the Conqs regained the lead plating four runs, while in the fourth each team scratched a run across. In the top of the fifth Colby snagged the lead back behind a grand slam to tie the game and then a solo home run to take the lead at 12-11. The lead was short-lived for Colby as the Conqs answered immediately in the bottom of the fifth scoring four with a two-RBI single by Ethan Hewell and RBI double by Hallum leading the charge. Colby grabbed a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, but the Conqs countered with three including a two-run homer by Rhyne. Both teams tallied a run in the seventh and after a scoreless eighth the Conqs were three outs away from the win. In the top of the ninth with two outs Colby blasted back-to-back solo home runs but that would be all the Trojans could get as the Conqs held on for the win 19-17. 

The Conqs 18-hit attack offensively was spread out throughout the lineup as Hewell finished 3-6 with three RBI, a run scored, and double, while Hallum was 4-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, five RBI, and a walk. Rhyne was on base regularly again going 3-4 with a home run, five runs scored, two RBI, two walks, and a double. Both Galyean and Jordan Rodriguez each added a two-hit game for the Conqs. 

Zade Cisneros picked up the win in relief while Justus Revill tossed the final three innings giving up just two runs on three runs and three walks while striking out seven.