Dodge City baseball opened the fourth KJCCC series of the season as they squared off with Barton in Great Bend for a doubleheader on Thursday, and it was a tale of two different games. Game one, the Conquistadors had the win taken away from them in walk-off fashion by Barton, falling 11-10, while they struggled in game two, falling 11-1 in eight innings.
The Conqs fall to 13-22 on the season and 2-12 in the KJCCC and will host Barton on Saturday, March 4th, at 1:00 pm to wrap up the series.
Game 1 – Lost 11-10 at Barton
It didn't take long for the scoring to start on the day, as game one was be back-and-forth with both teams finding success at the plate throughout the game. After Barton plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the first, the Conqs countered with the long ball in the second.
Ben Longoria belted a solo home run to tie the game, and
Cameron Stukenborg, a few batters later in the second, belted a two-run homer, and the Conqs led 3-1. The lead was short-lived for the Conqs as Barton answered in the bottom of the second, scoring four runs to lead 5-3. A run in the third and then a solo home run by
Preston Harrison in the fourth pulled the Conqs even again at 5-5. Once more, Barton answered as they scored three runs. In the fifth, the Conqs continued to find ways to get on the scoreboard and then in the sixth tallied three more taking the lead on a sacrifice fly by
Angel Vazquez leading 9-8. Bottom of the sixth saw Barton tie the game on a sacrifice fly to have the game even at 9-9 entering the seventh inning. Stukenborg put the Conqs back in front at the top of the seventh to lead 10-9. Needing three outs to open the series with a win, the Conqs walked the first batter for Barton in the bottom of the seventh, and then Barton belted a two-run homer to finish the game 11-10.
In the loss, the Conqs recorded 12 hits as Stukenborg led the way, going 2-4 with two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored. Harrison added a 2-4 game with a home run, an RBI, and two runs scored, while
Jonah Andraded went 2-3 with a run scored and a walk.
Hunter Morgan added a 2-4 game with an RBI and a run scored.
Game 2 – Lost 11-1 at Barton (8 innings)
The second game of the day saw Barton grab the early lead again with a run in the bottom of the first on a solo home run. Barton went on to score a run in the second, two in the third, and two in the fifth to lead 6-0 before the Conqs got on the board. Conqs finally broke through in the sixth on an RBI groundout from Andrade to tally a run. Barton answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the eighth to cap the game via run-rule at 11-1 in eight innings.
Conqs had just four hits, having five or fewer hits for the seventh time in a game this season. Morgan, Andrade, Vazquez, and Longoria each recorded a hit in the contest.
