By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After just under six hours of baseball, 37 hits and 38 runs, city powers Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights battled it out to a non-league doubleheader split Monday at Rural.
[Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
[Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, now 15-6, took an 8-7 eight-inning win in the first game before Washburn Rural, 13 -6, rallied from 7-2 and 11-8 deficits to take a 12-11 victory in the nightcap.
Both Rural and Heights had plenty of positives that Junior Blues coach Jay Mastin and T-Bird coach Jason Brown could point to, but both coaches also saw areas their teams need to improve on, with Rural stranding 19 baserunners in the first game and Heights issuing 13 walks in the second game.
"I thought we could have swept them, they could have swept us and we're very fortunate to walk away with a split,'' Mastin said. "Game 1 we just couldn't find the big hit. We put ourselves in scoring position with the bases loaded or second and third and the balls we did get to the outfield were right at the outfielders and we just couldn't get that big hit.''
"I think we swung the bat pretty well, especially in the second game and we got some big-time hits in some big-time situations,'' Brown said. "I thought our defense was really good. We've just got to be a little better on the mound, a little more efficient on the mound, but overall I thought we played well.''
Rural jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead in the opener, but Shawnee Heights tied the game in the third and went in front 6-2 with a four-run fifth.
The Junior Blues answered with a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the fifth to knot things at 6-6.
The two teams traded single runs in the sixth and the game went to extra innings before Shawnee Heights' Camden Olson tripled to knock in the game-winning run in the T-Birds' 8-7 win.
Carson Garner, the fourth T-Bird pitcher, picked up the pitching win and also had a triple.
Washburn Rural had 10 hits in the game, including doubles from Wilson Miller and Gage Dowell.
Shawnee Heights jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two and a half innings in the nightcap and went up 7-2 with a fourth-run fourth as Cambren Floberg and Deacon Pomeroy both homered for the T-Birds.
Rural tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth as the Junior Blues sent 10 players to the plate and got a huge three-run pinch hit double from junior AJ Payne.
The game was tied at 8-all after both teams scored single runs in the sixth but Shawnee Heights regained temporary control with three runs in the top of the seventh as Floberg delivered a two-run single and Pomeroy plated the T-Birds' final run with a single.
Washburn Rural junior Noah Johnson reacts to his game-winning walk in Monday's 12-11 second-game win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior AJ Ditch tied the game with a three-run inside-the-park homer and Rural scored the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk to junior Noah Johnson, scoring junior Drew Moore, who also walked.
Shawnee Heights is right back in action Tuesday, playing a UKC twinbill against Topeka West at Hummer Sports Park while Washburn Rural will go on the road to face St. Thomas Aquinas in a single game on Friday.
GAME 1
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 8, WASHBURN RURAL 7 (8 innings)
Shawnee Heights 002 041 01 — 8 8 0
Washburn Rural 200 041 00 — 7 10 1
Cooper, Purvis (2), Wyatt (5), Garner (6) and Pomeroy. Ansley, Edmiston (6) and Rabb. W -- Garner. L -- Edmiston. 2B -- Washburn Rural: Miller, Dowell. 3B -- Shawnee Heights: Garner, Olson.
GAME 2
WASHBURN RURAL 12, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 11
Shawnee Heights (15-6) 012 401 3 — 11 12 1
Washburn Rural (13-6) 002 051 4 — 12 7 0
Lindsay, Scott (6), Wyatt (6) Ortiz (7) and Pomeroy. Haas, Smith (4), Bahr (7) and Rabb. W -- Bahr. L -- Ortiz. 2B -- Washburn Rural: Ditch, Payne. HR -- Shawnee Heights: Floberg, Pomeroy. Washburn Rural: Ditch.
