Cardiac Cougars salvage split of weekend with sweep of Dodge

Cardiac Cougars salvage split of weekend with sweep of Dodge
The Barton County Community College baseball team rallied for the 3rd time in its final at bat in home conference play for a win Sunday over Dodge City, propelling them to a sweep of the Conquistadors at Lawson Field. Barton won 11-10 and 17-7 over Dodge to salvage the weekend that saw them lose twice to Hutchinson and drop out of 1st place. Barton remained in a tie for 2nd with the sweep of Dodge in Jayhawk West play. The Cougars are 13-7 in West action, tied with Colby. Hutch leads the West with a 16-6 record. Barton is now 22-16 overall and will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to El Dorado to take on Butler County.

Highlights
Things looked like it might just be a lost weekend after being swept by Hutchinson in a battle for 1st place Saturday then staring down the barrel of defeat Sunday in the opener to Dodge City. Dodge City jumped to a 5-0 lead in the contest and held a 10-7 lead going into the bottom of the 7th and final inning before Barton rallied with 4 runs in the 7th for the win then went on to get the sweep and salvage the weekend.

The Cougars began their 7th inning rally with back-to-back singles by David Wilson and Tyler Metcalf before Eric Whinery reached on an error. Dreiling pushed a bunt past the pitcher to drive Wilson, cutting the lead to 10-8 and keeping the bases loaded. Brandon Wells followed with a squib that made it about 10 feet in front of home plate but a charging Dodge pitcher and the Dodge catcher were locked in confusion and neither picked up the ball, allowing Metcalf to score to make it 10-9 and keep the bases loaded with still no one out. After Austin Holt struck out for the 1st out, Brent Biggs tied the game with a sacrifice fly to score Whinery. Robbie Adams drew a walk to load the bases with two outs for Wade Gubbels. With the on deck circle empty as the inning came down to Gubbels to win the game or go to extra innings, Gubbels drove a ball over the head of the left fielder to the outfield fence for a very long single and the game-winning hit.

Gubbels had 3 RBI during the game as did Dreiling. Biggs had 3 hits and Adams and Metcalf each scored twice in the contest. Nate Hedrick, despite giving up 3 earned runs on just 1 hit in 2 innings of relief work, picked up the win for the Cougars. Brett McBride got the start, striking out 7 in just 4 2/3 innings of work, but allowed a pair of homers, 9 hits and 7 runs – 4 earned.

The Cougars had to battle much of the 2nd game as well, trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 4th inning. In the 4th, Barton plated 5 runs to take the lead – temporarily. Whinery drove in Metcalf and Wilson with a single to make it 4-3 then he scored on a Dreiling double to tie the game at 4-all. Tim Ruble tripled in Dreiling and scored on a Biggs single to give Barton a 6-4 advantage. That lead didn't last long as Dodge scored 3 more runs in the 5th to grab a 7-6 lead.

Barton took control of the game in 5th inning then ended the game in the 6th. The Cougars posted 9 runs in the 5th as 14 batters came to the plate in the inning. It started quickly enough as Gubbels singled and Wilson homered for an 8-7 Barton lead. Holt added a 3-run homer in the inning and Gubbels later drove in 2 with a single. Whinery and Ruble also has RBI in the inning as Barton built a 15-7 lead. Wilson ended the game in the 6th when he drove in Holt for the 2nd run of the inning and the 10-run lead for a run-rule win.

Whinery ended the contest with 4 RBI while Holt and Wilson each had 3 RBI in the win. Ruble scored 2 times and Dreiling had 3 hits in the win. Ryan Sheldon picked up the win, throwing 1 2/3 inning of relief and shutting out the Conquistadors on just 1 hit.

Against the Blue Dragons on Saturday, Barton struggled to hit and field the baseball. The Cougars collected just 7 hits, scored just 2 runs while committing 5 errors in the losses. In the opener, Hutch took control with 4 runs in the 5th followed by 3 runs in the 6th to build the 9-2 lead on Barton. In the nightcap, Barton collected just 1 hit – a Whinery single in the 4th. Biggs, Ruble, and Whinery each had two hits during the day to combine for 6 of the 7 hits Barton posted on the afternoon.

The weekend series drew more than 200 people to Lawson Field for a pair of good weather days at the stadium.

Stats
Complete stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu

Next
Wed., April 12 – at Butler County, 4 pm (West doubleheader at El Dorado)