Barton finishes season with 1-2 mark at Sub Regional; 32-24 on season

Barton finishes season with 1-2 mark at Sub Regional; 32-24 on season
The Barton Community College baseball team saw its 2010 campaign end late Sunday afternoon El Dorado as the Cougars lost to Coffeyville for the 2nd time at the Sub Regional hosted by Butler. Barton lost Saturday to Coffeyville as well then beat Independence in the 4-team double elimination Sub Regional before falling to Coffeyville Sunday to ends its season. Barton finished its season with a 32-24 record. The Cougars lost a close contest to start the regional, falling to Coffeyville 4-3 to send Barton to the loser's bracket. There Barton beat Independence 6-3 to earn a contest Sunday where Barton didn't fare too well, losing 14-3 to Coffeyville. Butler won the event, beating Coffeyville in a 2nd championships game Tuesday. The Grizzlies with join the other 3 Sub Regional chamions in Wichita this weekend.

Highlights
Barton and Coffeyville battled in the opener with Barton taking a 2-0 lead in the 4th inning. At that time things looked pretty good for the Cougars as Barton freshman Levi Schlick was cruising along on the mound. In fact through the 1st 5 innings of work, Schlick was tossing a 1-hitter protecting that slim 2-0 lead. But the Red Ravens got the freshman in the 6th stringing together four straight hits to make it a 2-1 game with the bases loaded and still no one out. Schlick nearly got out of the inning there, striking out the next two batters before a big 2-run single gave Coffeyville the lead at 3-2. The Red Ravens pushed it to 4-2 before the end of the inning.

Barton put together a rally in the top of the 9th and looked to be in position to at least tie the contest. An error to start the inning by Coffeyville put Nathan Miller on base and when Hugo Hernandez followed with a double Barton had runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs and the top of the lineup coming up. Jordan Slade made it 4-3 with a single to score Miller when Coffeyville turned to its closer. And close he did. Jeff White came to the mound and struck out the next 3 batters to finish off the game and send the Cougars to the loser's bracket.

Barton outhit Coffeyville in the loss 9-7 but left 10 runners on base. Coffeyville left just 4 on. Mitch Slauter had 3 hits for the Cougars while Ryan Busboom and Hernandez each finished with a pair.

The Cougars bounced back in the loser's bracket contest, winning 6-3 over Independence. Ben French kept Indy in check on the mound, going all 9 innings and allowing the Pirates just 6 hits. French struck out 10 and walked just one in the win.

Indy did take a 2-1 lead on a single and double with one out. But Barton, who scored its first run on a Slauter home in the 1st, added two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd and never trailed again. The Cougars gave themselves some breathing room with 3 more the 4th keyed by a 2-run single by Slauter that scored Miller and Slade. Barton banged out 10 hits – four by Slauter who finished 4-for-4 at the plate with a home run, double, 3 RBI and two runs scored.

The Cougars ran into some trouble Sunday in the 3rd and 4th innings in the rematch with Coffeyville. With the contest scoreless after two, Coffeyville put up 5 in the 3rd then put the contest away with a 9-run 4th inning. The game ended after just 5 innings due to the run-rule at 14-3.

Notes
The Cougars end the season with 32 wins – the 8th time in the past 10 years Barton has won at least 30 games. The Cougars had just 6 sophomores on the 2010 team. Barton has 10 players bat .290 or higher with 9 of those being freshmen. Freshman designated hitter Levi Schlick led the team with a .378 average followed by sophomore center fielder Brandon Hoefler at .367. Hoefler spent a good stretch of the season over .400.

Another freshman, catcher Mitch Slauter provided most of the pop for the Cougars this year with a team-leading 8 homers and 47 RBI. His home run total was twice the 2nd best effort of 4 by freshman left fielder Jordan Slade. Hoefler was 2nd in RBI with 39. Slauter's .6-4 slugging percentage was nearly .100 higher than freshman right fielder Nathan Miller's .505, 2nd on the team. Freshman third baseman was 1 of 3 players with double figures doubles on the year belting 12 2-baggers along with Slauter. Slade added 10. Hoefler also led Barton with 18 steals in 21 attempts followed by Slade at 17-for-25.

On the mound Schlick and freshman Ben French led Barton with 5 wins apiece. Schlick finished 5-4 while French was 5-3. Schlick concluded the season with a 2.11 ERA after spending nearly the entire year with a sub 2.00 mark. Schlick struck out 77 batters in 64 innings and walked just 32, ending with a WHIP of 1.19. The batting average against him this year was just .194. Closer Ian Smith, another freshman, finished with 5 saves and a 2.92 ERA. Freshman Kyle Leroy, throwing in middle relief, led Barton with a 1.86 ERA over 17 appearances. James Hilts led the team in appearance out of the bullpen as the freshman left-hander appeared in 23 games posting a 2.95 ERA. That was one more contest than the 22 freshman Robbie Van Cour appeared in.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

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Season Complete with 32-24 record