Power pitching from Montiel; Broncbusters split with Trinidad State

By Mike Pilosof

Garden City, KS-For most of the season, Samantha Akers has been the Broncbusters most dominant pitcher. But on Monday, Marissa Montiel proved she is more than capable of overpowering the opposition.

The sophomore lefthander was sensational, striking out 10 in a complete-game gem as Garden City split with Trinidad State-falling in game one 6-5 before taking the finale 2-0 at Tangeman Sports Complex.

In game two, Montiel got going in the first, striking out Avery Bohn for the final out of the frame. An inning later, she fanned two. In the end, she struck out at least one batter in every inning. It was her most in a game since she had four punch outs vs. Seward County on March 21.

Meantime, Angel Jimenez got the Broncbusters on the board in the third, singling home Erica Vessels for a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Vessels got into the act, drilling a single to center that plated one.

That was all the backing Montiel needed.

The sophomore completed a 1-2-3 fifth; worked around a leadoff single in the sixth by striking out Katie Glaze and getting Bohn to line out; then finished off the Trojans in the seventh, fanning Megan Nunez to end the game. Montiel's final stat line: 0 runs on three hits, 10 strikeouts on only 92 pitches for her first win of the season. Jimenez collected two hits and drove in a run.

The losing pitcher was Breelyn Craig, who allowed two runs on four hits in four innings.

In the second game, it was Trinidad State that struck first, scoring three in the top of the first. But Garden City (19-21, 6-10) answered right back with Jimenez's two-run homer in the bottom half that tied the game at 3. Later in the frame, Bailee Muxlow-Volk scored on an error by glaze at short, and the Broncbusters had a 4-3 advantage.

Trinidad State (24-22, 15-11) grabbed the equalizer in the second on Avery Boccella's RBI single; then took the lead back in the fourth when Glaze hit a sac fly to center only to have Vessels tie the game again with a moonshot over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the inning.

Glaze though atoned for her earlier mistake by doubling off the fence in left, scoring the go-ahead run for Trinidad State in the sixth that pushed the Trojans in front 6-5.

Garden City had the go-ahead run on base in their half when Vessel was hit by a pitch and Alyssa Dilley singled to left. But Jimenez lined out to right, Ariel Denney popped out in foul territory, and Muxlow-Volk grounded out to end the threat. The Broncbusters went in order in the seventh.

Akers took the loss for the Broncbusters, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings. She struck out eight. Dilley was 3-for-4 at the dish, and Jimenez knocked in a pair.

Bohn was the winning pitcher, giving up four runs on six hits. Leadoff hitter Rachel Duran was 4-for-4 with four runs scored, and Glaze and Boccella each drove in two.

Next up: Garden City at Pratt-Wednesday, April 11-2 p.m. and 4 p.m.