Garden City can't hold early lead; drops game two to Barton

By Mike Pilosof

Garden City, KS-If only Garden City could have this one back.

The Broncbusters absolutely dominated the Cougars in the first inning, plating seven runs. But Barton completed a furious rally, putting together an eight-run fourth inning to polish off a sweep of the Broncbusters 19-9 Friday afternoon at Tangeman Sports Complex.

After the Cougars scored first in the top of the first, the Broncbusters' offense exploded in the home half. Brittany Dowell's two-run single put Garden City in front. That was followed by Vivian Lopez's RBI base hit, Devin Hernandez's two-run double, and Ariel Denney's run-scoring single that gave the Broncbusters a 7-1 advantage.

From there, everything was kind of a blur.

The Cougars got three runs back in the second before Jaelyn Carter's three-run shot in the third off of Denney tied the game at 7.

The Broncbusters responded nicely in their half of the third, and Denney's sacrifice fly; coupled with Gaby Hernandez's RBI single, gave Garden City their final lead, 9-7.

Barton put the game away in the fourth. An error and a walk to begin the stanza eventually led to Jade Phillips two-run double that knotted the score again. Alexis Sharples followed with a two-run single, putting the Cougars in front for good. Demi Kunkel drew a bases-loaded walk, Maggie Schuetz clubbed a two-run single, and Barton was up 15-9.

In the fifth, the Cougars finished off the run rule. Hailey Pop hit a two-run double, and Brooke McCollough singled home a pair, giving the road team a 10-run cushion. Garden City went in order in the bottom half.

The Cougars slugged out 19 hits, their third most in a game this season. They scored in every inning, with Carter finishing off a 3-for-3 game with three RBI. Nasadiya Salazar, Pop and Jade Phillips also collected three hits for Barton.

Madison Brasher finished 2-for-3 at the plate for Garden City. Audrey Graf lasted only an inning in the circle, giving up three runs on three hits.