Garden City uses finishing kick to sweep Barton County
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Barton Community College
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 2 |
|
Garden City Community College
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | X | 12 | 12 | 2 |
By Mike Pilosof
Garden City, KS-Garden City avoided a major letdown in Saturday's finale, using a strong finishing kick to polish off another conference sweep.
McKayla Encinias, Alexis Maestretti, and Arianna Griego all went yard, Tara Reid notched her second win of the day, and Garden City came from behind to topple Barton County 12-5 at Tangeman Sports Complex.
The Broncbusters got off to another strong start. With two outs in the first, Carley Powley singled, Nya Chacon doubled, and Lacey Kearsley walked to load the bases. Reid then followed with an RBI single to center, and Kearsley came around on a passed ball to make it 3-0.
But things started to unravel for Garden City in the third. Kearsley surrendered a two-out, RBI double to Kayli Dryden, then served up a solo home run to Teegan Krol to leadoff the fourth. Dryden added a sacrifice fly later in the inning, Makayla Chavez roped a run-scoring single to left, and Kennedee Lara hit a bloop a ball to center that put Barton County up, 5-3.
The offense answered right though back in the bottom half.
After Griego drew a one-out walk, Encinias crushed the first ball she saw over the centerfield wall to tie the game. An inning later, Maestretti's solo shot put Garden City in front for good, Elycia Johnson hit an RBI base hit to center, and the Broncbusters had a two-run lead. But the finishing touches came in the sixth when Garden City plated seven including Griego's monster three-run homer that made it 12-5. Reid then polished off the Cougars by fanning three straight batters in the seventh, giving the Broncbusters their eighth win in their last nine games and cementing them in first place in the Jayhawk West at 14-10 overall and 8-2 in league play.
Kearsley got a no decision in the circle, giving up two earned runs on eight hits in five innings. Reid came in to slam the door, throwing just 27 pitches to get the win. She also helped out her own cause with three RBI, and Encinias, Powley, Kearsley, and Maestretti all collected two hits.