Broncbusters lose to Barton; fall into must-win on Sunday

Dodge City, KS-Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap. 

Two brilliant defensive plays ended surefire Broncbuster rallies. Elina Bartlett crushed a three-run homer, and Meleia Ingram struck out five as third-seeded Barton clipped Garden City 5-3 in the winner's bracket final of the Region VI Tournament Saturday afternoon at Legends Park. Garden City now drops to the loser's bracket championship game on Sunday at 12 p.m. vs. No. 16 Butler. 

The four-run hole Garden City dug themselves into in the first could have been so much worse had Maria Avendano Fori not made a sensational running catch in left-center that robbed Mia Mascarenas of an extra base hit. 

"Nobody expected us to be here," assistant coach, Jimmy Hendrix said. "But we are here now, and we have a chance."

Those chances appeared daunting when Allyson McDougal hit a two-out, bloop single just out of the reach of first basemen Chiara Olison in the first. Yina Ballesta Vargas, who threw 127 more pitches on Saturday after tossing nearly 200 combined during the Broncbusters two victories on Friday, hit Chloe Enslinger, and Peyton McCormick doubled home a run to put the Cougars ahead, 1-0. But the catastrophic blow came moments later when Bartlett hammered Vargas' two-strike rise ball and deposited it over the center-field fence for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead. 

Garden City, which fell to 28-21 overall, struggled to get any offense going early. They went down in order in the first two innings. But in the third, Mara Vonk's single followed by Alyssa Santana's base hit to center, breathed some life back into the cause. With runners at second and third, Kenzie Garza grounded out to second allowing Vonk to scoot home to put the Broncbusters on the board. 

An inning later, Reagan Sword, who was hitless in four out of the previous five games entering play on Saturday, laced a run-scoring single up the middle to slice the deficit in half. Then in the fifth, Daryelin Rivas Chavez hit a solo home run to dead center, pulling Garden City to within a single run and within an eyelash of Saturday's Region VI title game. 

After Ingram retired the Broncbusters in order in the top of the sixth, Barton extended the lead when Rivas Chavez, arguably the best shortstop in the Jayhawk Conference, failed to cleanly field Englsinger's routine ground ball. So, instead of a double play, Garden City only got the force at second base. McCormick then followed with an RBI fielder's choice to give the Cougars a 5-3 cushion. 

But this game came down to missed opportunities highlighted by a pair of web gems by Barton. In the sixth, Fori hit a scorching line-drive to left-center that looked to be headed towards the gap and extra bases. But Laney Wood, who took one false step in, recovered and cut over to make an extraordinary diving catch extending to her left. Then in the seventh, with the tying run at the plate, shortstop Karter Alvord cut across the diamond to snag away what should have been a single from Santana. 

"Those were just two great defensive plays," Hendrix added. 

With two outs and a runner on first, Head Coach, Belinda Hendrix decided to insert Julissa Galicia, who pinch hit for Kenzie Garza. The sophomore, whose lone home run this season came back on Feb. 23 vs. Trinidad State, took a few heavy hacks on Ingram fastballs that narrowly missed. But after working the count full, she was called out on a borderline strike three to end the game. 

Vargas, who gave up five runs on eight hits over six innings, was solid again except for the first inning when she allowed four runs all with two outs. 

Ingram, who hadn't allowed a run in her last 14 innings, yielded three on six hits to win her 19^th game of the season. Barton, which clinched a spot in the Region VI Championship game for the first time since 2021, will face the winner of Garden City/Butler at 2 p.m. on Sunday.