Broncbusters swept by Cloud County

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-More woes for the Broncbuster bullpen.

Adler Pierson, Tom Poole, and Joel Benes all went yard, the Thunderbirds scored 13 runs off Garden City relievers, and Cloud County completed a four-game sweep with a 17-10 victory over the Broncbusters at Williams Stadium Saturday night. Garden City lost their eighth straight game, falling into a last-place tie with Pratt in the Jayhawk West at 3-13. 

And to think how well this one started for Garden City.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Geoff Marlow crushed a Haden Dow fastball to the gap in left-center to knot the score. Two batters later, Sage McMinn missed a home run by inches, settling instead for a two bagger that brought the go-ahead run across for a 2-1 advantage.

After Broncbuster starter, Raul Garcia worked out of trouble in the top of the second by fanning three straight Cloud County hitters, Will Gardner gave the southpaw some insurance in the home half, tattooing his second long ball of the season: a no-doubt about it shot over the wall in left for a 3-1 lead.  

The Thunderbirds made it a one-run contest in the third thanks to Poole, who smacked a solo home run to straightaway center. But the Broncbusters answered again in the bottom of the inning when Marlow whistled a one-out bomb just past the scoreboard in left-center for a 4-2 cushion.

The feel-good-story pretty much ended there.

Garcia was yanked after just three innings, allowing the two earned runs whiles scattering four hits. He struck out five and walked three. The bullpen however didn't hold up their end of the bargain. 

After Cameron Sistrunk worked a scoreless fourth, Trey Schwerdtfeger surrendered a run in the fifth when Danny Infante scooted home on a wild pitch. Then in the sixth, Noah McCandless walked Tristan Tenorio to begin the inning before serving up a two-run homer to Pierson, the nine-hole hitter whose jolting drive to left gave Cloud County a 5-4 lead. Chris Finnegan then replaced McCandless with Caden Blair, who recorded the final two outs of the inning.

Major trouble though was lurking in the seventh when the veteran skipper inserted hometown kid Peyton Walters. The freshman allowed the first three men to reach before giving up a two-run double to Ian Riley. Two batters later, Poole singled home a pair before a double steal made it 10-4.

The Broncbusters did manage to close the gap in the home half. Ibrahaim Rodriguez's RBI base hit followed by Dylan Garcia's sacrifice fly pulled Garden City within four. Moments later, Rodriguez raced home on a wild pitch to cut the Thunderbirds' lead to 10-7.

But again, the bullpen continued to leak oil.

Bryson Knapp yielded two more runs in the eighth, and Stephen Roozendall was tagged for five in the ninth, including Benes's three-run homer that gave the visitors a 16-7 advantage.

McCandless took the loss for Garden City, dropping to 2-3 on the season. Marlow finished 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and three runs scored.

Aaron Hayes notched the win for Cloud County, allowing three runs on two hits to 2 1/3 innings.