The reigning NBC World Series Champions, the Hays Larks, are in town for a three game series and after a rainout on Tuesday, it was a doubleheader on Wednesday. A pitching duel resulting in a 4-1 Bee Jays win got the evening started and that was followed by a late hitting frenzy in the second game that resulted in a 14-8 Lark win. The series will be decided Thursday night at Brent Gould Field. These two meet for the last time in mid-July.
The Bee Jays jumped out early in game one with a lone Matt Bernath run off of Carson Willis RBI single in the first. The Larks would answer with one run of their own in the top of the second, but great defensive play by the Bee Jays wouldn’t allow another run. The Bee Jays would avoid disaster in the second inning when a Thomas Lyssy triple resulted in a play at the plate that went in favor of the Bee Jays. The throw from right field would find its way to catcher Drew Garcia in time for an easy tag; the Bee Jays added an out and avoided an additional run in turning point in the game. The relay and tag would help starting pitcher Jason Davis get out of the inning with just a lone run on a sacrifice fly before ending the second inning with another strikeout. Davis finished six complete innings giving up that lone run on two hits with six strikeouts, including two in the sixth, to his four walks and one hit batter.
Offensively, the Bee Jays would add another run in the fourth and two in the sixth. Bernath would add an RBI of his own in the fourth inning with a single that drove in Jack Ryan. Catcher Drew Garcia hit a solo homerun to start the sixth inning that gave way to a Jake Ortega double that would drive in Jack Ryan for his second run of the contest and the final run of game one. The Bee Jays finished with their four runs on seven hits, while the Larks managed just one run on two hits and committed a lone error.
Game two would start in similar fashion, but would pick up in the later innings for a more high flying conclusion. This time the Bee Jays started the game with two runs in the first, unfortunately those would be the only pair of runs they managed until a seventh inning rally would be too little, too late. Todd Baffa and Drew Grego would score in the first inning then the drought started with the Larks retiring nine consecutive batters over the next three innings and 18 total batters in the five innings between that first inning and the final inning when the drought lifted.
An extra two innings might have resulted in a different outcome, but a six run seventh inning spark wouldn’t be enough to overcome the 14-2 deficit they started the inning with. After holding the Larks scoreless in the first two innings a pair of three run innings followed for the Bee Jays defense who then gave up a five run fifth and another three running inning in the seventh. The Bee Jay bats would come alive in the final half inning that included a Drew Grego grand slam on their way to six runs. Despite their 13 total hits in game two the Bee Jays only managed eight runs in the bookend innings, while the Larks’ consistency turned their 14 hits into 14 for a 14-8.
With a strong ending to an otherwise lopsided outing for the Bee Jays, they will look to carry that momentum into the deciding game in this three game homestand with the Larks Thursday night. The Bee Jays move to 8-7 on the season and remain .500 (7-7) in the Rocky Mountain League. First pitch Thursday night is at 7 p.m. from Brent Gould Field, it will air on the Home of Bee Jay Baseball KSCB 1270 AM, 92.3 FM. Hat Creek Butchery is the buyout sponsor.
