First, the bad news. The Bee Jays’ game scheduled for July 2 against the Great Bend Bat Cats has been canceled, so the Bat Cats can make up league games. So the Bee Jays will have a few extra days of rest before their next contest against the Dodge City A’s on Friday July 4th.
Onto the good news from this weekend, the Bee Jays won back-to-back games for the first time since June 22 and 25. Saturday night they picked up a huge run-rule win 14-3 in seven innings. The Bee Jays scored those 14 runs in just six innings as they didn’t need to bat in the bottom of the seventh to secure the run rule victory. Similarly, Sunday afternoon fell in favor of the Bee Jays after a slow start winning again in seven innings over the Denver Cougars, 11-3.
Saturday evening saw the Bee Jays bats come alive after a defensive battle Friday night went to the Cougars, 3-2. The Bee Jays wasted no time Saturday night scoring three runs in the first inning and following that with four more in the second inning. The Bee Jays would lead the whole game as the Cougars were only able to muster one run in the second and third innings. The Bee Jays would go scoreless in the third before adding two additional runs in the fourth. And after a scoreless fifth inning by both teams, the Bee Jays would add another five runs in the sixth for a total of 14. In the seventh the Cougars tried to rally, but their lone run wouldn’t be enough to even extend the game past the top of the seventh as the Bee Jays completed the run rule victory 14-3 without batting in the seventh.
With the temperature at 94 degrees at first pitch the only thing hotter was the Bee Jays pitching. Starter Ian Reid and reliever Kage Ralstin would combine for six strikeouts giving up the three runs on five hits despite the five Bee Jays’ errors. Offensively, the Bee Jays looked very different from the contest the night before as they racked up 14 runs on 10 hits in only six innings. First baseman Justin Hudson scored three runs on the night while J.T. Cox would add two runs of his own and add a two RBI double in the sixth to push the score into run rule territory. Cox would be knocked in on a Matt Bernath RBI double of his own on the next at bat.
On Sunday afternoon in a non-league contest with the same Denver Cougar team, Todd Baffa the leadoff hitter would steal the show from the outset picking up right where the Bee Jays left off Saturday night. Batting leadoff for the Bee Jays he got going right away with a double on the second pitch in the bottom of the first. Unfortunately, he would be the only one to reach base in the first and he would be left stranded at second after the Cougars retired the next three Bee Jays in a row. The Bee Jays wouldn’t find their first run until the second inning when Matt Bernath scored as a pitch runner after catcher Diego Davis would get on base on a fielder’s choice. That lone run would leave the Bee Jays trailing 3-1 after the Cougars put up all three of their runs in the top of the second before being shut out from there.
A scoreless third would leave the Bee Jays 3-1 after three innings and a single run in the fourth cut the Cougar lead to one after Baffa hit an RBI single to score Jake Ortega. The Bee Jays’ bat would finally work together after they took their first lead of the contest after Drew Garcia knocked Drew Grego in for the tying run and he would score the go ahead run later in the inning and Bernath again running in place of Davis after he singled in the inning would create a two run cushion crossing the plate for the third and final run of the fifth inning. Bee Jays would lead 5-3 going into the sixth inning. The Cougars would go three up, three down in the sixth and the Bee Jays would continue to keep the bats going adding an additional six runs in the sixth. Baffa had the first and last hit of the big sixth, he finished 5-5 at the plate with two doubles and three singles; however, he would only score a lone run in the sixth as he was left stranded in four different innings. The Bee Jays left nine runners on base in the Sunday matinee bringing their season total to 154 left on base. After the Cougars went scoreless in the seventh, the Bee Jays would take the victory 11-3 in the seven inning non-league game.
The Bee Jays get back above .500 on the season with their 10th run in the final contest of June. They are 10-9 on the season and remain 8-9 after the non-league game. They finished their six-game season series with the Denver Cougars, 4-2 after dropping the first game of each three-game homestand and picking up the next two in both series. The Bee Jays will be off until Friday, July 4th when they host the Dodge City A’s. You can listen to that game on the home of Bee Jays Baseball, 1270 AM, 92.3 FM from the Voice of Bee Jays Baseball, Brock Kappelman. The Community Bank will be the buyout sponsor for the July 4th contest.
