It took extra innings to decide game three and the series between the Liberal Bee Jays and the Hays Larks on Friday night. The Larks would pick up two runs in the tenth while the Bee Jays drought continued and they would put up another scoreless inning giving the Larks an 11-9 victory in the 10 inning game Thursday night, dropping the series 1-2.
The Bee Jays gave up one run in each of the first two innings before getting their first run of the contest in the bottom of the second inning. After a blank third inning by both sides, the Larks would add a single run in the top of the fourth to take a 3-1 advantage over the Bee Jays; after that it would be all Bee Jays through the middle innings as they answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth and take their first lead of the evening. The Bee Jays’ fourth inning rally would start when with one out and nobody on base, Kyle Sandner would hit a solo homerun over the left field fence for their first run of the inning. Then, with the top of the lineup up to bat, Matt Bernath and Landon Bruce would each work a full count into a walk, that’s when the hitting started with Drew Grego knocking in Bernath on a single. Newcomer Justin Hudson would follow that up with an RBI single of his own scoring Bruce on the hit. Grego would score as well for the fourth and final run of the fourth inning. But, just like the previous three innings, the Bee Jays would leave two runners on base when the inning came to a close. Despite the eight runners left on base through four innings, the Bee Jays started the fifth inning with their first lead of the night, 5-3.
They would keep the momentum going in the fifth when the Larks went three up, three down in the top the of inning and the Bee Jays added three more runs and extended their lead to five. Jake Ortega would start the inning with a walk before Sandner moved him to third on a double. Back at the top of the lineup again, Bernath would send them both home on a triple. Later in the inning, Hudson would hit into a fielder’s choice that left him on first and sent Bernath in for another run. After five complete innings the Bee Jays held an 8-3 lead; they would add yet another run in the sixth with an Ortega single that sent Drew Garcia in for the Bee Jays final run of the contest. Through six, the Bee Jays held a six run advantage over their rivals, 9-3.
The next two innings the Larks mounted a comeback that saw them score two runs in the seventh before one pitched turned the whole game around. With two outs and the bases loaded Larks first baseman Jackson Babcock hit a grand slam that would even the score at nine apiece. The Bee Jays would get out of the inning two batters later, but the Larks had taken the momentum and energy in that one pitch. With the two teams tied at nine going into the ninth inning, both teams would go scoreless in that ninth inning. The Larks carried that momentum into the tenth and wasted no time, with one out and one on, Dylan LaRue would hit an RBI triple and then score on the next pitch on a sacrifice fly that gave the Larks a two run advantage before the Bee Jays were able to retire their side. On offense in the tenth, the Bee Jays’ drought continued as they’d go three up, three down to close out the game and the series.
The Bee Jays move to 8-8 on the season and 7-8 in the Rocky Mountain League. They will host the Denver Cougars for another three-game homestand starting on Friday, first pitch is at 7 p.m. from Brent Gould Field. The full series will air on the Home of Bee Jay Baseball KSCB 1270 AM, 92.3 FM. Billy’s Ayr Lanes is the buyout sponsor for Friday’s matchup.