After a strong sweep over Garden City a week ago, the Seward County Saints baseball team took the road to El Dorado to begin a four-game KJCCC series against the Butler Grizzlies where game one went the distance in a pitching battle that saw Butler grab a 2-0 win to start the series while the Saints erupted in game two to end the day early in a run rule win 15-5.
Both sides were strong on the mound with Tyler Wilcox stepping up for Seward County as he retired batter after batter with multiple strikeouts to hold the Grizzlies at bay despite the Saints’ offense being unable to round the bases. A late error from SCCC resulted in the first two runs of the day being scored by Butler and put the Saints in a 2-0 hole that they were unable to climb out of as they recorded only two total hits in the first game.
Scoring was not a problem in game two for Seward County as the Saints got hit after hit to start the first inning and an RBI single from Cameron Cartwright put SCCC on the board for the first time all day at 1-0. The Saints managed to find home multiple times in the first inning before a 2 RBI single from Mason Gilbert grew the lead to 5-0 entering the second. Six more runs in the second propelled the score into run rule territory at 11-1 thanks to big time hits from Mason Hagel-Pitt and Keagon Pitton to drive in some more scores for the green and white while Gilbert doubled out to right field to drive in to more to extend the lead to double figures. The Grizzlies clawed their way back to single digits as they recorded three runs in the third but could not stop the Saints at the plate as Kotaro Wakui singled on a line drive to center for another two runs while a home run bomb by Gilbert in the eighth helped wrap things up in a run rule win 15-5.
Seward County will now return home to Liberal where they will wrap up the four-game series with a doubleheader at home as both sides look to claim the series for their own on Brent Gould Field with game one starting at 1:00 PM on 1270 and 92.3.
