Game three and the series between the Liberal Bee Jays and the Hays Larks were decided on Friday night after extra innings.Thursday night’s 10 inning game ended in an 11-9 victory for the Larks, dropping the series 1-2 as they picked up two runs in the tenth inning as the Bee Jays extended their drought and pitched another scoreless inning.
Before scoring their first score of the game in the bottom of the second inning, the Bee Jays allowed one run in each of the first two innings. The Larks added one run in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead over the Bee Jays after both teams had a scoreless third inning. Then, it would be all Bee Jays through the middle innings as they responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning to take their first lead of the night. Kyle Sandner would drive a single home ball over the left field fence for the first run of the inning with one out and no one on base, igniting the Bee Jays’ fourth-inning rally. Matt Bernath and Landon Bruce would each work a full count into a walk as the top of the lineup came to bat. At that point, Drew Grego hit Bernath with a single to start the hitting. After that, rookie Justin Hudson would score Bruce on the hit with an RBI single of his own. For the fourth and last run of the fourth inning, Grego would also score. However, as in the last three innings, the Bee Jays would end the inning with two runners on base. The Bee Jays took their first lead of the evening, 5-3, in the beginning of the fifth inning, despite the fact that eight runners had been left on base through four innings.
They would maintain the momentum in the fifth inning, when the Bee Jays scored three more runs to increase their advantage to five after the Larks went three up, three down in the top inning. Sandner would move Jake Ortega to third on a double after he had walked to begin the inning. Bernath would send them both home on a triple, once again at the top of the lineup. Hudson would hit into a fielder’s choice later in the inning, leaving him on first and sending Bernath in for another run. In the sixth inning, Ortega singled in Drew Garcia for the Bee Jays’ final score of the game, giving them an 8-3 lead after five full innings. The Bee Jays led their opponents by six runs, 9-3, at the half.
The Larks put on a strong comeback in the following two innings, scoring two runs in the seventh before a pitch changed the outcome of the game. Jackson Babcock, the first baseman for the Larks, blasted a grand slam with two outs and the bases loaded to tie the game at nine each. Two hitters later, the Bee Jays would end the inning, but that one pitch gave the Larks the momentum and energy they needed. Both teams would score nothing in the ninth inning since they were knotted at nine coming into it. Dylan LaRue would hit an RBI triple and then score on the following pitch on a sacrifice fly, giving the Larks a two-run lead before the Bee Jays could retire their team. The Larks continued to build momentum into the tenth inning and wasted no time. In the ninth inning, the Bee Jays went three up, three down to end the game and the series, continuing their offensive drought.
With this trade, the Bee Jays are now 8-8 overall and 7-8 in the Rocky Mountain League. They will begin their next three-game homestand against the Denver Cougars on Friday at 7 p.m. at Brent Gould Field. The Home of Bee Jay Baseball, KSCB, will broadcast the whole series at 1270 AM and 92.3 FM. The buyout sponsor for Friday’s game is Billy’s Ayr Lanes.
