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GCCC Baseball vs Colby
Published 4/21/2008 in Sports : GCCC
By MARSHALL MOORE
mmoore@gctelegram.com
With a chance to control its own destiny in the race to host its Region VI first round, Garden City Community College ran out of steam.
The Broncbusters split their season series with Colby over the weekend, losing the final game on Sunday 6-4 at Williams Stadium despite a furious comeback bid in the seventh inning that ended with the tying run at the plate. Garden City beat the Trojans 5-3 in the early game and split Saturday's games -- losing the first 4-2 before rebounding in the nightcap with a 12-10 win.
"It's never fun to come up short," Garden City coach Chris Finnegan said. "Especially when you're down 6-1 and you give yourself an opportunity to win. We're two inches away from possibly extending the inning, or one fly ball with the way the wind was blowing to either tying or winning the game. It's a game of inches."
Garden City (21-23, 12-16) entered the series with a chance to pull ahead of fourth place Colby (24-22, 14-14), who sits two games ahead of the Broncbusters in the Western Division. The top four teams in both the East and the West earn home field advantage in the sub-regional best-of-three series that starts May 3. The winner of which moves on to the Region VI Tournament in Wichita.
After dropping the first game on Saturday, the Broncbusters picked up their first win of the series in the second game using a 10-run, eight-hit second inning to take a commanding 11-3 lead. Sloan Soulia opened the scoring for Garden City in the second, knocking in two runs, one a one-out triple before scoring on an error by Colby to tie the game. In his second trip to the plate that inning, Soulia blasted a two-out double that scored Dan Oracion and Luke Fisher to cap off the Broncbusters' scoring run. Soulia finished the game 2-for-4 from the plate with four RBIs.
Garden City picked up where they left off on Sunday, using a two-run shot by center fielder Ben Warner to take a 5-1 lead in the second inning in the first game. Warner's home run was his second on the year, which ties him with Fisher for the team lead.
"I had a bunt play on the at-bat before, and then I got in the box and (Finnegan) said hit away," Warner said. "I got a fast ball and struck it out over into left field. I didn't think it had a chance. I didn't think I hit it hard enough, but as I was rounding second and it was still in the air I started thinking 'Hey, maybe it does.'"
Colby struck back in the final game of the series, jumping out to a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. With their backs against the wall, the Broncbusters rallied, scoring on a double to left center by Fisher, a sacrifice fly by Nate Reddig and an RBI single by Christian Lucero cut the Colby lead to two. With two-outs though, Marcus Palimenio ripped a ground ball to Colby shortstop Sean Caggiano who fielded it on the run and threw out Lucero at second to end the game.
The weekend split with the Trojans means that Garden City will need a little help if they hope to return to Williams Stadium for a final home stand. After a non-conference doubleheader with Lamar (Colo.) on Tuesday, the Broncbusters will play their final conference series of the year at Cloud County starting Saturday. Colby will face off at home with Hutchinson in their final series of the year. Garden City needs at least two Trojan losses and to sweep their series with the Thunderbirds to pull into a two-way tie for fourth in the West.
"We just have to go out and play well," Finnegan said. "We've still got one more series left, and we just have to go up there and take care of business. We can't worry about anyone else."
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Colby (24-22, 14-14) at Garden City (21-23, 12-16)
Saturday
Game 1
Colby 4, Garden City 2
Colby 010 003 0 -- 4 7 0
Garden City 010 000 1 -- 2 8 0
W--Lyndon. L--Ingham (4-4). 2B--GCCC, Chritz, Soulia. HR--Colby, Peterson, Kletke.
Game 2
Garden City 12, Colby 10
Colby 300 141 1 -- 10 15 6
Garden City 1(10)1 000 X -- 12 14 5
W--Butt (6-3). L--Phillips. S--Oestereicher (3). 2B--Colby, Dunsmore; GCCC, Wilson, Soulia. 3B--GCCC, Soulia.
Sunday
Game 1
Garden City 5, Colby 3
Colby 010 002 0 -- 3 5 0
Garden City 014 000 X -- 5 5 1
W--Van Bibber (3-6). L--Urbach. S--Oestereicher (4). 2B--Colby, Kletke; GCCC, Palimenio, Wilson. 3B--Colby, Dunsmore; GCCC, Chritz. HR--GCCC, Warner.
Game 2
Colby 6, Garden City 4
Colby 301 020 0 -- 6 8 3
Garden City 001 000 3 -- 4 8 4
W--Hornstra. L--Daugherty (3-5). 2B--Colby, Kletke; GCCC, Chritz, Fisher, Oracion. 3B--GCCC, Palimenio. HR--Colby, Dunsmore.
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