By MIKE KESSINGER

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mkessinger@gctelegram.com

After the Garden City High School softball team was swept by Hays on Tuesday, Lady Buffaloes coach John Ford decided practice the next day was going to be fun.

Softball wasn't going to be the focus. Instead, the Buffaloes spent practice indoors playing a game and not softball. Ford felt as though his team had lost some of its spirit to go out and play the game, and so he wanted to take a little attention away from softball.

When his team took the field to open its final doubleheader of the season against Western Athletic Conference rival Dodge City, the more relaxed practice appeared to pay off. With a re-energized group, Garden City beat the Red Demons 12-2 in the first game Thursday in five innings, but couldn't overcome a huge Dodge City third inning in the nightcap, falling 19-10. Despite the loss in the second game, Ford thought the Buffaloes showed the fight to stay tough when things weren't going their way.

"They were really energized," Ford said of the Buffs' taking the field. "They were all pumped for senior night and everything and just came out and played well."

One thing Ford did for the final regular season games was convert his lineup back to the way it was before the Hays doubleheader.

"The best thing we did was go back to the lineup we had used before," Ford said. "I think we had messed with the girls' heads a little, and the best thing for us to have done was to go with the high-energy line-up we had. It was our best chance."

Garden City (7-13, 4-6) had its offense in full throttle early against the Red Demons. The Buffaloes scored three runs in the first inning kicked off by a Desiree DeLaRosa two-RBI double. McKayla Aguiniga followed with a single, scoring DeLaRosa.

The lead grew to eight in the second inning, then into double-digits in the third at 12-1. In the four-run third, the Buffaloes finished with three doubles by Prisma Alcantar, Mandi Beltran and Monique Lopez. The doubles by Beltran and Lopez each produced a run.

While the offense was doing its part, Buffs' pitcher Regina Aguiniga did her part to keep Dodge City (13-7, 6-4) off balance in her final appearance at home as a senior. Aguiniga gave up just five hits in the first game. In the second game, the pain of a hip flexor became too much for Aguiniga, who has started 18 of the Lady Buffaloes' 20 games. She was relieved in the fifth inning by Alex Trejo with two outs.

"I am so proud of her," Ford said of Aguiniga, who didn't play softball last season. "She doesn't letanything bother her. She did a great job of hitting her spots in that first game."

After the first game ended in the middle of the fifth inning because of the run-rule, the Buffs defense started where they left off from the opener. Dodge City was held scoreless through the first two innings.

In the third though, the Red Demons ripped off 10 singles, then a triple by Kaci Richardson to score 11 runs. Dodge City was helped by two Garden City errors that kept the Red Demon rally alive.

Garden City refused to quit as winds reached into the 60 mph range by the start of the fifth inning. A Lexi Parr triple in the fourth inning scored two runs for the Buffaloes. In the fifth, a two-run DeLaRosa home run prevented the Buffaloes from being run-ruled. Then again, in the sixth, Garden City was able to keep the game going by scoring two runs to make it a 16-9 deficit. DeLaRosa's home run was the fifth of her career, making DeLaRosa the Buffs' all-time leader in home runs.

Dodge City tacked on three runs in the sixth on an Emily Scheck RBI single, and two-RBI single by Valerie Ortiz. The Buffaloes' final run came when a pitch to DeLaRosa rolled to the backstop, then was pushed up and over the fence by the wind allowing Kim Bogner to score from third base.

"I was so proud of how the girls didn't give up," Ford said. "After we gave up all those runs in the third, they never gave up. They never give up. I'm going to remember that about this team. They were in quite a predicament at the start of the season, and this team had no quit."

Garden City will find out Saturday morning where it will play in Class 6A regional, starting Monday and Tuesday.

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Dodge City (13-7, 6-4) at Garden City (7-13, 4-6)

Game 1

Garden City 12, Dodge City 2

Dodge City 001 10 -- 2 5 2

Garden City 354 0x -- 12 11 1

Ralph and Bebes; R. Aguiniga and Lopez. W -- Aguiniga (6-11). L -- Ralph. 2B -- GCHS, DeLaRosa, Alcantar, Beltran, Lopez.

Game 2

Dodge City 19, Garden City 10

Dodge City 00(11) 122 3 -- 19 21 5

Garden City 010 242 1 -- 10 14 5

C. Richardson and Bebes; R. Aguiniga, Trejo (5), K. Munoz (6) and Lopez. W -- Richardson. L -- Aguiniga (6-12). 2B -- DCHS, Schellhamer, Ehrlich. 3B -- DCHS, K. Richardson, Sotelo; GCHS, Parr, Lopez. HR -- GCHS, DeLaRosa.