by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
An 8-5 winner over State Fair in their home finale, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Blue Devils immediately turned their focus on the Region VI playoffs.
Seeded No. 13 in the 16-team field, the Blue Devils will open the 2018 playoffs against No. 4 Butler County in El Dorado Friday at 6 p.m. Game two of the best-of-three series will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. with a third game if necessary Sunday at 1 p.m. All games are 9-inning contests with the winner advancing to the 8-team regional tournament at Wichita next weekend.
Friday’s opener is expected to match two of the Jayhawk Conference’s winningest pitchers. Butler lefthander Drake Norton leads the league in wins (10-2) and is second in earned run average (3.10) while KCKCC righthander Cole Gacke is 8-2 with a 4.52 ERA.
Offensively, the two teams are evenly matched. The Blue Devils as a team are hitting .319; Butler .310. Playing in a smaller ball park, the Grizzlies have hit 62 home runs to 41 for KCKCC but Blue Devil pitchers have a combined 4.61 ERA to 6.06 for Butler.
KCKCC ended a four-game losing streak with the win over State Fair and will take a 31-24 record into Friday’s opener while Butler (34-17) had an 8-game winning streak snapped by West Division champion Barton County in its final two games.
Four Blue Devil pitchers combined to limit State Fair to just five hits and two earned runs in Tuesday’s 9-inning 8-5 win. Freshman Victor Gotay allowed just two hits and struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings. However, Gotay also walked six including four in a 4-run sixth inning that vaulted State Fair into a 5-2 lead. Sophomore Allan Brown came on to retire the side and get the win.
The Blue Devils responded to the 5-2 deficit by scoring five times in the bottom of the sixth for a 7-4 lead. A leadoff single by Brandon Still and triple by Kevin Santiago ignited the rally. Kemper Bednar singled in the second run and Gavin Gifford doubled in another to tie it before sacrifice flies by Adam North and Josh Schumacher put KCKCC ahead to stay.
Schumacher, who scored KCKCC’s first run in the first inning on a Rorey Combs’ single, also singled in a run in the second and doubled in the final run in the eighth.
Once in front, Gunner Vestal gave up a run on two hits in the seventh before Julian Rivera got the save, allowing just one hit in two innings. He struck out four, walked three.
In other opening playoff series, No. 1 Cowley College plays host to No. 16 Garden City; No. 2 Barton County entertains No. 15 Allen County; and No. 3 Fort Scott is home to No. 14 Seward. Also, No. 9 Coffeyville is at No. 8 Hutchinson; No. 10 Cloud goes to No. 7 Johnson County; No. 11 Independence is at No. 6 Colby; and No. 12 Dodge City plays at No. 5 Neosho County.