by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Just when it looked as though Kansas City Kansas Community was about to complete a sweep at Allen County Friday, the roof fell in on the Blue Devils.
KCKCC had cruised to a 12-0 opening game win behind another superlative pitching performance by Cole Gacke and had a 6-0 lead in the second game only to have the Red Devils put 10 runs on the board in the sixth inning on the way to an 11-6 win.
The split, the Blue Devils’ seventh in nine doubleheaders this season, kept KCKCC (9-9) a game behind Allen County and Neosho County (both 10-8) in the race for a first division berth and a home playoff spot entering Saturday’s 1 p.m. twin bill between the two teams at KCKCC.
A 6-1 sophomore righthander from Liberty North, Gacke pitched his second straight two-hitter in the 12-0 7-inning opener. Only one Red Devil got past first base against Gacke, who struck out three and walked two.
The bottom half of the KCKCC batting order was particularly effective as five hitters combined for 13 hits in 19 at bats and scored 10 of the 12 runs. The Blue Devils finished with 18 hits, three each by Brandon Still, Brandon Green and Rorey Combs and two apiece by Brigham Mooney, Adam North, Josh Shumacher and Kevin Santiago and each had one double. The two hitters at the bottom of the order, Combs and North, combined to drive in half of the runs with three RBI apiece.
The big inning was the fourth when the Blue Devils lashed out five straight hits and scored five runs. Still started it with a double and Mooney, Green, Combs and North singled for two runs. A sacrifice fly by Shumacher and a squeeze bunt by Tyler Pittman scored two more and Santiago capped the inning with a run-scoring double.
The Blue Devils put together four consecutive doubles in a 3-run seventh. After Green’s two-base hit to lead off, Combs, North and Shumacher followed with RBI doubles. KCKCC took a 1-0 lead in the second on singles by Still, Green and North’s ground ball; added an insurance run in the fifth on a double by Mooney and single by Combs; and tacked on two more runs in the sixth on singles by Shumacher, Pittman and Still.
For five innings of the second game, Orlando Oritz was spectacular – 12 strikeouts including eight in a row during one stretch and just one hit – and a 6-0 lead. But six hits, five walks, one hit batter and an error later, Allen County had a 10-6 lead. Ortiz allowed just four hits but three of his four walks and a hit batsman came in the 10-run sixth. The Blue Devils used three pitchers in the inning, Allan Brown giving up three hits and three runs (one earned) before Julian Rivera gave up one hit the final two innings.
Home runs by Brandon Green and Rorey Combs helped get the Blue Devils in front 4-0 in the second inning. Green homered after a Still single and Combs followed with a round-tripper on the next pitch.
Doubles by Shumacher and Mooney made it a 4-run inning. KCKCC added another run in the fourth on singles by Shumacher and Mooney and a Pittman ground ball and made it 6-0 on an unearned run in the fifth.
The Blue Devils finished with a 9-8 edge in hits but left 14 runners stranded. Four Blue Devils had two hits each – Green a home run and single, Shumacher and Mooney a double and single and Still two singles.