by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
A pair of offensive-minded teams, Kansas City Kansas and Garden City Community Colleges, will square off in opening round Region VI baseball playoff action at KCKCC Friday.
The Blue Devils will come into the opener with a .329 batting average; Garden City is at .327. But as usual, the key to success goes through the mound.
“Pitching and defense win championships, at least that’s one everyone says,” KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck said. Friday’s opener is set for 3 p.m. with game 2 Saturday at 1 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
On paper, pitching is where the Blue Devils may have an edge. As a team, the Blue Devils (38-18) have an earned run average of 4.63, well under Garden City’s 6.32 ERA.
Jake Purl, 7-2 with a 3.84 ERA, will get the start in game one with lefthander Shea Stephens (6-3, 2.35) set for the second game.
Chad Cox (4-3, 5.76) will get the call in the third game if needed with Corey Cowan (5-0, 3.21) available for long relief, Julian Rivera, who has six saves, will be called on to close. Purl finished fifth in strikeouts in the Jayhawk Conference with 75 while Stephens’ 2.35 ERA was also fifth in the conference.
“We’ve had four guys who have started every conference game and been pretty consistent all year,” Goldbeck said. “We want our starters to give us a chance to win and they not only did that but went out and finished a lot of games.”
Offensively, the Blue Devils boast a starting lineup of all .300 hitters led by first baseman Alex Phillips, who finished fifth in the conference with a .421 batting average and tied for second in runs-batted-in with 68. He’s joined by designated hitter Rorey Combs (.387), outfielders Josh Schumacher (.384), Tyler Pittman (.380) and Chase Redick (.321), shortstop Albert Woodard (.368), second baseman Easton Fortuna (.345), third baseman Brandon Green (.304) and catcher Drew Holtgrieve (.303).
Redick is second in both home runs (8) and RBI (41). Other RBI leaders are Holtgrieve (35), Schumacher (30), Fortuna (30), Pittman (29) and Woodard (27). The running game will be a Blue Devil strength. Pittman finished second in stolen bases in the conference with 29; Woodard fifth with 25.
Led by Connor Reynolds, who led the conference with 18 home runs, Garden City (33-22) has out-homered the Blue Devils 60-41. However, the Broncbusters will be getting their first look at the biggest park in the conference.
“It’s .290 down the line but gets big in a hurry,” Goldbeck said.
“Garden City always has good teams,” Goldbeck said. “They’re well-coached and real scrappy. Not a team that gives away outs and one that extends pitch counts to get starters out of the game,”
KCKCC finished in a tie with Neosho County for third place in the Jayhawk East at 24-12 but Neosho got the third seed by virtue of a better record against league champion Cowley.
The Blue Devils have a sparkling 24-4 record at home but were only 5-10 in one-run games against Jayhawk rivals. Seven games were decided in extra innings with KCKCC winning three.
“We’ve been competitive in every game with the exception of one and even when we’ve had tough losses, we’ve been able to rebound,” Goldbeck said.
