Blues punch ticket to Clanton semis

Garden City, Ks (westernkansasnews)-Fans were treated to an old-fashion pitcher’s duel at Williams Stadium Saturday night. Finney County starter Edgar Montoya got the best of Newton hurler Wyatt Burbrink in a 3-1 Blues victory in the final game of pool play at the 26th annual Clanton Memorial Tournament. 

“I knew Newton was the best team we’ve faced thus far,” Montoya said. “I just tried to concentrate on working ahead and throwing first pitch strikes.”

Efficiency was Montoya’s game plan from the start. The Blues’ righty tossed 105 pitches; 64 for strikes. 

But the win didn’t come without some adversity. The Knights (2-1) struck in their first at bat when Montoya gave up a lead-off triple. After a strikeout and a line out, Austin Resser smoked a two-out, run-scoring single to give Newton a 1-0 lead. 

“I had confidence that our offense was going to get going,” Montoya said. “When you’re down, you just have to stop the bleeding; that’s what I did.”

Finney County (21-5) didn’t trail for long. Jake Curran led off the bottom of the 2nd with a line-drive single. Montoya then moved Curran to second with a sacrifice bunt. After David Acker was hit by a pitch, Mario Montoya bounced into a fielder’s choice that scored Curran to tie the game. 

The Blues would take the lead in the 3rd when Curran laced a two-out, RBI double that scored Logan Dechant. The man who will be competing for the Broncbuster’s starting quarterback job, drove in two of the three Finney runs and finished 3-for-3 at the plate. 

The Blues added an insurance run in the 5th on Curran’s third hit of the night: an RBI single to left. 

The road to the title game doesn’t get any easier with a showdown against Grand Junction on Sunday. 

“It would be a great experience if we won it here,” Montoya said. “Bring it back to Garden.”

Next up: Finney County vs. Grand Junction, 9 am Sunday at Williams Stadium; Newton vs. Lamar-1 pm Sunday at Williams Stadium

NEWTON (1) AT FINNEY BLUES (3)

NEWTON               AB  R  H BI  FINNEY BLUES         AB  R  H BI
Player Stauffer       2  1  1  0  Robert Tomlin         2  1  0  0
Dakota Long           2  0  0  0  Isaiah Rodriguez      3  0  0  0
Gunar Drinnen         3  0  1  0  Logan Dechant         2  1  0  0
Austin Resser         2  0  1  1  Jake Curran           3  1  3  2
Peyton Dahl           1  0  0  0  Edgar Montoya         2  0  0  0
 Player 13            1  0  0  0  David Acker           2  0  0  0
Dakota Stern          3  0  0  0  Marcus Zapata         3  0  1  1
Tucker Sweely         3  0  0  0  Mario Montoya         3  0  0  0
Drake Sturgeon        3  0  1  0  Addison Deherrera     2  0  1  0
Nathan Wood           2  0  0  0
TOTALS               22  1  4  1  TOTALS               22  3  5  3

NEWTON                        100 000 0 -- 1
FINNEY BLUES                  011 010 x -- 3  

LOB--NEWTON 4, FINNEY BLUES 5. 2B--Marcus Zapata, Jake
Curran. 3B--Player Stauffer. HBP--Player Stauffer, Robert
Tomlin, Logan Dechant, David Acker. SACB--Edgar Montoya.
SB--Gunar Drinnen (2), Player Stauffer, Drake Sturgeon,
Addison Deherrera.

 NEWTON                          IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Wyatt Burnrink (L)             4.00    4    3    3    0    1    0
Player Stauffer                2.00    1    0    0    0    3    0
 FINNEY BLUES
Edgar Montoya (W)              7.00    4    1    1    3    9    0

PB--Tucker Sweely, Addison Deherrera (3). WP--Wyatt
Burnrink. SO--Gunar Drinnen, Austin Resser, Tucker Sweely
(3), Dakota Long, Dakota Stern (2), Peyton Dahl, Marcus
Zapata (2), Logan Dechant, Mario Montoya. BB--Austin Resser,
Dakota Long, Peyton Dahl.