Buffs’ baseball returns solid nucleus, coached by alum Lance Allred
Story Credit: GCHS Athletics
Lance Allred is planning on seeing his Garden City Buffaloes baseball team show improvement during the 2026 season as he begins his first year at the helm of the program.
An assistant coach for the past three seasons and a GCHS graduate (2018), Allred has a clear picture of what it will take for the Buffaloes to move up in the Western Athletic Conference and to be more competitive in its non-conference schedule.
That 26-game regular season schedule begins on March 19 (Thursday) at the Maize Tournament where the Buffs will face Arkansas City at 12:45 p.m. and then follow with a 3 p.m. game against Newton. Their home opener will be March 24 (Tuesday) in a single game against Great Bend at 6 p.m. at Clint Lightner Field.
“I think we have a good amount of experience coming back,” Allred said. “When we had the Jamboree (scrimmages) last week (against Cimarron and Scott City) we found out what live pitching is like against somebody else. I thought the kids did a good job of batting and our pitchers threw strikes.”
The Buffs are coming off a rough 2025 season in which they went 6-17 overall and were 2-10 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Two of the top returners are senior Culden Plankenhorn and junior Jakobe Rathburn. Plankenhorn was a first team all-WAC performer as a sophomore and second team in 2025. He has played catcher, third base and pitched in his three seasons of varsity ball.
Plankenhorn, who signed to play at Garden City Community College next fall, has been a three-year starter. His sophomore season saw him named to the all-WAC first team and then was a second team pick a year ago. He batted .310 with 8 RBIs.
Rathburn, an infielder and pitcher, was a first-team all-WAC selection a year ago. He led the team in batting (.400), hits (26) triples (6) and stolen bases (21).
“He’s got a lot of skills that we will be counting on,” Allred said of Rathbun.
Junior Drew Strecker is another returner who has experience at third base, outfield and pitching. A three-sport athlete for the Buffs, Strecker batted .329 and led the team in RBIs with 19. He was 1-1 with 2 saves on the mound.
Junior Jonathan Almanza, who saw action at third base, batted .317 with 12 RBIs last season while senior outfielder Anthony Ortiz, Jr., hit .333. Junior first baseman Gio Benitez had 12 RBIs.
Other returners, either full or part-time starters, include senior second baseman Ethan Ackerman, senior pitcher/first basemen Gavin Wells, junior utility player Cameron Barrett, sophomore outfielder Andrew Wessels, and senior pitcher Eli Steinmetz.
“I think with our pitching we’ve got multiple guys who can throw 4-5 innings, a couple who can go seven innings and several others who can throw one to three innings,” Allred said.
Allred said he was unsure who would be on the mound Thursday for the season opener as it depends on whether he’ll have a full complement of starters. He anticipates the starter could be either Steinmetz or Strecker.
“Drew is our flamethrower, and the others do a good job of getting the ball over the plate and throwing strikes,” Allred said.
The team of 2025 had a batting average of .275 and averaged 5.34 runs per game. They struggled at times hitting and finished with 135 strikeouts. The team pitching ERA was 7.62 and its fielding average was .898.
“I think the infield looks good as we return most if not all of the group,” Allred said. “We’ve got a good number of kids who have put in a lot of preseason time. It’s a good group and I think these kids are committed to making strides with the program.”
Allred said he thinks the WAC will be more balanced this season as both Hays and Great Bend lost a big group of graduating seniors.
“I think Liberal will have a young team, but they have some talent,” Allred said. “Dodge will be comparable to us while Hays and Great Bend lost a big group of starters.”
The WAC portion of the Buffs’ schedule will include three games against each of the four other schools. They will play each in a doubleheader and in a single game with alternating home-and-home based upon previous season schedules.
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Garden City Buffaloes
Baseball – 2026 Schedule
(Home Games in CAPS)
(Single Games begin at 6 p.m./Doubleheaders at 4 p.m.)
March 19—at Maize Tournament (12:45 p.m., vs. Arkansas City; 3 p.m., vs. Newton); March 24—GREAT BEND (1), 6 p.m.; March 27—at Holcomb, 4 p.m.; March 31—LIBERAL, 4 p.m.; April 2—GOODLAND, 4 p.m.; April 7—at Dodge City (1), 6 p.m.; April 10—HAYS (1), 6 p.m.; April 18—JUNCTION CITY (1), 11 a.m. and MANHATTAN (1), 1:15 p.m.; April 21—at Liberal (1), 6 p.m.; April 24—at Scott City (2), 4 p.m.; April 28—DODGE CITY (2), 4 p.m.; May 1—at Hays (2), 4 p.m.; May 5—at Great Bend (2), 4 p.m.; May 8—WICHITA WEST (2), 4 p.m.; May 12—HAYS-THOMAS MORE PREP (2), 4 p.m.; May 18—Class 6A Regional, TBD; May 28-29—Class 6A State Tournament, Lawrence.
