Buffs struggle in opening games, drop 2 at Maize Tourney

Story Credit: GCHS Athletics

The Garden City Buffaloes’ baseball team had hoped to see an improved offense and pitching when the 2026 season opened on Thursday with two games at the Maize Tournament. 

But things didn’t go according to plan for first-year head coach Lance Allred and the Buffs as they dropped a pair of games, 7-0 to Arkansas City, and then 8-0 to Newton. 

Defensively, the Buffs struggled as well, committing 7 errors in the opener against Arkansas City while managing just one hit. That hit came from Jakobe Rathburn. 

“It was one of those days where anything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” Allred said. 

The Buffs’ pitching corps issued 6 walks but did strike out 11 Ark City batters. Eli Steinmetz opened the game and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 5. Gavin Wells came in to relieve him in the fourth, pitching 2.1 innings. He gave up 2 runs, walked 3 and had 4 strikeouts. Jonathan Almanza finished with 1 inning, giving up 3 hits, 3 runs, no walks and 2 strikeouts. 

The Buffs’ offense was stymied by Ark City pitching, which recorded 15 strikeouts.  

“The pitcher we faced has signed with Emporia State and he might be the best we’ll see all season until the playoffs,” said Allred. “It’s early and I think it’s better to learn from adversity early than later.” 

In the second game against Newton, the Buffs were hit with a 4-run first inning by the Railers and then another 4-run outburst in the fifth to account for all the scoring. 

The Buffs were limited to just 3 hits, and the defense committed 2 miscues. Almanza, Drew Strecker and Andrew Wessels each had one hit, with Almanza’s being a double. The Buffs, however, were unable to move him around the bases to score.  

Pitching struggled at times with its control, as Strecker, Rathburn and Ryder Plankenhorn combined to issue 9 walks, 4 each from Strecker (3 innings) and Rathburn (2 innings) while Plankenhorn pitched just one inning with a walk. Strecker had 3 strikeouts and Rathbun 1. 

“We’ll get back to practice and work on the things that need improving,” Allred said. “I think our pitching showed some signs of being able to fill up the strike zone at times.” 

The Buffs will return to action on Tuesday (March 24) with a single game at home against Great Bend. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start following a 4 p.m. junior varsity contest at Clint Lightner Field. 

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Maize Tournament 

Thursday, March 18 

Game 1 

ARKANSAS CITY 7, GARDEN CITY 0 

Arkansas City…020…011…3…–…7…11…1 

Garden City…000…000…0…–…0…1…7 

Steinmetz, Wells (4), Almanza (7) and R. Plankenhorn. 

——— 

Game 2 

NEWTON 8, GARDEN CITY 0 

Garden City…000…000…0…–…0…3…2 

Newton…400…004…x…–…8…7…0 

Strecker, Rathbun (4), R. Plankenhorn (6) and C. Plankenhorn. 2B—Almanza.