Beaver baseball falls in Regional opener
Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Playing in their first home regional game since 2019, Scott City looked to advance to Tuesday’s semis. Standing in the way was Smoky Valley. In the 7/10 matchup, the Vikings would score in six of their seven at bats, en route to a 14-7 win over the Beavers.
Following a scoreless first inning, Smoky Valley would come up with two runs in the second and third innings to take a 4-0 lead. Scott City responded with three runs in the bottom of the third, despite having only one hit, and pulled to within 4-3 after three innings. In the fourth, the Vikings tacked on two more runs and added a run in the fifth.
Leading 7-3 in the top of the sixth, Smoky Valley put some separation between themselves and the Beavers with a Ty Heitschmidt two-run home run. They added four more runs in the seventh, while Scott City put up four runs in the bottom of the seventh, as the final would be 14-7.
Heitschmidt went 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on two hits with six strikeouts. He helped his cause on the mound, going 4-5 with two doubles a home run and four RBI. Marik Andersonhad three hits, while Kylan Lindquist and Mason Riedel drove in two runs. Kaleb Burgardt gave up four unearned runs on five hits with three strike outs in 1 2/3 innings in relief.
Easton Eisenhour took the loss, allowing 10 runs, eight earned, on 11 hits with two strikeouts in five-plus innings. Teagan Feely gave up four runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings in relief and Spencer Cramer surrendered a hit in 2/3 of work on the mound. Cramer had two hits and two RBI for the Beavers.
Scott City ends their season at 13-10, wrapping up their seventh straight year of 12-plus wins in a season. Smoky Valley improves to 11-12 and will be at Colby on Tuesday to take on the Eagles in the semi-finals. Colby defeated Goodland 12-2 to advance. Cimarron took down Lakin 11-1, and Beloit defeated NCAA foe Ellsworth 11-1 in the other quarterfinal games in the bracket.
Coach David Dirks Postgame
