After a tough day against the Barton Cougars less than forty-eight hours ago, the Seward County Saints bounced back with revenge on their mind as they entered Great Bend and grabbed both games on Saturday at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend to end the series in a split thanks to back-to-back 5-4 wins over the Cougars.
Despite never holding a lead over Barton in Liberal, the Saints quickly grabbed their first lead of the series as Trenton Rowan singled on a ground ball to left field that drove in Cameron Cartwright for a 1-0 lead in the first. The Cougars managed to tie the score back up in the bottom of the inning while Mason Hagel-Pitt put SCCC back in front by one as he drove in another run for Seward County to make it 2-1 before Barton responded with two scores to make it 3-2 Cougars entering the fourth. Hagel-Pitt continued his perfect performance at the plate with a double in the top of the fifth to bring Cartwright and Rowan around the bases and grab the lead once again at 4-3. It was a pitching battle the rest of the way until Barton managed to lock the score back up in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings with the score at 4-4. Elias Herrera came in from the bullpen and struck out a couple of batters to hold back the Cougars’ offense while a sacrifice fly from Keagon Pitton in the tenth allowed Cartwright to score his fourth run and win the game 5-4.
The final game of the series started like the first two with Barton holding a 2-0 lead after the first three innings before a three-run homer by Hagel-Pitt allowed the Saints to push ahead 3-2 in the top of the fourth. Another pair of runs for Cougars put SCCC back in a one score hole until Kaden Juarez singled on a line drive to score another Saints run and lock it back up at 4-4. In the top of the seventh Hagel-Pitt continued his outstanding performance with a big single out to center field to drive in Sergio Castro for the game winner at 5-4 and allow Seward County to split the season series 2-2 with Barton.
The Saints next series will be against the Blue Dragons of Hutchinson to start the month of April as they head out on the road on Thursday for the first two games before returning to Liberal for the final two on Saturday.
