Great Bend Sweeps Liberal

The upstart Great Bend Bat Cats swept the Liberal Bee Jays with a 10-8 win Sunday night at Al Burns Field in Great Bend Sunday night.  Liberal has lost five of their last six.  They lost this game despite leading 8-7 into the eighth.

Great Bend struck for two in the first and one in the second against starter Thomas Garland who was making a spot start.  Liberal scored three in the third to tie the game.  Brenon Rhodes, Nate Crossman, and Marcus Shoemaker singled to begin the third.  Garrett Scott walked with the bases loaded.  Kyle Schmidt singled home two.  The Bat Cats scored three more in the third before reliever Chance Carner retired three straight men to get out of the inning down only 6-3.  The Bee Jays made it 6-5 with two in the fifth.  Shoemaker doubled to lead off the inning.  Cale O’Donnell reached on an error and Kyle Schmidt doubled.  Trent Maloney grounded out but drove home a run.  Great Bend took a 7-5 lead with another run in the fourth.  Zach Zeller came in and pitched 3 and 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run and pitched a scoreless fifth, sixth, and seventh.  Liberal took the lead with three n the sixth.  Rhodes blasted a homer to center to make it 7-6 Great Bend.  Shoemaker singled.  Scott singled and Shoemaker scored on a throwing error over the first baseman’s head.  O’Donnell singles.  Scott scored the lead run on a wild pitch.  But Great Bend struck in the eighth.  The lead off man reached on an error.  The next man flied to right.  A walk, an RBI single, another fly out to center, then a two out two RBI triple by Brandon Bachar put the Bat Cats ahead 10-8.  Liberal out hit Great Bend 14-13.  Liberal had three errors and Great Bend had two errors.

Liberal is in third place at 22-11 and Great Bend is 17-16.  Liberal plays at Derby Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for their final road games of the season at 7 each night with Dugout Shows at 6:45 on 1270 and kscbnews.net.