BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend all-state righthander Carson Umphres was one strike away from stealing control of the Western Athletic Conference baseball race.
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, everything changed with one swing at the Great Bend Sports Complex.
Hays' Carter Graham delivered a championship bomb with a 3-run homer that kept the Indians (6-2, 5-1 WAC) in charge of the WAC race with a 4-2 opening victory.
The Panthers (9-2, 5-2 WAC) salvaged a split with a dominating 10-3 victory in Tuesday's nightcap. The twin bill was played at a championship postseason level.
HAYS 4, PANTHERS 2 (G1) — Umphres (2-1, 1.57 ERA) pitched brilliantly in a 100-pitch seven strikeout performance. With two out, Jon Cano faced a 1-2 count when Umphreys hit Cano's helmet.
Cooper Johnson singled before Graham ripped a homer to left field that triggered a wild Indian celebration. Starting pitcher Johnson (2-0, 1.23 ERA) kept the Indians within 2-1 with a solid 6-inning performance. Graham earned a seventh-inning save, keyed by a nifty double play where first baseman Jalen Smith threw out Hunter Herrman at second base.
After three fourth-inning singles, Graham scored on an unearned run on a passed ball. Great Bend's Ian Premer doubled and scored on Trenton Kern's fourth-inning groundout for a 1-1 tie.
Daxton Minton doubled home Slade Mohr in the sixth inning for a 2-1 lead. Johnson retired Kern and Koehn Ribordy to keep the Indians close.
PANTHERS 10, HAYS 3 (G2) — Crafty righthander Minton (3-0, 0.44 ERA) yielded no earned runs in four innings. He's yielded one earned run in 16 innings.
The Panthers outscored Hays 10-1 after trailing 2-0.Graham doubled home Cano and Graham scored on Trace Jacobs' single.
Kern and Ribordy each drove home two runs. The Panthers roughed up Graham (1-1, 7.49 ERA) for five runs in 12/3 innings.
Minton, Kern and Ribordy delivered RBI in a 3-run first inning. Mohr scored on Kern's groundball nd Umphres scored on an error in a 3-run second inning. Kern scored on Ribordy's single for a 6-2 lead.
Premer scored on Owen Kaiser's sacrifice fly to start a 4-run sixth inning. Umphres scored on a wild pitch. Ribordy scored on Jaxon Wondra's single. Kern scored on a passed ball for a 10-2 lead.
Hays' Ian McGuire scored a seventh-inning run on an error.
Hays Indians 000 100 3 — 4 8 0
Great Bend 000 100 0 — 2 4 0
Johnson, Graham (7) and Sanders. Umphres and Wondra. W—Johnson, 2-0. L—Umphres, 2-1. SV—Graham. 2B—GB—Premer, Mohr, Minton; H—Jacobs. HR—H—Graham
Hays Indians 200 000 1 — 3 5 2
Great Bend 330 004 x — 10 11 1
Graham, Rhoades (2) and Sanders. Herrman, Minton (4) and Kaiser. W—Minton, 3-0. L—Umphres, 2-1. 2B—H—Graham, Smith
WAC BASEBALL
Hays High 5-1 6-2
Great Bend 5-2 9-2
Dodge City 1-2 5-4
Liberal 1-3 3-9
Garden City 1-4 3-5
4-15—Hays 4-3, Great Bend 2-10
4-17—Hays at Clay Center (2); Woodward, Okla. at Liberal (2)
4-18—Great Bend at Wichita Carroll (1)
4-19—Manhattan at Dodge City; Liberal at Olathe East, Olathe West; Garden City at Junction City, Manhattan
HAYS HIGH (5-1, 6-2)—WL Rock Creek 8-1; 4-5; W Great Bend 5-4; W Dodge City 10-0; WW Garden City 9-3; 9-5; WL Great Bend 4-2, 3-10; 4-17—at Clay Center (2); 4-22—Dodge City (2); 4-25—KC Piper/Spring Hill; 5-1—Liberal (2); 5-2—Garden City (1); 5-9—Manhattan/Brush Colo.; 5-10—Wichita Life Prep; 5-15—at Liberal (1); 5-16—Junction City (2)
GREAT BEND (5-2, 9-2)—W Garden City 13-0; WW Hutchinson 15-1, 13-6; L Hays High 4-5; WW Pratt 6-0, 7-5; W Dodge City 8-0; W Liberal 14-6, 12-1; WL Hays High 10-3, 2-4; 4-18—at Wichita Carroll; 4-22—at McPherson quad; 4-25/26—at DeSoto (St. Thomas Aquinas/Gardner Edgerton); 4-29—Liberal (1); 5-2—Dodge City (2); 5-6—at Garden City (2); 5-9—at McPherson quad; 5-14—Manhattan (2)
DODGE CITY (1-2, 5-4)—WL Newton 3-1, 6-8; WW Ulysses 10-0, 14-6; WL Salina Central 7-3, 4-14; L Hays High 0-10; L Great Bend 0-8; W Garden City 12-6; 4-19—Manhattan; 4-22—at Hays High (2); 4-25—at Wichita Heights (1); 4-29—Garden City (2); 5-2—at Great Bend (2); 5-6—Liberal (2); 5-13—at Liberal (1); 5-15—Goddard Eisenhower
LIBERAL (1-3, 3-9)—LL BV West 6-18, 5-20; LL Holcomb 6-13, 5-11; WW Hugoton 10-0, 23-8; WL Garden City 20-8, 3-7; LL Goddard Eisenhower 3-14, 5-13; L Great Bend 6-14, 1-12; 4-17—Woodward, Okla.; 4-19—at Olathe East/Olathe West; 4-22—at Garden City (1); 4-25—at Cimarron (2); 4-29—at Great Bend (1); 4-24—Garden City (2); 5-1—at Hays High (2); 5-6—at Dodge City (2); 5-13—Dodge City (1); 5-15—Hays High (1)
GARDEN CITY (1-4, 3-5)—L Great Bend 0-13; WL Holcomb 4-3; 0-7; WL Liberal 7-3, 8-20; L Dodge City 6-12; LL Hays High 3-9, 5-9; W Goodland 10-1; 4-19—at Junction City/Manhattan; 4-22—Liberal (1); 4-29—at Dodge City (2); 5-2—at Hays High (1); 5-6—Great Bend (2); 5-9—Scott City; 5-13—at Hays TMP
