Coffeyville baseball opened up KJCCC conference play against the Cowley County Tigers.
In game 1 thursday Coffeyville competed hard all game both offensively and defensively. Sophomore Aaron Bechtel took the mound for the start picking up his second win in three starts. Cowley fired the first blow scoring in the first inning, Coffeyville fired right back with lead off solo homer by sophomore Zac Freeman. In the top of the second Cowley responded right back scoring two in the inning, but Coffeyville came to compete responding immediately with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning tying the game 3-3. The game would be tied up until the fourth inning when coffeyville put up a three spot in the bottom of the fourth inning, then two in the fifth and one in the sixth. Aaron Bechtel pitched 5 innings striking out 8 and holding a respectable Cowley offense to just three runs. Freshman Raymond Farrell came in for the relief to finish the game, Farrell allowed only one run to cross the plate in his two innings pitched. Both pitchers did a great job against Cowleys offense. Sophomore Zac Freeman had a highlight day at the plate going 2-4 with a Homerun, Triple, and two RBI's. The Red Ravens came out on top 9-4 in game one of the double header.
In game 2 Coffeyville struggled to get the offense going consistently. Cowley hit the Ravens pitchers well, Jackson Blancarte started on the mound, Jackson threw 5 innings only giving up 6 hits on 4 runs. Kris Sloan, Kreighton Rogers and Garrison Walton in relief for a combined 4.0 innings giving up only 3 hits and racked up 3 strikeouts. Cowley put up a four spot in the first inning to start the game and the Ravens responded in the bottom of the second putting up a five spot. The Ravens would hold the Tigers at four runs till the seventh where they scored 3 to take the lead, Coffeyville responded with one of their own. Cowley put together another three spot which was enough to win them the game. Zac Freeman carried his productivity into game 2 going 3-5 with 2 RBI's on 3 singles and a stolen base. Ravens fell short of the well fought game losing 10-6.
Sunday Game 3 at Cowley was expected to be a great one after the teams split the first two games thursday. Sophomore Matt Hunt took the mound for Coffeyville, Hunt was rolling through the Cowley offense until he got in some trouble in the sixth inning. Hunt threw 5.1 innings and recorded 5 strikeouts. Freshman Raymond Farrell came in for the relief in the sixth inning. Farrell threw 2 innings striking out 2 batters along the way. Cowley hit the scoreboard in the first inning scoring one. Coffeyville tied it in the top of the second 1-1 and took the lead in the third 2-1. Cowley would respond tying it in the fourth 2-2. The Coffeyville offense put together a great sixth inning putting a 4 spot sparked by freshman Noah Wallaces bases loaded clearing triple. Wallace came into the at-bat 0-2 in the game and still locked it in the big moment to got the job done. Cowley would however respond back with a 6 spot, which was the determining factor of the game. Coffeyville lost 8-6 in the all out war of a game. Coffeyville did a lot of great things in game 1 despite the loss and looked to carry it over unto game 2 and come out top.
In Game 4 of the series, a pitchers duel, Tucker Sparks and the Ravens continued pitching well. Tucker pitched 6.0 on 4 hits and only 1 run in the 6th. Tucker held strong for the Ravens not giving up a run until his last inning of work.The Raven relievers Chance Crowley, Grant Smith, and Quentin Romero, combine for the final 2 innings and 2 ER. Cowley scored one in the sixth and two in the eighth. The Ravens offense struggled against some good pitching from Cowley and could never get a run across. Coffeyville had 5 hits coming from 5 different Ravens. In a tough pitchers duel, Coffeyville lost with a final score of 3-0.
Coffeyville takes on Neosho County in the next series, Saturday at Walter Johnson Park and Sunday in Chanute, Kansas. Go Ravens!
Written by Radford Beasley & Brett Carson.