BY HAILEY CHAPMAN
Game One – Friday, June 28
In the opening game of the Hays Larks’ second series against the Liberal Bee Jays, the Larks came out victorious 6-5.
Rustin Hays showed a strong performance on the mound, going the full nine innings for his first complete-game performance. He threw eight shutout innings with four walks and two strikeouts. In the ninth inning, he allowed five runs on nine hits and was able to get two outs before the ball was turned over to Tommy Garcia.
Garcia threw only one pitch that resulted in a pop fly to end the threat and seal the Larks’ win.
The Larks were able to pull across runs in the second, third and eighth innings. The offense was led by Matt Cavanagh (3-for-4, RBI double), Wyatt Divis (1-for-4, 3RBI double), George Southerland (2-for-5, RBI), and Mikey Gangwich (2-for-4).
Game Two – Saturday, June 29
The Bee Jays responded to their Game 1 loss in dominant fashion with an 11-1 win. Liberal gained the lead early with two runs in the first and third innings off starting pitcher Ryan Ruder.
Ruder threw five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. Mason Myhre and Christian Pearcy combined for the final innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. The seventh inning proved detrimental to the Larks’ defense as Liberal pulled across seven more runs to force the run-rule.
The Larks’ lone run came in the seventh inning on a Drake Angeron RBI that scored Hernan Yanez. The team only pulled together seven runs as the Bee Jays’ pitching staff dominated on the mound.