Manage Delivery
Stephenson’s return
The last time Phil Stephenson was in a game at the NBC World Series, he was playing for the Sluggers 17 years ago.
In four games in the Midwest Regional and four games in the NBC Tournament, Stephenson was 18 for 22 and hit seven home runs.
“A couple guys asked if I’d activate myself for this deal,” said Stephenson, the Dodge City A’s manager. “But that’s what I want people to remember. The last time people saw me play, I could still play.
“It’s a lot of fun to be on this end of it. To see these guys getting better, they’ll go back to school successful. Not only from winning, but the success individually and that success they’ll build off of.”
Clutch finish
The Greeley (Colo.) Grays only managed three hits through the first nine innings and three San Luis Obispo pitchers during NBC World Series winner’s bracket action on Thursday.
“They had good pitching,” Grays right fielder Justin Byrd said. “You can’t really do anything when the guy is changing speed, changing location. You try to pick a pitch and hit one. Today we happened to hit the ball to everybody. It came down to, we found the barrel on something. We needed a guy on, move him over and score him.”
Byrd got the Grays’ third hit of the 10th inning when he hit a liner to right field, scoring Darryl Baca from second base.
“We were just really trying to find a way to get the win,” Byrd said.
Grays manager Johns Barnes was pleased, but not surprised.
“We’re a pretty good ballclub,” he said. “People don’t know that. They think we’re going to go home. We aren’t ready to go home.”
USA! USA!
Greeley pitcher Chris Hammer found a long-sleeved shirt at Walmart for $7 on Wednesday that was perfect to wear under his jersey. It not only had his team colors, but it was the American flag.
“In light of the Olympics and our colors are red, white and blue, I figured, why not?” Hammer said. “We’re USA all the way.”
Thursday’s Games
San Diego Force 5, Austin Gold Sox 2 (Austin eliminated)
Colorado Sox 1, Conejo (Calif.) Oaks 0 (Conejo eliminated)
Greeley (Colo.) Grays 1, San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Blues 0, 10 innings
Dodge City A’s 4, Newton Rebels 3, 10 innings
Plaza Tire (Mo.) Capahas vs. El Dorado Broncos
Friday’s Games
Baseball ’Round the Clock
8 a.m. — Valley Center Diamond Dawgs vs. Crestwood (Ill.) Panthers
10:30 — Colorado Sox vs. Liberal Bee Jays
1 p.m. — Plaza Tire-El Dorado loser vs. San Diego Force
5 — Nevada (Mo.) Griffons vs. Seattle Studs
7:30 — Haysville Heat vs. North County (Calif.) Waves
10 — Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters vs. Casa Grande (Ariz.) Cotton Kings
12:30 a.m. (Sat.) — Newton Rebels vs. Hays Larks
Saturday’s Games
Baseball ’Round the Clock
Schedule not set; games begin at 8 a.m.
San Diego Force 5, Austin Gold Sox 2
| Austin | 100 | 100 | 000 | — | 2 |
| San Diego | 001 | 301 | 00x | — | 5 |
W — E. Smith. L — Sharp. S — Elrod. HR — San Diego, T. Williams.
Colorado Sox 1, Conejo Oaks 0
| Colorado | 000 | 100 | 000 | — | 1 |
| Conejo | 000 | 000 | 000 | — | 0 |
W — Moller. L — Plowman.
Greeley 1, San Luis Obispo 0
| Greeley | San Luis Obispo | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Wilson cf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Witt lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hildreth ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Grisham cf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Baca c | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Dale ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Buchannon dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Flair 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Coldiron 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Anderson 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Byrd 1b, rf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Detz dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tibbits 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Peters rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Krause pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Donnels pr, rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Freeman rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dufrene c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferguson lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nelson pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gibson 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brademan c | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Maddox 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Totals 36 | 1 | 6 | 1 | Totals34 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Grays | 000 | 000 | 000 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Blues | 000 | 000 | 000 | 0 | — | 0 |
E—Grays 1. LOB— Grays 12, Blues 11. DP— Grays 1 . 2B— Wilson, Detz. SB — Hildreth, Byrd, Ferguson; Witt, Flair, Peters, Brademan.
| Grays | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Mundfrom | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| LeBlanc W | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Blues | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Tiedemann | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Gerber | 3 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Girodo L | 2 2/3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Umpires — home, Mark Wagers; first, Doug McClure; second, Don Rolfe. T —2:27.
Dodge City A’s 4, Newton Rebels 3
| Newton | Dodge City | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Cezar cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Conley cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quiles 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Burleson 2b | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Thomas ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Anderson ss | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Macy c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Corwin rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dunnegan 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Drake dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cornejo 2b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Diaz dh, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Faught rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yoder 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diaz dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kowalczyk 1b, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marlar lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Sigala 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Davis c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Youngblood lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Totals 32 | 3 | 4 | 0 | Totals34 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Newton | 000 | 030 | 000 | 0 | — | 3 |
| Dodge City | 000 | 000 | 111 | 1 | — | 4 |
E— Newton 4, Dodge City 2. LOB— Newton 3, Dodge City 7. DP— Dodge City 1 . 2B— Marlar, Burleson, Corwin. SF — Davis. SB — Anderson (2). CS — Quiles.
| Newton | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Lopez | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Briar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Watson L | 1 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Dodge City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Smith | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| King W | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Umpires — home, Greg Mudd; first, Scott Freund; second, Mikez Lent. T — 2:11.
Late Wednesday
Seattle Studs 2, Conejo Oaks 0
| Seattle | Conejo | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Brown lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hanawahine cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tannehil 3b | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Brower ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Embery dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Burton cf, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steiger ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Mahon 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Savage pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Hansen dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Boe rf | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Fisher lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hart cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Flores 1b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Peterson 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Ocello rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jennings ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Vella 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Breda c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Vinyard c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Corliss 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Minjares ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals 30 | 2 | 7 | 1 | Totals 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Seattle | 000 | 100 | 010 | — | 2 |
| Conejo | 000 | 000 | 000 | 0 |
E— Seattle 1, Conejo 1. LOB— Seattle 9, Conejo 5. DP— Conejo 1. CS—Brown.
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Benson W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Conejo | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Hunt L | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Barker | 2 1/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Abbott | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eubank | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Saberhagen | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Umpires — home, Clint Wheeler; first, Mark Wagers; second, Greg Mudd. T — 2:08.
