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Leave me in
Hays reliever Brett Macari wanted to clean up the mess he made. He did with a stunning reversal of momentum and Hays remained alive with a 5-3 win in 11 innings over Nevada (Mo.) in a losers bracket game.
The Larks broke a 3-all tie on a passed ball and a wild pitch. That set up Macari in a sweet situation in the bottom of the inning. It quickly went bad. M.J. Sartin doubled. Then it got worse. Macari, from Andale, hit the next two batters to load the bases with no outs.
“Bases loaded will really wake you up to what’s going on out there,” Macari said.
After a conference on the mound, Macari got ahead of Parker McDaniel 0-2, courtesy of a foul ball and beauty changeup. He struck him out on a slider and the inning turned in his favor.
“I was guiding the ball up there,” he said. “You’ve got to let the ball go and trust your defense. Our defense is just outstanding.”
Macari, who throws side-arm, got his groundball on an 0-1 pitch to the next batter. Matt Burns chopped the ball to third baseman Joe Betcher, who stepped on the base and threw out Burns to end the game. Macari, a former Fort Hays State pitcher, bounced off the mound to celebrate with his teammates.
“I wanted to be in there,” he said. “I got myself in that situation and you’ve got to get yourself out.”
Hand it over
Nevada, even with a slim lead, seemed in control until the seventh inning. The Griffons lead 2-0, but had snuffed out two Hays threats with sharp defense.
From that point on, however, Nevada’s pitching and defense faltered.
The Larks tied it in the seventh on Aaron Cornell’s two-RBI double. A throwing error on Griffons third baseman Robbe Ewing on a possible double-play ball put runners at second and third with no outs. Cornell, who went 3 for 6, erased some frustration in the Larks dugout with his drive.
“We left a lot of guys on early,” Cornell said. “We kept a cool head and let things come to us and it worked out.”
By that, Cornell meant Nevada helped the Larks with mistakes. In the eighth, Hays tied it 3-all on a throwing error by the pitcher. In the 11th, Austin Darby, who singled, scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball. Ryan Busboom made it 5-3 when he scored on a wild pitch by reliever Nick Ford.
The loss eliminated Nevada. Coach Ryan Mansfield lamented the bane of summer baseball - players leaving before the season ends. Defections hurt his bullpen and it showed Wednesday.
“That’s kind of the story of our summer,” he said. “We’ve been up and down. Summer ball. Guys come. Guys go.”
On the wall
The NBC will honor Satchel Paige before tonight’s 7:30 game. His No. 17 will be displayed on the outfield wall, recognizing his two NBC appearances.
Paige first came to the NBC in 1935, with Bismarck (N.D.), and helped establish the tournament’s popularity.
Ceremonies will begin at 7:30. Members of Paige’s family will be on hand and a replica jersey from the 1935 team will be auctioned off to benefit the Satchel Paige Foundation. The NBC will give away 500 replica caps during the feature game. Two box seats are available for $17.
Wednesday’s Games
Hays Larks 5, Nevada (Mo.) Griffons 3 (11 innings), Nevada eliminated
Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters 8, St. Joseph (Mo.) Mustangs 6
Dodge City A’s vs. Seattle Studs
Thursday’s Games
TBA, 5 p.m.
Hays Larks vs. Santa Barbara (Calif.) Foresters, 7:30
TBA, 10 p.m.
Hays 5, Nevada 3
| Hays Larks | 000 | 000 | 210 | 02 | — | 5 14 0 |
| Nevada Griffons | 100 | 100 | 100 | 00 | — | 3 10 4 |
W — Macari 1-0. L — Johnson 1-1.
Late Tuesday
Santa Barbara 6, Greeley 3
| Greeley Grays | Santa Barbara Foresters | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Wilson cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Fields lf | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Hildreth ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hall lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Baca c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pedroza ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Buchannon dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Sanguinnetti cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Coldiron 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | O’Hearn 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tibbitts 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Davidson 2b | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Byrd rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Vickers dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferguson lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hoelscher 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gibson 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Pearson c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stell rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Totals 33 | 3 | 6 | 3 | Totals30 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Greeley | 030 | 000 | 000 | — | 3 6 1 |
| Santa Barbara | 201 | 012 | 00x | — | 6 8 0 |
E— Wilson (1). LOB— Greeley 5, Santa Barbara 5. 2B— Byrd (4), Sanguinetti (1), Davidson (2), Vickers (2). 3B — Tibbitts (1), Fields (1).SF — Sanguinetti (1), Davidson (1). SB — Fields (1), Pedroza (1), Sanguinetti (5), Davidson (1).
| Greeley | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| McLavey L, 1-1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Hammer | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Santa Barbara | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Vasquez | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Kuhl W, 1-0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
WP — Hammer (1), Vasquez (1). HBP — Byrd by Kuhl (1).
Umpires — home, Conan Strobel; first, Doug McClure; third, Mike Lentz. T — 2:00.
