Friday’s NBC World Series report
Balanced Aviators
Haysville boosted its pitching and hitting statistics during Friday’s 4-1 win over Liberal, even though there wasn’t much room to improve.
The Aviators were already among the leaders in batting average and ERA, with top-10 totals in each category. Their 13-hit output pushed their average to .311 over six games, and their ERA dropped to 3.22.
Haysville, in its third season, brought a well-rounded team to the tournament, but advancing to the championship game so early in the franchise’s history is unexpected.
“It’s definitely going to be something to think about later,” outfielder Gavin Gregory said. “It’s just fun right now. I’ve known these guys for two months. It’s been fun having a good run, and hopefully we’ll go win in (Saturday).”
Liberal records
The BeeJays, in a tournament-record 11 games, earned some individual tournament highs that probably won’t be bettered in Saturday’s championship.
Gavin Wehby had 19 hits, three more than teammate Brady Cox and six more than BeeJay Brody Miller, who tied for third. Wehby and Cox were Nos. 1 and 2 in total bases and runs, and Miller and outfielder Micah Green each had five doubles.
BeeJays took the top five spots in RBIs, led by Nick Brooks’ 12. Cale O’Donnell’s home run against Haysville gave him three for the tournament, breaking a tie with teammate Nick Brooks and two other players.
Thursday’s late game
Seattle Studs 7, Santa Barbara Foresters 0 – Seattle scored four runs in the second inning on the way to eliminating the defending champion. David Benson, following a difficult outing earlier in the tournament, shut out the Foresters on five hits with seven strikeouts.
Connor Savage, Kyle Boe and Nate Backes each had multiple hits for Seattle, and Ty Holm and Dylan LaVelle had two RBIs apiece.
Seattle | 040 | 100 | 110 | — | 7 10 2 |
Santa Barbara | 000 | 000 | 000 | — | 0 5 2 |
W — Benson. L — King.
Seattle batting—Savage 2-5, Jordan 1-4, Holm 1-5, Boe 2-4, Becker 0-3, Backes 3-5, Ruiz 0-5, Breda 0-3, LaVelle 2-4.
Santa Barbara batting—Holland 2-4, Henderson 0-3, Studdard 0-2, Paul 1-1, Montalbano 0-3, Conyers 0-1, Gibbons 0-3, Nelsony 0-3, Greer 1-3, Brontsema 1-3, Chandler 0-2, Smith 0-1.
Seattle pitching—Benson 9 IP-0 ER.
Santa Barbara pitching—King 1 1/3-4, Megill 3 2/3-0, Surrey 2 2/3-2, Crouse 1/3-0, Cruz 1-0.
This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Friday’s NBC World Series report."