HUMBOLDT — Crest High’s baseball team took care of business Monday, opening their Class 2-1A playoff run with an 11-0 victory over Yates Center.
They did so by focusing on the little things — solid pitching, the occasional flashes of spectacular defense, and the ability to hit the ball where it was pitched.
“We did what we needed to do to win,” Lancer head coach Roland Weir said.
Meanwhile, Humboldt High’s season came to an end, when the Cubs dropped their tournament opener, 11-4, to Lebo/Waverly.
The Cubs were done in by Lebo/Waverly’s eight-run third inning, which broke open a 2-2 deadlock.
“We gave up a couple of walks and they made us pay with some hard hit balls,” Humboldt head coach Mike Miller said. “I was proud of the way we competed until the very end.”
Crest (20-1) and the top seed in the regional, advances to take on Central Heights, an 11-9 winner over Jayhawk-Linn, at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Humboldt Sports Complex for the Regional Semifinal. The winner advances to face either Lebo/Waverly or Southern Lyon County, which defeated Pleasanton, 15-0, in Wednesday’s championship game, which is expected to start at about 5 o’clock.
The key to Crest’s victory started with the pitching of sophomore Avery Blaufuss, Weir said.
“He pitched real well,” Weir said. “He threw strikes and got ahead of hitters.”
He also offered up a dandy defensive highlight in the top of the third, when he ended the inning by catching a screaming line drive back up the middle off the bat of Yates Center’s Chase Hobbs.
“That was more self defense,” Weir laughed.
Crest’s Tyson Hermreck and Jack White teamed up for a highlight reel double play to end the fourth as well. Hermreck jumped high into the air to corral the ground ball that had bounced awkwardly off the mound as it went back up the middle. He landed on second for the force, and then uncorked a low throw that White dug out nicely from the turf.
“We caught some lucky breaks. I’m glad we have a 6-3 second baseman who can get up,” Weir laughed. “And Jack made a nice pick. We flashed some leather all night long, so I was pleased with that.”
Yates Center’s Tyler Greene was effective at working out of jams in the first three innings, but couldn’t escape the fourth.
Herrmeck opened the scoring with a single to drive in Trevor Church in the bottom of the first.
Stratton McGhee then led off the second with a triple and scored on White’s RBI single.
