Fresh off a weekend series in which Allen Community College’s baseball team scored a combined 41 runs over four games, it was the Red Devil pitchers who took center stage Tuesday.
Allen hurlers allowed a combined seven hits and one run to secure a doubleheader sweep of visiting Labette, winning 3-0 in the opener and rallying for a dramatic victory in the finale.
Colton Patterson’s bases-loaded double scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the seventh in walk-off fashion in a 2-1 victory.
The wins are crucial for Allen’s hopes to stay at home for next week’s postseason play, with the Red Devils tied for fourth with Coffeyville in Jayhawk Conference standings at 14-14. The top four teams will host a subregion best-of-three series next weekend against the bottom four teams from the Jayhawk West. Allen wraps up the regular season with four games against Highland, two at home on Thursday and two on the road on Saturday.
Getting sterling pitching performances like Tuesday’s will help the cause.
Allen’s Paxton Bryan, Caleb Peterson and Levin Bennett combined on a three-hit shutout in the opener.
Bryan twice worked around potential Labette scoring chances. A single and walk with one out put runners at first and second, but Bryan worked a strikeout before catcher Lukas Rich tossed out Labette’s Nate Adams at third to end the inning.
Bryan then walked a pair of Cardinal batters in the fourth, but induced a pair of ground balls and a strikeout to keep Labette at bay.
Allen scored in the second without benefit of a hit.
Damon Burroughs walked with one out, moved to third on an errant pickoff throw, and then scored as part of a double steal with teammate Josh Prinner.
Burroughs then gave the Red Devils a pair of insurance runs with a two-out double to drive in Jonah Weisner and Levi Bennett for a 3-0 lead.
Bennett picked up the save, ending the game with a 1-6-3 double play.
Bryan pitched the first four innings to secure the win, allowing one hit with five strikeouts. Peterson pitched two innings, allowing two hits with a strikeout.
Burroughs and Rich had doubles. Weisner, Bennett and Lucas McCain added singles.
Runs remained at a premium in the finale.
Allen came up empty after hitting back-to-back singles in the first, and again in the third after two runners reached base on a hit batsman and walk, respectively.
Labette dented the scoreboard for the first, and only, time on the day in the top of the fourth with an infield single, a walk and hit batter to load the bases before Seth Collingsworth hit a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.
