OVERLAND PARK — With a three-run blast over the left field fence, Brad Alberts kept his team in the game. It was the bottom of the ninth with one out in Sunday’s Region VI sub-regional losers bracket final.
Win or pack it up for the 2010 season.
Allen County Community College’s Red Devils trailed Hutchinson Community College’s Blue Dragons 3-0 until Alberts’ third home run of the season. They got a two-out double by Marcus Peavler.
The winning run was right there. A win and a shot for the sub-regional championship was there for the taking.
Michael Schell struck out to end the inning. No sweat, the teams headed to extra innings.
Unfortunately, an error led to the Dragon’s go-ahead run in the top of the 10th. With a runner on and one out, Mace Krol singled to drive in the run.
That’s all Daniel Tullos needed. Tullos pitched all 10 innings for Hutchinson. He gave up a two-out single in the bottom of the 1th to Brayden Brumley, who was 3-for-5 in the game. Tullos got Nick Fountain to ground out to end the game.
Allen County lost by a single run twice to Hutchinson in the sub-regional tournament hosted by Johnson County Community College over the weekend. The Blue Dragons rallied for a 6-5 win in the opening round Saturday.
The loss put the Red Devils into the losers bracket later Saturday. Allen County powered past Pratt Community College 10-3.
So here the Red Devils were trying to get into the sub-regional championship game and the Blue Dragons stymied them again by one run. They lost 4-3 in 10 innings and finished a bit of a frustrating season that started with such promise.
“I really thought we had the pitching staff to get us where we wanted to go this season. When you walk as many batters as we did, it’s tough to play any more than .500,” said Val McLean, ACCC head coach, just before the playoffs.
“We’ve battled through injuries on the pitching staff and in position players. I really like the way we’ve played down the stretch in the regular season.”
The Red Devils ended up 27-24 for the season. They went 18-18 in the Jayhawk Eastern Division, ending up fifth.
In Sunday’s game, Hutchinson scored a run in the fifth on a hit batter, a walk and an error. The Blue Dragons took advantage of three walks and a hit batter in the seventh to score twice.
Brumley singled to start ACCC’s ninth-inning rally, then Connor McCrite singled with one gone.
Alberts hit an 0-1 pitch from Tullos over the left field fence to tie the game.
Mark Thompson started on the mound for ACCC and went 61⁄3 innings. He surrendered three runs on three hits, five walks and a hit batter. He struck out two.
John Michael Moore came in for 12⁄3 innings of scoreless work. He walked one, gave up a hit and struck out two.
Cody Wren got the loss in relief as he pitched one inning, allowing one run and had two strikeouts. Aaron Burke pitched one inning of scoreless baseball and gave up two hits and struck one out.
Brumley had three singles in the game. Alberts’ home run and Peavler’s double were the only extra base hits by either team.
Hitting a single each for ACCC were McCrite, Schell and Wyatt Hall.
When Allen County and Hutchinson met Saturday, the Red Devils had a 5-2 lead on the Blue Dragons through 41⁄2 innings. The Dragons scored a run in the fifth then got two runs in seventh and one more in the eighth.
Hutchinson held Allen County scoreless the final four innings for a 6-5 win.
Burke got the loss in relief. He pitched two innings, giving up two runs on one hit and two walks. Ben Pearson pitched one inning, allowing one run on a walk and striking out two.
Matt Stalcup, ACCC’s starter, went five innings. He was charged with three runs on two hits, five walks and a hit batter. He struck out four.
Alberts had a single and a two-run double, which came ina three-run first inning for ACCC. Curtiss Bunch singled to drive in Alberts.
Schell had two singles and drove in a run. Peavler had three singles and Brumley hit two singles. Hall singled.
Allen County bounced back for a 10-3 win over Pratt. Bryan Couch started and worked four innings. He allowed three runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter plus had one strikeout.
But it was David Ormiston who got the win in relief. He worked three scoreless innings, giving up three hits and one walk. He struck out four.
Burke, ACCC’s closer, pitched two innings. He allowed one hit, walked two and struck out one.
Pratt’s three runs came in the third inning putting the Beavers up 3-1. The Red Devils regained the lead on a three-run home run by Bunch, who was 3-for-3 in the game with two singles and the home run.
The Red Devils produced four runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh for the final margin. McCrite had a double and a two singles.
Hitting a single each were Alberts, Fountain, Hall and Michael Samuel.
The championship game between Johnson County and Hutchinson was rained out Monday. The teams play today, this time at Free State High School in Lawrence because of wet field conditions.
Red Devils fall short in playoffs
