As has been the case for many baseball teams, the road to the state tournament ran through the St. Mary’s-Colgan Panthers (12-8). For the Marmaton Valley Wildcats, that is where their journey ended.
The Wildcats fell to Colgan 11-1 in Wednesday’s regional tournament semifinal held at the Humboldt Sports Complex.
The Wildcats end the season with a 15-9 record.
Marmaton Valley posted its only run in the second inning on an RBI grounder by junior designated hitter Chris Ferguson. Colgan posted eight unanswered runs to advance and later defeated Northeast High School, 11-0, for the regional championship and a spot in the state tournament.
Marmaton Valley junior catcher Garrett Morrison goes for a pop fly.
MV senior pitcher Dominic Smith had a team-leading three strikeouts in a nearly complete-game effort before giving way to sophomore reliever Andersyn Carr for the final at-bat.
Smith, junior catcher Garrett Morrison and freshman outfielder Kris McVey tied for the team lead in hits with one each.
With two graduating seniors, the Wildcats will not experience a significant rebuild next season but filling key roles vacated by Smith and Kele Michael will not be a simple task.
