By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With a Class 6A regional championship and state berth on the line Friday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex, Washburn Rural baseball coach Jay Mastin knew there was no need to hold anything back.
So with Junior Blue baserunners at first and third base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth in a 2-2 tie game, 17-5 Washburn Rural pulled off a rare double steal to get what proved to be the game-winning run home in a 3-2 win over Dodge City.
“That’s probably the first time I’ve run that, honestly,” Mastin said. “We had the right guys on base to do it. I expected there to be a rundown, and for there to be more to it, but we got the run home and that’s all that matters.”
Washburn Rural celebrates its Class 6A regional baseball title Friday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The runner at first, senior Anthony Taggert, broke for second and when the Dodge City catcher bounced the throw to second, junior Keaton Catlin raced home from third, scoring without a throw.
Rural winning pitcher Carson Rosen, a junior, then did his part, keeping Dodge City off the board in the top of the seventh as Rural earned a berth in next week's 6A state tournament at Fort Scott.
After striking out the first two batters in the inning, Rosen allowed a single from Matt Friess Jr., who moved up to second on a wild pitch, but the game ended on a groundout to shorstop.
Washburn Rural junior Carson Rosen delivered a pitch in the Junior Blues' 3-2 Class 6A regional win over Dodge City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Wednesday's regional championship game had been pushed back to Friday after rain interrupted things in the bottom of the third inning, shortly after Dodge City had taken a 2-1 lead after a ball Rural lost in the rainfall went for a double.
The Junior Blues tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a run-scoring sacrifice fly from senior catcher Brady Patterson that scored senior Andre Chavez.
Patterson also came up with a huge defensive play, diving to catch a foul popup that ended a Dodge City scoring threat in the top of the sixth.
Washburn Rural senior catcher Brady Patterson makes a diving catch on a foul ball in Friday's regional final. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Red Demons got runners to second and third, but Rural got the second out of the inning on a lineout and ended the inning with Patterson's defensive gem.
“The sac fly by Brady was huge to tie it up,'' Mastin said. "And then when he made that catch of the foul ball, I went up to him and said, ‘Big-time players make big-time plays in big games.’ And he came through.”
So did Rosen, who struck out eight batters in four innings while giving up just three hits.
“Carson settled in from the get-go and made it look pretty easy,” Mastin said.
Rosen said he had an inkling that he was going to get the ball, in relief of senior starter Cooper Carlgren, in Friday's big game.
“Wednesday, after the rain delay, I was pretty sure I would be the pitcher today, because I was supposed to come in in relief,” Rosen said. “Cooper pitched awesome, by the way. His pitch count was too high to come back, so I said, ‘It’s my turn. I’m going to do what I have to do to get the 'W' for the team.’
“I wasn’t too nervous. I knew our bats were going to get hot and I just had to keep us in it.”
Rural is the No. 7 seed for the state tournament and will take on No. 2 Gardner-Edgerton (20-2) in Thursday's opening game at 11 a.m. at the LaRoche Baseball Complex..
CLASS 6A REGIONAL BASEBALL
Championship
WASHBURN RURAL 3, DODGE CITY 2
Dodge City (15-7) 002 000 0 -- 2 4 2
Washburn Rural (17-5) 100 011 x -- 3 3 1
Sowers, Friess (3) and Duron. Carlgren, Rosen (4) and Patterson. W -- Rosen. L -- Friess. 2B -- Dodge City: Knedler.
