BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
EL DORADO – Great Bend's Slade Mohr pitched the game of his life with eight shutout innings to keep the Braves alive at the American Legion A state baseball tournament.
Colin Saffa misfired on a squeeze bunt before delivering the game-winning ninth-inning single to score Eli Soupiset. The Braves were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position prior to Saffa's clutch single.
"Colin got the job done with two strikes after almost getting a bunt down," said Great Bend coach Randy Beck.
Braves reliever Jaxon Wondra preserved the 1-0 victory over the Topeka Senators by striking out A.J. Payne to end the game. Leandro Gonzalez reached third base after Wondra threw back-to-back wild pitches. Wondra fell behind Payne 3-0 when coach Beck provided a quick prep talk.
"I advised Jaxon he was overthrowing his pitches," Beck said. "I told him if he threw a couple of strikes, we were going to win the ballgame. That was pretty exciting."
The crafty Mohr kept the Topeka Senators off balance with a perfect mix of off-speed pitches. Mohr's tricky sidearm delivery limited the Senators to four baserunners until they put two runners aboard in the eighth inning. Mohr retired Zenophon Woods to keep a scoreless tie.
"Slade had them guessing," Beck said. "They had a hard time staying ahead. He changes speeds and can slow the batter down with his curves and changeups. We played well defensively to back him up."
The Braves stranded baserunners in scoring position in he first, third, fifth and eighth innings.
The Braves (11-13) have won nine of their past 13 games. The Braves challenge Pittsburg (18-4) at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at McDonald Stadium.
EL DORADO 10, GARNETT 0 – El Dorado's Hunter Hamm and Zac Jacobs each drove home two runs. Easton Perkins, Trace Fowler and Dillon Scott each drove in a run. El Dorado's trio of pitchers threw a 1-hit shutout,
PITTSBURG 10, OTTAWA 0 – Pittsburg's C Hayden threw four shutout innings. Jayden Brown and Kole Wiles each drove in two runs.
MARYSVILLE 12, SENECA 2 – Marysville's Brandon Schmelzle drove home three runs with three hits. Wes Anderson doubled, triple, scored two runs and drove home a run. Carter Olson, Keegan Warders and Grant Haefele also drove home runs. Marysville scored four runs on wild pitches.
OTTAWA 6, KANSAS SENATORS 3 – Landon Giest, Stetson Miller, J.T. Reese, Will Altic and Layton Thompson drove in Ottawa runs. Miller pitched three shutout innings.
Great Bend 000 000 001 — 1 8 2
Senators 000 000 000 — 0 3 1
Mohr, Wondra (9) and Saffa. Haag, Berg (3), A.J. Payne (4), Saenz (7), Lindberg (9) and Gonzalez. W—Mohr, 2-0. L—Saenz.
BRAVES PITCHING RECORDS—Peyden Oelger 2-0, Slade Mohr 2-0, Jaxon Wondra 1-0, Gavin Gilkison 1-0, Austin Gilbert 3-1, Trey Milsap 1-1, Carson Poe 1-4, Colin Saffa 0-2, Aiden Hekele 0-2, Kale Kern 0-3
A LEGION STATE EL DORADO
WEDNESDAY—El Dorado 10, Garnett 0; Marysville 12, Seneca 2; Pittsburg 10, Ottawa 0; Great Bend 1, Topeka Senators 0, 9 innings; Garnett 16, Seneca 6; Ottawa 6, Kansas Senators 3
THURSDAY—G7 10:30 a.m.–Pittsburg 18-4 vs. Great Bend 11-13; G8 1 p.m–Marysville 29-2 vs. El Dorado 13-12; G9 3:30–Garnett 11-14 vs. loser G7; G10 6 p.m–Ottawa 9-13 vs. loser G8; G11 8:30–Winners G7, G8
Ottawa 000 00 – 0 1 2
Pittsburg 130 6 – 10 10 1
Reece, Miller (4) and Giest. Hayden, Nickle (5) and VanBecelaere. W–Hayden. L–Reece. 2B–P–Hayden, Wiles. 3B–P–Brown
Garnett 000 000 – 0 1 1
El Dorado 000 064 –10 12 0
Schaffer, Smith (5), Jasper (6) and Wittman. Rickard, Perkins (3), Hamm (6) and Fowler. W–Perkins. L–Schaffer. 2B–E–Perkins.
Seneca 002 00 – 2 2 1
Marysville 026 04 – 12 7 1
Sudbeck, Koch (5) and Thomas. Detweiler, Meyer (3) and Haefele. 2B–M–Schmitz, Anderson. 3B–M–Anderson.
Ottawa 100 221 0 – 6 6 5
Senators 000 030 0 – 3 3 3
Altic, Thompson (3), Miller (5) and Giest. Hughes, Palmberg (4), Gonzalez (5), G. Payne (5) and A. Payne. W–Thompson. L–Hughes. 2B–O–Altic, Thompson.
AA STATE CONCORDIA 7-20
THURSDAY G1, 8:30 a.m.–Concordia 16-5 vs. Garnett
G2, 11 a.m.–Seneca 11-9 vs. Norton 10-12
G3, 1:30–Corning 12-2 vs. Beloit 13-7
G4, 4 p.m.–Iola 25-6 vs. Colby 15-5
FRIDAY–G5, 2 p.m.–G1 vs. G2 losers
G6, 4:30.–G3 vs. G 3 losers
G7, 9 a.m.–G1 vs. G2 winners
G8, 11:30 a.m.–G3 vs. G 3 winners
AAA STATE PITTSBURG
POOL A (top 2 semifinals)–Topeka Senators 1-0 (9-5), Ottawa Arrows 1-0 (8-7), Overbrook Bombers 0-1 (7-8)
POOL B (top 2 semifinals)–Pittsburg 1-0 (24-4), Chanute 0-1 (5-9), Leavenworth Nationals 0-1 (4-24)
WEDNESDAY–Senators 9, Chanute 5; Ottawa 8, Overbrook 7; Pittsburg 24, Leavenworth 4
THURSDAY–Pittsburg 12-5 vs. Overbrook, 2; Chanute vs. Leavenworth, 5; Senators vs. Ottawa, 8
FRIDAY–Leavenworth vs. Ottawa, 2; Senators vs. Overbrook, 5; Pittsburg vs. Chanute, 8
