Ellis set for play in Class AA tourney
Published on -7/27/2010, 3:30 PM
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By RANDY GONZALES
Ellis Legion baseball coach Rick Cunningham hopes his players' never-say-die attitude carries over into this week's Class AA state tournament.
Ellis is making its second straight trip to state after rallying to win the Zone 7 championship last week. Last summer, Ellis went 0-2 at state.
"We sure would like to win a game," Cunningham said.
Ellis (13-7) will play Doniphan County on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Marysville.
At zone, Ellis dropped its first game, then had to win three straight to make the season finale. In the championship game, Ellis trailed Goodland 13-11 entering its last at-bat, but got a three-run homer from its No. 9 hitter, Joe Kitzman, to take a 14-13 win.
"I knew we had a chance," Cunningham said. "I was pretty relaxed. That's our strength, our hitting."
Third baseman Alex Dreher leads the team with a .525 average, and center fielder Aaron Gnad is at .465. Shortstop Matt Cunningham is batting .450, while Jacob Kinderknecht, the probable starter in the state opener, is hitting .410.
Kinderknecht is 6-2 so far this summer. Others who could get starts are right-handers Kyle Fox and Dreher.
"He had a great summer, put down some people," Cunningham said of Kinderknecht.
Ellis doesn't know anything about Doniphan County, other than it also was at state last year. Not knowing doesn't bother Cunningham.
"We don't worry about it too much," he said. "Kind of like last summer -- come out and have fun. We did it again."
