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Eagles win WWF tourney
Published on -7/8/2012, 7:38 PM
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Hays Senior Legion baseball coach Brad Kelly said if the team made the Wild West Fest Tournament's championship game, Austin Unrein wanted to have the ball in his hands on the mound.
Unrein (6-1) got his opportunity and didn't disappoint. Unrein threw a two-hitter in the Eagles' 4-1 victory against the Topeka Capitols on Sunday at Larks Park, stretching the team's winning streak to 14 games.
The Hays Senior Legion team now has won the past three Wild West Fest tournaments and six of the past seven.
"It is kind of a stepping stone," Unrein said. "We expect to win. We weren't too excited (after the game), I guess, but it is an honor. You want to win your own tournament."
Unrein had a no-hitter heading into the seventh inning before giving up his first hit on a bunt. He lasted seven innings, allowed a run, two hits and no walks, and struck out six.
"I was hitting my spots real well," Unrein said. "All of my pitches were working, and yeah, we played good 'D,' too."
The Eagles scored all of their runs in the second inning.
Catcher Jarrett Sanders hit a 2-RBI home run over the left field wall, and outfielders Dan Bittel and Casey Sedbrook each drove in a run to take a 4-0 lead.
"Both teams were competing hard," Kelly said. "Our bats have done a lot of work for us, and they came through again for us today in this one."
The Eagles matched the season win total of the 1974 team — regarded by many as the greatest season in Hays Senior Legion
history. The 1974 team went 35-5 and won state.
The Eagles are ahead of them with one fewer loss, but still have many more games to play, including the state tournament if they were to qualify.
"Hays has a good history of baseball," Kelly said. "Just to be mentioned with some of those teams of the past is always an honorable thing for us."
Slugging Eagles defeat rival Great Bend
Powered by four home runs, the Eagles defeated Great Bend 12-8 in the semifinals of the Wild West Fest Tournament on Sunday at Larks Park.
The Eagles fell behind early, as pitcher Hayden Hutchison surrendered five runs without recording an out.
"After that first inning, we were kind of sweating bullets there," Kelly said. "They came out and punched us in the mouth."
However, Hutchison got out of the inning without further damage and helped make up for the first inning on the offensive end. He hit two home runs in his first two at bats and finished with five RBIs.
"He was seeing the ball well," Kelly said. "All of our guys were seeing the ball well."
Second baseman Riley Kaus and outfielder Clayton Basgall each homered in the game as well.
Kaus finished 3 of 4 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Basgall was 3 of 4 with an RBI and three runs scored.
Hutchison (6-0) got into a groove after the first inning and picked up the win. He finished the game and allowed a total of eight runs on 13 hits and a walk and struck out two.
"We knew it was a long game," Kelly said. "We knew we had time to come back. We answered in the bottom of the first with four, and I think that gave us that confidence for the rest of the game."
