Barton goes 2-2 during weekend play; remains in 3rd place

Barton goes 2-2 during weekend play; remains in 3rd place
The Barton County Community College baseball team had an up and down weekend, sweeping its first series to run the Cougars winning streak to 6 before dropping two road games Sunday. Barton swept Butler County by 5-0 and 3-0 margins Saturday at Cougar Fields to run its winning streak to 6 and move into 2nd place in the conference. A pair of 1-0 losses Sunday at Colby dropped Barton back to 3rd in the West at 7-5. The Cougars are 19-13 overall.

Highlights
The Cougars gave up just 2 runs during the entire 4 games over the weekend, but were only able to come away with the 2-2 mark. The doubleheader shutouts marked the first time this season Barton has shut out an opponent for a sweep and the 1st time they have been shutout. Against Butler County Saturday it was a reunion of sorts as former Cougar player and assistant coach Steve Johnson was back, this time as the head coach of the Grizzlies.

Barton ace Ryan Phillips was nearly flawless in the opening contest for most of the game. Phillips took a no-hitter into the 6th inning before giving up his 1st hit of the game on a bloop single that fell just in front left fielder Andrew Small. Phillips gave up 2 more hits in the final inning, but ended with the impressive 3-hit shutout – his 3rd complete game this year and 1st complete game shutout. Phillips struck out 11 in 7 innings of work and walked just one batter. Phillips, who has singed to play at the University of Nebraska next season, is now 5-1 this season with a 2.50 ERA. He has 56 strikeouts in 35 innings and is allowing his foes to hit just .173 against him. He also leads the team in saves with 2.

Phillips received all the runs he would need in the 3rd when Barton took a 1-0 lead on an Andrew Giambrone single to center that scored Mark Newton. Newton had doubled to leadoff the inning. Barton made it 5-0 in the 5th, scoring 4 times on just 2 hits. Giambrone and Wes Renfro each had RBI during the inning.

The 2nd game followed suit much the way the opener went with getting a lead in the middle innings, then riding a strong pitching effort. This time it was Derek McDaid who tossed the 3-hit shutout for Barton. McDaid struck out 8 to improve to 4-3 this season – just 1 win behind Phillips for the team lead. The complete game was also McDaid's 3rd this season and his 1st complete game shutout. He faced just 4 batters over the minimum on his way to the win.

Barton took the lead in the game when Matt Hafner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Jerry Cook in the 4th. Barton made it 2-0 in the inning when an error by the catcher scored Giambrone. Barton added a 3rd run in the 6th without the benefit of a hit.

Sunday the pitching was nearly as good but the runs were not there for the Cougars. After stranding just 8 runners the entire day Saturday, Barton left 16 runners on the bases Sunday. In the opening game, Barton's A.J. Knight tossed a 4-hitter for the Cougars, giving up just the 1 run. But unfortunately for Barton, it collected just 3 hits and stranded all 7 base runners in the loss. Colby's only run came in the 5th inning.

The 2nd game was nearly identical as Colby scored its only run in the 4th inning and Barton's Ryan Wagner took a tough loss, throwing a 4-hitter as well. But, again, the Cougars collected just 3 hits and this time stranded all 9 base runners they had on their way to the loss.

Stats
Stats can be found at the Barton County Website at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Wed., April 7 – at Pratt, 3 pm (West doubleheader at Pratt)