Cougars start West play 3-1; Warren picks up 700th win at Barton

Cougars start West play 3-1; Warren picks up 700th win at Barton
The Barton County Community College baseball team got off to a 3-1 start to the Jayhawk West season, taking 3 of the 4-game series at Dodge City over the extended weekend. The new West format has a 4-game series for Saturday and Sunday but due to poor weather, the Sunday contest was pushed back to Tuesday. Barton swept Saturday, winning 12-6 and 15-8. The Cougars split Tuesday, winning 5-4 and losing 3-1. The 1st win on Saturday was the 700th in the 24-year tenure of Barton Coach Mike Warren at the school. He is closing in on 800 career wins, taking 799 into the Cougars next contest, Thursday at home against Brown Mackie. Barton is now 6-7 overall after starting the season 0-6.

Highlights
In the opener Saturday, the Cougars turned a 4-1 lead into a 9-1 lead with a 5-run 5th inning on the power of a Kent Urban grand slam home run. Urban finished the game 2-for-3 with the 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. Clayton Karst had 2 hits and drove in 3 for the Cougars. Bryce Scott and Michael Sickinger each had 3 hits in the game. Ryan Romo improved to 2-0 allowing 5 earned runs in 5.1 innings of work.

In the 2nd game Saturday another 5-run 5th sparked Barton, rallying them from a 4-3 deficit to an 8-4 lead. Barton continued to score runs with 3 more in the 6th and 4 in the 7th. Sickinger hit a 3-run homer in the 7th and ended the game with 6 RBI. Urban homered again and scored 3 times for the Cougars. Matt Robertson picked up the win and Cole Armitage the save for the Cougars.

Barton made it 3-0 against Dodge and 6 straight wins with a 5-4 win Tuesday in the 1st game. Once again the 5th inning was kind to the Cougars as they scored 5 runs in the 5th for the 3rd straight game. This time Barton did it 1 run at a time as 5 different players drove in runs in the inning. That turned a 4-0 deficit into the 5-4 lead, which was enough for Armitage and Drew Smith on the mound as they shut down the Conquistadors. Armitage picked up the win and Smith the save, his 3rd of the year.

Barton would not have a 5-run 5th in its bag for a 4th consecutive game, losing the final game of the series 3-1 as Barton collected just 4 hits in the loss. Three Barton pitches combined to allow just 6 hits but gave 3 runs in the process. Blaine Clark had 2 of Barton's hits and drove in Clayton Karst for the only run.

Coach Warren is now 702-461 in his 24 years at Barton. His overall record is 799-571 as he goes for No. 800 against Brown Mackie Wednesday in a 3 pm start. The game will be a single 9-inning contest.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next 
Thurs March 6 – v Brown Mackie, 3 pm (1-9 inning game at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend)