Stone homers; Garden City beats Lamar in game two

By Mike Pilosof

Lamar, CO-Chris Finnegan said a couple of weeks ago that he believes he's got the Connery O'Donnell he recruited last season. And while there were some bumps in the road on Saturday, the sophomore right hander looked sharp in his 2020 debut.

O'Donnell fanned six in four innings of work, Turner McDonald knocked in three runs, and Garden City won their season opener, beating Lamar 8-4 Saturday afternoon at Merchants Park.

The sophomore hurler did some of his best work in the early innings, working around a one-out double and a free pass in the bottom of the first to strike out Luke Wilson and Stetson Rios.

That's when the offense took hold.

In the second, Turner McDonald drove a ball off the left-field wall, scoring Tommy Alitz, Jake Barber and Kyle Jameson. Two batters later, Dakota Finley singled home one followed by Mason Mitchell's RBI hit that put the Broncbusters up 5-0.

Meantime, O'Donnell worked in and out of trouble in Lamar's half of the second. After striking out Arian Jimenez-Quezada to begin the frame, he plunked Jaxon Himel on a 1-2 breaking ball. Then he surrendered a single to Thomas Delfel, putting two on with one out. He struck out Mikey McGinnis and was almost home free. But with two outs, Julio De La Cruz singled home a pair to get Lamar on the board. O'Donnell though limited the damage by getting Jared Miller to ground out to end the inning.

After working a 1-2-3 third, the Broncbusters gave O'Donnell some insurance in the fourth. Colin Stone drew a seven-pitch walk, and Mitchell singled him to third. Alitz followed with a two-run single, and Garden City stretched the lead to 7-2.

In the Lopes' half, O'Donnell was in some trouble again. He walked Jimenez-Quezada to begin the inning; then watched as Himel reached on an error. Two batters later, Jameson booted a ball short allowing a run to score. De La Cruz added a sacrifice fly, and Lamar trimmed Garden City's lead to 7-4.

The bullpen took it from there.

Owen Mitchell tossed two innings of scoreless relief, and Damian Acosta slammed the door in the seventh. Meantime, Dakota Finely tattooed Drake Miller's fastball in the sixth, smoking it into the gap for an RBI double to make it 8-4.

O'Donnell threw 85 pitches in four innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. Mitchell struck out three and Acosta fanned two. Finley, Mitchell and Alitz all collected two hits apiece.

Adolfo Iturralde took the loss for Lamar, allowing five runs on five hits in just three innings. He issued five free passes.

Lamar, CO-Colin Stone put together a solid freshman year behind the plate. Now Chris Finnegan needs his catcher to deliver on offense.

Message received.

The sophomore crushed his first homer of the season, Malachi Crone allowed just two hits over five strong innings, and Garden City improved to 2-0 with a 7-1 victory over Lamar in game two of their three-game series Saturday afternoon at Merchants Park.

The Broncbusters gave Crone some early support. In the top of the first, Turner McDonald worked a leadoff walk and Stone was hit by a pitch. That setup Dakota Finely, who doubled home two down the right-field line.

The only real trouble Crone got in came in the second, when Thomas Delfel touched him up for a one-out, solo shot that cut the Broncbusters' lead in half. But the sophomore responded by inducing Brad Hallock into a ground out before striking out James Moses with some high heat.

The Garden City offense answered by stretching the lead in the third. Finley drew a one-out walk, and Tommy Alitz singled him to third. With Darian Escobar-Winter at the plate, Colbey Klepper threw a wild pitch, allowing Finley to trot home to make it 3-1.

The score stayed that way until the seventh. That's when Rhett Halstead provided a pinch-hit single, and Jake Barber dragged a perfect bunt to put two on with one out. Two batters later, Stone devoured reliever, Ryan Koeller's breaking ball, sending it over the right-field fence for a three-run blast, giving the Broncbusters a 7-1 cushion.

That was all the insurance they needed.

Relievers Evan Dean and Damian Acosta combined to allow just one hit and strike out six over the final two innings.

Crone picked up the win, striking out four. Dean and Acosta each fanned three, and Barber went 2-for-3 at the dish with two runs scored and a stolen base.

Colby Klepper took the loss for Lamar, allowing three earned runs on two hits in three innings. He walked six.