Lamar wins on hit-by-pitch in the 10th

By Mike Pilosof

Lamar, CO-On the same day that the Kansas City Chiefs ended a 50-year Super Bowl drought, the Broncbusters could have used a little Patrick Mahomes' magic.

Twice, Lamar battled back from two-run deficits, winning the game when Wilberth Ortiz plunked James Moses with the bases loaded in the 10^th giving the Lopes a 9-8 victory.

Garden City was the aggressor early in this one. Dakota Finley's two-run double with the bases juiced in the first, gave the Broncbusters a 2-0 lead. But they squandered a couple of chances to stretch that advantage.

In the second, Darrian Escobar-Winter single and Kyle Jameson was hit by a pitch. But Escobar-Winter was thrown out trying to steal third, and Jameson was tagged out attempting to go to second.  

In the bottom half, the Lopes capitalized on Arian Jimenez-Quezada's RBI triple and Luke Wilson's sacrifice fly that tied the game. A couple of batters later, Jaxon Himel reached on an error; then came around to score when Ibrahim Rodriguez booted a ball at third to give Lamar a 3-2 edge.

The score stayed that way until the fourth when the Broncbusters used a two-out rally to tie things up. Jake Barber drew a five-pitch walk; then scored all the way from first on Jameson's line-drive single. In the fifth, a walk, an error and a wild pitch allowed Saturday's hero, Colin Stone, to score to put Garden City back in front 4-3. They added another run in the sixth when reliever, Cade Burdett was called for a balk, pushing Barber in from third.  

But unlike Saturday, the Broncbuster bullpen couldn't hold the lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Wilson struck back with an RBI single, and Riley Schlimm added a run-scoring fielder's choice that knotted the score again. An inning later, the Lopes were back in front, fueled by Matthew Anderson's RBI single and Jimenez-Quezada's fielder's choice.

Garden City though answered emphatically in the eighth. With one on, Rodriguez atoned for his earlier miscue by smoking a ball over the wall in center, tying the game at 7. Then, after neither team scratched in the ninth, Rodriguez was at it again in the 10^th, blasting an RBI double off the fence in right to put the Broncbusters up 8-7.

But again, the lead didn't stick. In the Lopes' half, Rhett Halstead surrendered a single and a walk, which was followed by Schlimm's sac bunt that advanced the runners. That's when Chris Finnegan replaced him with Ortiz, who gave up the game-tying single to Mike Polson before hitting Moses on a 1-2 fastball.

Halstead took the loss for Garden City, allowing four runs on four hits in three innings of relief. Rodriguez knocked in three runs, and Jameson was 2-for-2 at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI.

Clayton Thompson picked up his first win of the season for Lamar, who slugged out 11 hits against Broncbuster pitching. Jimenez-Quezada finished 3-for-5 at the dish with two RBI.

Next up: Garden City at Clarendon, Tuesday, Feb. 4-2 p.m. first pitch.