Mackintosh magnificent; Garden City tops No. 4 Iowa Western in series finale

By Mike Pilosof

Garden City, KS-When Blake Mackintosh transferred from Regis University, he envisioned days like Sunday, displaying his entire repertoire against one of the top teams in the country.

The freshman was sensational, scattering four hits while striking out eight,  Jake Barber and Dakota Finley each collected two knocks, and Garden City salvaged their four-game series with No. 4 Iowa Western, taking the finale 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Williams Stadium.

And Mackintosh was the catalyst.

He worked a 1-2-3 first inning; then struck out the side in the second. In the third, he induced two ground outs before fanning Thatcher Kozal on a 3-2 breaking ball. The freshman didn't surrender his first hit until Cooper Bowman singled to leadoff the fourth. However, that didn't amount to much as he was erased trying to swipe second.

The only real trouble Mackintosh found himself in came in the fifth, when he allowed two, two-out singles. But he did major damage control, blowing a fastball by Cyler Melvin for strike three.

After being held in check for most of the series, the Broncbuster offense threatened all day. They had runners at the corners with two outs and didn't score in the first when Colin Stone struck out swinging. Then in the third, they finally broke through. Barber smashed a double to left-center, Finley singled him to third, and Ibrahim Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly that gave Garden City a 1-0 edge.

The Broncbusters had a chance to add some insurance in the fourth. Tommy Alitz was hit by a pitch, Jean Barreto drew a two-out walk, and Barber singled. But the threat ended when Finley harmlessly popped out to second.

Mackintosh meantime was pulled after the sixth, giving way to Damian Acosta, who worked around a two-out hit-by-pitch to get Tyler Ward looking on a backdoor fastball, earning his second save of the season and snapping Garden City's six-game slide.

Iowa Western starter Zachary Miller allowed one run on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Bowman collected two hits at the top of the order.

Next up: Garden City at Clarendon-Tues. Feb. 18-2 p.m.