Broncbusters finish off series victory; blast Pratt in finale

By Mike Pilosof

Pratt, KS-Chris Finnegan's team knew they let one slip way in game three. They made sure that didn't happen again in the finale.

Joey Bonfiglio came in off the bench to knock in four runs, Tyler Barth collected three hits, and Garden City destroyed Pratt 16-3 Saturday afternoon at Stanion Field. The Broncbusters won the series 3-1 and improved to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play.

After managing just one hit through the first two innings, the Broncbusters found some rhythm in the third. Mason Mitchell and Kyle Jameson ripped a pair of singles, Mitchell then stole home, and Michael Wright drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right, and Garden City was up 2-0. Once Pratt tied it with two in the bottom half, the Broncbusters took the lead for good in the third. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Mitchell was plunked by a fastball. Jameson followed with a walk, Bonfiglio drew a free pass, Ryan Muniz smacked a two-run double, and Barth mashed one to the gap to put the brown and gold up 9-2. Three batters later, Rodriguez's RBI groundout gave the road team a nine-run advantage.

Pratt managed just one run the rest of the way while Garden City went for the kill. In the seventh, Bonfiglio added a sac fly before Ibrahim Rodriguez ripped an RBI double in the eighth followed by Blake Beauchene's run-scoring base hit and Bonfiglio's two-run single that put Garden City up 16-3.

Broncbuster starter DJ Burke allowed no earned runs over four innings while surrendering three hits and striking out four. All nine starters with the exception of Wright, recorded a hit.