By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
WICHITA -- After rain postponed Thursday's games, Washburn Rural baseball faced top seed Maize in Friday's Class 6A state semifinal at Eck Stadium on the campus of Wichita State.
And the Junior Blues took full advantage of their opportunity, riding strong pitching and timely hitting to a 6-2 win over No. 1 seed Maize and a berth in Saturday's championship game against Free State.
Washburn Rural celebrates Friday's 6-2 Class 6A semifinal victory over top seed Maize at Eck Stadium. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/TSN]
The Junior Blues will be looking for their first state baseball title since winning the Class B championship 74 years ago in 1952.
Washburn Rural got solid starting pitching from junior Tyler Edmiston and a shut-down relief effort from fellow junior Preston Bahr as the Junior Blues were able to hold the Eagles to only four hits and two runs in the contest.
Senior catcher Aidan Newbery helped spark Washburn Rural's offense in Friday's 6-2 Class 6A semifinal victory over Maize. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/TSN]
The Rural offense provided timely hitting and was led by its 2-3-4 hitters -- seniors Nate Selm, Austin Ditch and Aidan Newbery -- who combined for five hits, three runs and five runs batted in.
The first two innings was dominated by both starting pitchers, Edmiston of Washburn Rural and junior Quincy Koehn of Maize.
Washburn Rural was able to get on the board in the top of the third inning, thanks to a two-out rally started with a double off the bat of Selm.
Ditch followed with another double, scoring Selm, when the Maize right-fielder misplayed the flyball.
Maize responded in the bottom half of the inning by capitalizing on a one-out error and a hit batter to put runners at first and second.
On a ground ball to the third baseman, he attempted to turn an inning-ending double play, but the second baseman lost control of the ball on the transfer which allowed the tying run to score, making the contest 1-1 after three innings.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Washburn Rural broke the game open with three runs, all coming with two outs.
Ditch hit a two-run triple to right field, which was immediately followed by a RBI double by Newbery, making the score 4-1.
Once again, the Eagles responded in the bottom of the fifth with a run on a double by senior Christopher Hadley.
But with two outs, Rural junior left-fielder Dominic Nimz made a run-saving, diving catch to keep the score at 4-2.
In the top of the sixth, the Junior Blues were able to get two insurance runs, both unearned, on an error by Maize's third baseman and on Ditch’s fourth RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 6-2.
Ditch commented on his big day at the plate with a double, triple and four RBI.
“It was lovely,'' Ditch said. "Good to get a win. First time in the championship since 1952, so it feels great. Being able to help out my team was amazing.
“I feel like we have a great chance. We have great ballplayers and the energy is at an all-time high. We’ll be ready.”
Bahr came on in relief for Washburn Rural in the sixth inning and retired all six Eagle batters he faced, shutting the door and sending the Junior Blues to the title game.
“It was a gutsy win and performance by a lot of kids,'' Washburn Rural coach Jay Mastin said. "Tyler (Edmiston) gave us five strong innings, left with the lead, and Preston (Bahr) came in and finished it off. We got some big hits when we needed to.”
The Eagles' starting pitcher made it difficult on the Junior Blues the first time through the order, but the bats came alive the second time through the order.
“We didn’t really have an answer the first time through the order, didn’t put too many balls in play, but we made the adjustments and took advantage of it.”
Washburn Rural (21-8) will face Free State (26-4) in the championship game, with the Firebirds advancing with a 3-2 win over Shawnee Mission South.
The 6A championship game on Saturday will start about 25 minutes following the conclusion of the 5A final, which will get under way at 10 a.m.
“It will be a tough battle and we’re looking forward to coaching this group for one more game,'' Mastin said. "I’m excited for them that all the hard work they’ve put in has paid off and they get to play for a state championship.”
WASHBURN RURAL 6, MAIZE 2
Washburn Rural (21-8) 001 032 0 -- 6 8 1
Maize (27-3) 001 010 0 -- 2 4 1
Edmiston, Bahr (6) and Newbery. Koehn, Brungardt (5), Short (6) and Jennings. W -- Edmiston. L -- Koehn. S -- Bahr. 2B -- Washburn Rural: Selm, Ditch, Newberry. Maize: Short, Hadley. 3B -- Washburn Rural: Ditch.
