Entering the final two weeks of the regular season, the Barton Community College baseball team picked up a key conference sweep Thursday afternoon at Lawson-Biggs Field taking the first leg of the four game set against Cloud County Community College.
Shawn Marquis stellar defense in the outfield and Zach Thornton's fourth complete game of the year propelled the Cougars to an opening 6-0 victory with the Barton bats manufacturing 13 hits powered behind Ricardo Sanchez and Marquis 3-for-4 performances in the 11-6 nightcap victory.
Winners of three straight, the Cougars preserve their two game lead in the Jayhawk West standings at 20-6 and overall mark at 35-14 while the T-Birds slip to third in the KJCCC West at 20-10 and 37-14 on the season. The teams will switch locations to the T-Birds Lee Doyen Field on Sunday to complete the four game set in a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
Sanchez piloted the offense from the plate going 5-of-6 driving in a pair behind four doubles including a trio in the nightcap etching his name as the program's single season doubles record holder. Marquis carried over his strong defensive play to the offensive side concluding his day 4-of-7 in driving in a pair in the doubleheader. Henry Hayman and Dryden Howse paced the RBI distribution knocking in a trio apiece.
Game 1 Recap
Giving up a leadoff bunt single to open the contest, Thornton benefitted off the first of two phenomenal defensive plays by Marquis in left field as the freshman brought back Brock Wollin's would be two-run shot keeping Cloud County off the board.
Alex Rodgers got things started for the Cougars in the home first reaching on the first of two T-Bird errors in the inning. Ensuing a Sanchez single and Hayman fielder's choice, Rodgers would cross for the opening run of the game advancing home on a throwing miscue.
Stranding a T-Bird two-out single in the second, the Barton bats doubled up the lead in home second, as a one-out Colter Maldonado triple would come home on Jace Stewart's sacrifice fly.
Sending Cloud County down in order in the third, the Cougar offense capitalized in the bottom half stretching the lead to 3-0 as a Rodgers leadoff double would advance home on a two base error. Following a Sanchez hit-by-pitch, Hayman stretched the advantage to 5-0 sending a 2-2 pitch to straight away center for his eighth of the year tying for the team lead.
In the fourth, lightning struck for the second time in left field as Marquis brought back Wollin's second likely homerun rising above the wall keeping the T-Birds scoreless.
Failing to score for the first time of the game in the home fourth, Thornton faced another scare in the fifth as a leadoff single, one-out walk and Barton miscue loaded the bags with just one out. The freshman from Lawrence, KS zoned in escaping trouble punching out two of his 10 strikeouts leaving the sacks full of T-Birds.
The Cougars tacked on the final insurance run as the first of four Sanchez doubles on the afternoon came around to score on a two-out RBI Marquis single making it 6-0.
Cloud County threatened one final time in the sixth following a leadoff walk and two-out walk but Thornton remained nails on the bump recording his 10th strikeout to end the threat. Thornton would preserve the shutout and complete game in the seventh sending the T-Birds down in order giving Barton its' sixth shutout victory of the season and holding Cloud County scoreless for just the second time on the season.
Thornton improved his season mark to 7-0 allowing just four hits, three walks and fanning 10 in the winning effort.
Game 2 Recap
David Stuart would be nails over the opening two frames striking out a pair and getting a big lift in the bottom of the second with Marquis making his third over the fence home run robbery catch in left field.
A two-out two-run Ian Riley home run in the third would provide Cloud County with its' first hit of the contest and first lead of the afternoon.
Barton would response in the home half taking advantage of a Joel Nieves hit-by-pitch and Rodgers walk to open the frame. Nieves would slice the lead in half moving up to third on a wild pitch before advancing home on the second of five T-Bird errors. Two pitches later Sanchez knotted it up driving in Rodgers while pulling even in the programs single season doubles record books.
Cloud County grasped their final lead of the contest converting a leadoff double and single with an RBI groundout putting the T-Birds back on top.
Trailing for just the second time on the afternoon, a Rodgers leadoff single shadowed by a Sanchez plunk by pitch had the Cougars a cooking with Howse providing the equalizer on a sacrifice fly. The threat lingered with the T-Birds third error moving Sanchez into scoring position with Allen drawing a walk setting up Marquis go ahead 1-0 count RBI single giving Barton the 4-3 edge.
The lead would be short lived as Cloud County's Wollin made certain that a potential fourth home run robbery would not be caught teeing off on the first pitch seen pulling the contest back even at 4-4. Pitching into his longest outing of the season, Stuart regrouped stifling the T-Birds in order succeeding the big fly.
A leadoff error allowing Jace Stewart to reach ensued by back-to-back infield singles from Nieves and Rodgers loaded the bags with none away for Barton. After a shallow fly out by Sanchez that would hold the runners up, the Cougars got the vital break needed as a Hayman ground ball appearing to be an inning-ending double play would ricochet off Nieves foot on his way to third freezing all runners leaving the bases full with just two-outs. A wild pitch on a 2-2 count brought home the go-ahead run from third with Howse driving in a pair two pitches later on the 3-2 single stretching the Barton lead to three runs. The rally continued two pitches later as Connor Allen put a charge into the 1-0 pitch sending it over the center field wall for his eighth blast of the season plating a pair ballooning the advantage to 9-4.
A pair of two-out walks including back-to-back RBI singles brought Cloud County back to within 9-6.
The Cougars countered back with their own two-out rally in the home seventh getting one of the two runs surrendered back as Rodgers wore one setting up Sanchez RBI program single season record breaking 30th double of the year surpassing Brady Michel's 29 output set back in 2018 widening the Barton lead to 10-6.
In the bottom of the eighth, Colter Maldonado accounted for the final tally of the afternoon driving Marquis one-out walk settling the final score at 11-6.
Stuart scored the victory improving to 3-1 on the season while setting new career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts as the freshman worked six solid innings permitting four runs on four hits and striking out six T-Birds.
Cade Kohlmeier continued his solid stretch in relief working 1.1-innings giving up a hit, walking one and striking out one.
Carson Cornelius was sensational in his inning of work after being called upon in the ninth facing a no out two on situation stranding both T-Bird runners.