Seward Settles For Saturday Split With Beavers

The Seward County Saints were forced to settle with a split on Saturday as they took on a struggling Pratt Beavers team at Stanion Field in Pratt.  In game one of the doubleheader, the Saints defense was suspect, allowing five unearned runs to the Beavers, but a six run 6^th inning for Seward propelled the guys in green to an 11-5 win.  In game two Seward again had a solid 6^th inning, scoring three times, but unfortunately, that was about all the offense they could muster in a 5-4 loss to split the twinbill with the Beavers. 

In the opener is was the Saints getting on the board first in the top of the 2^nd inning, taking advantage of a one out Pratt error to score twice, with  the key blow coming off the bat of Brandon Urquizo on a two out single to put Seward up 2-0. 

Pratt cashed in on a Seward error to score three times in the bottom half of the inning, two coming with two outs as they quickly took their first lead of the game 3-2. 

Both pitchers and defenses settled down from there as the score remained 3-2 in favor of the Beavers into the 5^th inning.

The top half of the 5^th looked like another dead inning for the Saints, but a two out walk got things going and two pitches later, a three run blast off the bat of Justin Graff-Rowe towering over the left field wall quickly put the Saints back ahead 5-3. 

The lead didn't last long though as back to back Seward errors put the Beavers in business and when the inning should have been over with two outs, Pratt again cashed in with a single, scoring both runners to tie the game up at 5. 

More sloppy defensive play benefitted the team's offense in the 6^th as this time a pair of Pratt errors allowed Seward to score a run without a hit and later in the inning back to back singles from Brandon Rix and Graff-Rowe put the Saints up 8-5.  Seward didn't stop there as Drury singled and then Chad Kennedy with the bases loaded to bring two more runs home to blow the game open to 10-5.  A sac fly by Jared Ledbetter scored the Saints sixth run of the inning and after 5 ½ innings of action it was Seward 11 and Pratt 5. 

Saints starter JB Olson locked in from there, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the 6^th and then once again in the 7^th, including a pair of strikeouts to slam the door on the Beavers and give Seward the 11-5 win in the opener. 

Seward had 10 hits in the win, getting a 3 for 4 day with 2 RBI's from Kennedy and a 2 for 4 game with a home run and 4 RBI's from Graff-Rowe.  Olson earned the win on the mound, battling around the poor defense behind him to toss a complete game, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 9.  None of Olson's 5 runs given up were earned as he improved to 4-3 on the year. 

SEWARD COUNTY/PRATT GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Both teams had their chances early in game two of the twinbill as Seward left runners on in the 1^st and 2^nd innings while Pratt stranded runners in scoring positions in both frames to keep the game scoreless into the 3^rd. 

The Saints got a two out triple from Kennedy in the 3^rd but were unable to score him and this time Pratt took advantage, playing small ball on the Saints to score twice in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-0 lead. 

It remained a 2-0 game into the 6^th when Seward finally got their bats going.  Brent Williams tripled with one out to start things and he scored on a Pratt error to make it a 2-1 game.  Later in the inning Graff-Rowe continued his big day with an RBI double to tie the game and Drury smacked a first pitch single to score him to make it 3-2 Seward. 

Pratt quickly answered, picking up three singles in the bottom of the inning to tie the score back up at 3. 

The Saints had two on and a chance to jump back ahead in the top half of the 7^th, but a strikeout ended their threat and it remained 3-3 at stretch time. 

Seward's struggles on defense continued in the bottom of the 7^th as an error by pitcher Hayden Howard on a routine bunt back to him cost the lefthander as the Saints were unable to record an out on the play and the Beavers made them pay.  After a sacrifice bunt, Pratt got their twelfth hit of the game, bringing home both runners on base to take a 5-3 lead. 

The Saints didn't accept Pratt's gifts in their next at bats, getting a one out walk followed by an error to put the tying runs on, but a baserunning blunder on a fly ball turned into a double play to kill the threat and keep it a 5-3 game in favor of the Beavers. 

After a 1-2-3 inning from Howard in the bottom of the 8^th, Seward needed two runs to stay alive in the 9^th. 

Alex White walked with one out and Williams singled with two outs to drive him home to make it a one run game.  Down to their final out, the Saints couldn't come through as a pop out ended their threat and the game as they fell 5-4. 

Seward managed just 6 hits in the game, 2 coming off the bat of Williams who finished 2 for 3 with an RBI in the loss.  Howard was tagged for a career high 12 hits in the loss as he fell to 2-2 allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, while striking out 5.  

SEWARD COUNTY/PRATT GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The split moves the Saints to 11-16 overall and 7-7 in Jayhawk West play while Pratt goes to 10-15 and 3-7 in league action.  The two teams will hook up again on Sunday at 1:00 at Stanion Field in Pratt to wrap up the four game set with a doubleheader.