Triple Play Highlights Saints Win

Rarely in midweek non-conference games, do pitching and defense steal the show, but Tuesday afternoon at Brent Gould Field in Liberal, that is exactly what happened as four Seward County pitchers combined to allow just 1 run and the Saints defense turned a rare triple play as Seward rolled to a 7-1 win over visiting Frank Phillips. 

Just one week after being embarrassed by Frank Phillips 16-3, Seward wasted no time in taking an early lead in this one as Brent Williams added to his nation leading double total with a two out two bagger in the 1^st and a Frank Phillips throwing error later in the inning would allow him to score to give Seward a 1-0 advantage. 

Getting their midweek work in, Seward's weekend starters, Austin King and JB Olson kept Frank Phillips in check through 4, keeping the Saints on top in the contest 1-0. 

The Saints offense rewarded their pitchers with a crooked number in the bottom half of the 4^th as Jake Fuller singled to start the inning and Brandon Rix reached on a fielder's choice to put two on with nobody out.  After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet, a double off the bat of Brandon Urquizo plated both runs to put the Saints up 3-0.  Later in the inning Williams ripped another double to score Urquizo and to the 5^th the teams went with the score Seward 4 and Frank Phillips 0. 

A one out walk and a pair of two out singles would give Frank Phillips their first run of the game in the 6^th, but Saints reliever Keenan Hall averted further damage by getting a ground ball to leave two runners stranded to keep Seward in front 4-1.

The score remained 4-1 to stretch time after Hall struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 top half of the 7^th for the Saints. 

Seward tacked onto their lead in the 7^th as Kevin Connolly legged out an infield single ahead of a double from Mason Marshall to make it 5-1 Saints.  Later in the inning Fuller poked his third hit of the game through the right side to score Marshall to put Seward in front 6-1. 

Frank Phillips looked like they were ready to make a comeback in the top of the 8^th as their first two hitters of the inning reached base on singles to put two on with no out.  The next Plainsmen hitter squared a 1-2 offering from Seward's Pete Macke up, but the line drive went right to the glove of Saints second baseman John Solberg who caught the liner, threw to second for a double play before shortstop Jake Fuller tossed it to first for a rare triple play to end the inning. 

A Frank Phillips error to start the Seward half of the 8^th ended up costing them a run as Williams and Connolly singled back to back with one out to put another run on the board to make it 7-1 Saints into the 9^th. 

For the second straight inning, the first two Plainsmen hitters of the inning reached base, this time on a pair of walks, but Macke worked out of his own trouble, getting three straight strikeouts to end the game in style to secure a 7-1 win for the Saints. 

The Saints dominated the contest in every facet of the game.  Seward outhit Frank Phillips 15-5 in the contest while the Plainsmen committed 4 errors to the Saints 2.  Connolly led the Saints with 4 hits including a triple in the win while Williams had 3 hits and added 2 more doubles to his nation leading total of 28.  Fuller also had 3 hits in 4 trips for the Saints, scoring a run and driving in another.  King picked up a cheap win in midweek work, going 2 perfect innings to open the game, striking out 2 without walking a batter. 

Seward improves to 23-17 overall on the year while Frank Phillips drops to 23-13. 

The Saints will be back in action at home on Wednesday when they host Clarendon in another non-conference contest starting at 3:00. 

SEWARD COUNTY/FRANK PHILLIPS BOX SCORE