Saints Slip in Final West Game, Headed on Road For Playoffs

Throughout the course of a season, teams often lose games that they think they shouldn't have and afterwards mutter the phrase 'that one is going to come back to get us'.  That was the case this season for the Seward County Saints and the latter part came true on the final day of the regular season as the Saints backed themselves into a corner, needing to win their final two games on the road at Dodge City to be at home for the playoffs and were only able to capture one, sending them on the longest trip possible for the first round of the Region VI Tournament next weekend as they are headed to Overland Park to take on Johnson County.  Jared Biddy gave the Saints an outstanding effort in the opener Sunday, pitching a complete game shutout against the Conqs in a 3-0 win, but Seward couldn't hold a late lead in the series finale, falling 6-5 to seal their playoff fate. 

Needing a pair of wins on the final day of the regular season to earn a home playoff series next weekend, Seward County turned to freshman righthander Jared Biddy on the mound in game one against Dodge City Sunday.  Biddy worked his way out of a pickle in the 1^st to keep Dodge City off the board and the Saints rewarded him with a run in the top half of the 2^nd as Jared Ledbetter doubled home Chad Kennedy with two outs to put Seward in front 1-0. 

Seward couldn't extend upon their lead, but they didn't need to as Biddy remained locked in through the midway point of the contest, keeping it a 1-0 game after four. 

In the 5^th the Saints scratched out another run as Ledbetter singled to start the inning and Brian Tims drove him home with a one out double to push the Seward lead to 2-0. 

The Saints looked like they had shot themselves in the foot in the bottom of the 5^th, committing back to back errors to start the inning, putting two on with nobody out.  A line drive to the right side fortunately landed in the glove of Tims at second and Biddy induced an inning ending double play to escape damage, keeping Seward in front 1-0. 

Slowly but surely, the Saints tacked onto their lead in the 6^th as Kennedy doubled to the gap scoring Logan Nethercot from first to make it a 3-0 game in favor of the Saints. 

Biddy did the rest, getting another double play in the 6^th before working around a two out walk in the 7^th to close the Conqs out in a 3-0 Seward County win. 

Biddy put together his best performance of the season for the Saints in the most opportune time, dealing a four hit shutout against the defending Region VI Champs, needing just 87 pitches for the complete game.  He improves to 6-2 on the year with the victory.  The Saints outhit Dodge 9-4 in the game, getting two hits and an RBI each from Ledbetter, Tims, and Kennedy.  

SEWARD COUNTY/DODGE CITY GAME THREE BOX SCORE

The Saints game three win set up a winner take all game four, with home field advantage for the Region VI Tournament first round on the line. 

It was a pitcher's duel early on between Seward's Nic Ricigliano, starting just his third career game, and Dodge City's Cole Brandon, a regular all season long in the Conq rotation. 

Seward managed just one hit through the first three innings of action while Ricigliano was equally as effective early on against the Dodge City bats, holding the Conqs of the scoreboard through the first two to keep the game scoreless through 2 ½. 

Dodge broke through first in the bottom of the 3^rd, using four singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly to plate a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead. 

Seward responded with a run of their own in the 4^th, getting a leadoff single from Justin Graff-Rowe and a double from Judah Sweat to set up a run scoring groundout off the bat of Nethercot to cut the Dodge City lead in half at 2-1. 

The Saints took their first lead of the game in the 5^th as Graff-Rowe came through with a two out, two run double to right, pushing Seward in front of the Conqs 3-2. 

The lead wouldn't last long for Seward though as a leadoff walk in the 5^th spelled trouble for Ricigliano, yielding a run to allow Dodge City to knot the score up at 3. 

It remained a 3-3 game to stretch time when Dodge got things going again with four hits to plate a pair of runs to grab a 5-3 lead. 

The Saints didn't threaten in the 8^th and Dodge added a big insurance run in the bottom half against the Saints bullpen to make it a 6-3 game. 

Down to their final three outs of the regular season and needing three runs to keep the game going, the Saints got off to a good start in the 9^th, putting their first two hitters on, giving them three shots at tying the game.  But today wasn't the Saints day as a strikeout followed by a lineout quickly dampened their hopes before a swing and a miss ended it with Dodge City holding on for a 6-3 win. 

The Conqs outhit the Saints 12-8 in the contest.  Seward got a three hit, two RBI game from Graff-Rowe in the middle and another two hit effort from Ledbetter in the seven hole.  Ricigliano took the loss on the mound for Seward, falling to 3-2 on the year as he allowed nine hits and five runs, all earned, in 6 1/3 innings of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/DODGE CITY GAME FOUR BOX SCORE

The split was the sixth straight for the Saints in Jayhawk West Conference play to close the season.  Seward ends the regular season at 30-24 overall and 18-14 in Jayhawk West play, putting them in 5^th place in the league standings.  Dodge City picks up their 40^th win of the year with the split, going to 40-16 overall and 19-13 in league action where they finish one game ahead of Seward in 4^th. 

The Saints will now pack up for the long trip to Overland Park, Kansas where they will take on the 4^th seeded team from the loaded Jayhawk East, the Johnson County Cavaliers, Saturday and Sunday, in a best two out of three series with a trip to the NJCAA Region VI Championships on the line.