By Travis Mounts, TSnews
WICHITA – The Haysville Aviators’ hopes for glory at the National Baseball Congress World Series were shot down last Thursday in the first-round of single-elimination play on Wednesday.
The Liberal BeeJays rallied over the game’s last three innings, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 6-1 victory over the Aviators.
There were plenty of hits in the game, as Haysville had a 13-12 edge over Liberal. But the Aviators were not able to turn those hits into runs.
The Aviators’ one run came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Jayden Hill scored from second base on a single to centerfield by Drake Girard. Paul Wittman, Trent Mallonee, Girard and Austin Warkins each had two hits. Starting pitcher Brady Pach went scoreless in five innings, giving up three hits to go with four walks and four strikeouts. Arturo Ramirez gave up 3 runs, all unearned, in 1.2 innings and took the loss. Tanner Leslie and Mason Davenport also made relief appearances.
Haysville came on strong in the postseason. The Aviators were the last of the six teams into the Sunflower Collegiate League tournament, but they placed third and earned a berth in the NBC. They then went 2-1 in pool play, routing the San Diego Stars 16-4 last week on Tuesday in their final pool-play game to advance to the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
