Winning three-of-four games over the weekend, the Labette Cardinals won a series over the Neosho County Panthers in Kansas Jayhawk Conference baseball action.
Neosho County’s lone win came in Game 1, 15-2. The Cardinals took the final three games of the series, 16-15, 5-3, 14-13.
Baron Lynch delivered a gem on the hill for the Panthers in Game 1, tossing all six frames of the run-rule win while allowing five hits and striking out a pair of batters.
“He’s done his job every single time out, which is to throw strikes,” Neosho County head coach Steve Murry said. “He’s kept us in every game he’s thrown this year, which is great. That’s exactly what we need.”
Lars Koester had two home runs in the game for the Panthers while Luke Briley, Jaron Brown and Carson Hilton added a bomb apiece. Labette’s Camden White also had a solo blast while Connor Brady ate the loss on the hill, giving up six earned runs in one inning of work.
Six errors and as many walks allowed by Neosho County fueled Labette’s comeback win in Game 2 — the Cardinals trailed 15-13 in the bottom of the ninth before plating a pair to force extras.
“It was six errors and a whole bunch of free passes,” Murry said. “Not to mention, we left 12 dudes on base. That’s a ton. We had to have timely hits. Those six errors also killed us. We thought our defense was going to be good. And it just hasn’t been great.”
Labette belted 21 hits in the win, powered by a four-hit effort from shortstop Franciso Feliciano. Nick Dunn, Taylor and Tray Freeman all homered for the Cardinals.
For Neosho County, Jamon Beck, Maverick Williamson, Koester and Chase Robertson all had blasts while Koester also had three total hits.
Leonar Perez was credited with the win on the hill, tossing four frames for the Cardinals. Will Burger ate the loss.
In a comparatively quiet Game 3, Labette scored four runs in the third then one more in the fourth.
“We had one bad inning where we gave up a free pass that scored,” Murry said. “And we didn’t have many chances to score. When you do, you have to pick up your runners. We didn’t do that enough.”
Both teams tallied eight hits with Gilbert Rodriguez tallying a pair of RBIs for the Panthers. Labette’ Grant Lambeth and David Daigle each had homers.
Taylor pitched 5.2 innings to earn the victory on the mound for the Cardinals while Perez earned a four-out save. Jaret Myers was charged with the loss for the Panthers.
Game 4 was a high-octane affair that saw Neosho County overcome an 11-1 deficit with four runs in the fifth, then eight more in the sixth to take a 13-11 lead.
The eight-run sixth frame for the Panthers was triggered by a leadoff double after a slow play in center field by Jaron Brown.
“We got that spark,” Murry said. “All of a sudden, confidence was there. You just see it swell. Baseball has always been a massive momentum sport. We took the lead and it was awesome. But we knew we still had to go out and pitch. Seven free passes scored in the game. That’s not good on us.”
After mounting its comeback, Neosho County surrendered the lead in the top of the seventh as the Cardinals scored three runs.
“It comes down to our relievers trying to be too fine,” Murry said. “They got too many free passes and 2-0, 3-1 counts. Those are mistakes we can’t make.”
Perez then shut the door for Labette, tossing the final 3.1 innings to earn the win.
“He did a good job,” Murry said. “We had some bad approaches with him. We had already done the hard part, coming back from down 11-1. But we couldn’t set the table. I was dang proud of the hitters for coming back.”
Williamson, Koester, Hilton and Brown all homered for Neosho County in the finale while Gabriel Viera, Lambeth and Dunn tallied home runs for Labette.
Labette improved to 9-17 overall and 6-6 in KJCCC action while Neosho County dropped to 13-12 and 6-10, respectively.
“The little mistakes we’re making right now are costly,” Murry said. “We’re not where we’re going to be. But we need to get out of where we’re at. We’re struggling a little bit right now.”
Up next
Labette hosts NEO A&M on Tuesday before traveling to Johnson County on Thursday. Neosho County hosts Ottawa JV on Tuesday then hits the road to face Pratt on Thursday.
