The Big Train 12-Under AA team has climbed to the No. 5 spot out of 72 teams in the Kansas state rankings after taking second in the MSP Cowtown Showdown in Shawnee last weekend.
Big Train went 4-1 in the 19-team field, which had three states represented and 14 teams ranked in the top 15 in either Kansas, Missouri or Nebraska.
The squad went 2-0 in pool-play on Saturday by beating the Regal Baseball Club 15-2 and beating the Topeka Roughriders 9-4. The Cowbell Award or MVP honors for the pool-play games went to Holden Barker and Eli Adams.
Bracket play started with an 8-3 victory over the Paola Panthers. Adams started the game with five strong innings on the mound and Ethan Godderz locked down the win in the sixth inning.
Godderz closed out another win against Blue Springs with Brandon McKarnin going five shutout innings to earn a 6-0 victory.
Big Train lost in the championship game 10-2 to the Manhattan Force.
Catcher Maddox Johnson took home the team’s second-place trophy, which is voted on by the championship team. Johnson was terrific all weekend with his defense behind the plate by throwing out eight runners.
OMAHA
The College World Series is about to begin in Omaha, but Big Train got to make the trip to Omaha on Memorial Day weekend for Omaha’s Small-Town National Tournament.
The Big Train players had the chance to stay in dorms with the other teams in the tournament from Yuma, Colo., Sidney, Neb., Bellevue, Neb., Seward, Neb., Kingfisher, Okla., Perkins, Okla., and Flandrue S.D.
Big Train coach Bob Johnson said his team really enjoyed getting to meet the players from other states and make some new friends.
The team finished the tournament 1-3 against the elite competition.
Big Train picked up their win in a 14-4 victory over Bellevue then lost a pair of tough games falling to Kingfisher 4-3 and Flandrue 6-5. They also lost to Sidney 10-0.
During the Opening Ceremonies, the event had a skills contest. Holden Barker won a MLB-style Home Run Derby by hitting eight home runs before recording the seven outs allowed.
Adams finished second in the speed challenge by going around the bases (70-foot) in 13.48 seconds.
Barker might have taken the biggest prize of the weekend though by winning the sunflower seed spitting competition. Barker’s winning distance was 24 feet. The prize for winning the contest is a year’s worth of free sunflower seeds.
