COLONY — The Crest Lancers proved their first loss of the season was just bad luck after smashing Southeast 13-3 in the finale of Monday’s doubleheader.
The Lancers seemed to have Southeast exactly where they wanted them with the bases loaded and one out, but freshman Southeast third baseman Izaak Dickenson snatched a sizzling line drive along the baseline, then toed the base for a game-ending double-play to take the opener 14-11.
“That’s baseball. They’re a scrappy team,” Crest coach Roland Weir said of Southeast. “They kept coming after us and we didn’t respond. We had a chance there at the end with the bases loaded and one out. [Junior catcher Jensen Barker] stepped up there and smoked one to third on a line drive and [Dickenson] doubled us up, but that’s the way it goes.”
Stung by their first loss, Crest jumped out to a 3-0 lead on an RBI double by junior outfielder Henry White, a sacrifice fly by Barker and an RBI grounder by freshman second baseman Will Disbow. Southeast rallied to tie the game at 3-3 by the third inning, but the Lancers scored 10 unanswered runs over the next three innings to take the finale 13-3.
“We knew we had to start off way better than we started that first game. When you start a game like that, it’s really hard to fight back,” Barker said.
White and Barker tied for the team lead in RBIs in the finale with three each.
White hit in 4 of 5 appearances with three runs while Barker went 1 of 2 with a pair of walks and a run.
On the mound, senior Roy Gordon picked up the victory with three strikeouts over three innings. Barker came on in relief with two strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.
Crest received its only blemish so far this season in the opener. Despite scoring runs with consistency in the early innings, the Lancers struggled to find a way to distance themselves from Southeast.
Seemingly in control with a 10-6 lead, Southeast rallied with a sixth-run sixth inning, then added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.
Down 14-10, a bases-loaded walk pulled Crest within reach of the comeback, but the aforementioned double-play sealed the loss.
“We walked a few too many guys and struck out a few too many times,” junior pitcher Drake Weir said. “We made a few errors in the field that really killed us. We went silent there at the end, and it’s hard to come back.”
After ending their two-game homestand on a high note, the Lancers head on the road for their next three games — beginning with regional rival Southern Lyon County in Olpe.
“We’re going to have our hands full. We’re going to have to practice well this week,” Roland Weir said. “They’re another scrappy team. It’s at Ople, and it’s also a regional matchup, so it has big implications. We’re going to get to see them and they’re going to get to see us. The last three or four years, it’s been either us or them at the end.”
Crest High School freshman Koiy Miller smokes a pitch off his bat in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader against Southeast.
First pitches for Thursday’s games are 4 and 6 p.m.
