CANEY — One bad inning spoiled Humboldt High’s final two games of the baseball season Monday.
The Cubs took the early lead, but saw host Caney Valley erupt for four runs in the bottom of the first. The Bullpups cruised from there in an 8-1 victory. The Bullpups then won a 9-8 squeaker in the nightcap to complete the sweep.
The losses drop Humboldt to 7-13 on the season as the Cubs prepare for the Class 2-1A Regional Tournament, which starts Monday in Humboldt.
“We really just had one bad inning, and just couldn’t put anything together after that,” Humboldt coach Mike Miller said.
The Bullpups tacked on a run in the fourth and three in the fifth.
“Evan (Lucke) pitched well in relief,” Miller said. “We just had way too many strikeouts and couldn’t put any pressure on them.”
The Cubs had two hits — a double by Trey Sommer and a single by Gavin Page — and struck out 18 times over seven innings.
Sam Hull started, and walked four batters and allowed one hit in two-thirds of an inning. Lucke pitched the rest of the way, striking out six and allowing six hits.
The second game mirrored the first in several ways.
“We had a bad inning with some errors, and chances to get out of innings with minimal damage, but couldn’t make plays when we needed it,” Miller said.
This time, Humboldt was able to bounce back, scoring four times in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Caney Valley responded with three in the fifth to lead 7-5. Humboldt tacked on three in the sixth to retake the lead.
Caney Valley scored in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score at 8-8, then ended the contest with one out in the seventh.
“We were able to bounce back and take the lead late but couldn’t put them away,” Miller said.
Sommer started and allowed seven hits and two earned runs, while pitching into the fifth inning. He struck out five. Gavin Page allowed three hits and a walk in his relief effort.
Page led the offense with a single and double, with two RBIs. Hull singled twice, while Sommer, Robbie Robinson and Hunter Bauer all had singles.
“Game 2 was kind of the same story,” Miller said. “We had a bad inning with some chances to get out with minimal damage but couldn’t make plays when we needed to. “
