With an eye on the postseason, Allen Community College’s baseball team worried more about health and readiness than on collecting wins Saturday.
Visiting Johnson County had no such concerns, rolling up a combined 31 runs in 16-0 and 15-5 victories,
“They’ve got a good club, and we’re a little beat up,” Allen head coach Clint Stoy said. “That’s not a good mixture.”
The Red Devils rested some of its key pitchers for the upcoming Jayhawk Conference playoffs, which open Wednesday in Manhattan.
“With such a short turnaround, going from Saturday to Wednesday, we didn’t want to push anything,” Stoy said.
The Cavaliers got the early jump in the opener, scoring three in the first, one in the second and five in the third before erupting for a seven-run fifth.
The Red Devils, meanwhile, were able to get hits from Christian Altamirano, Levi Bennett, Josh Prinner and Lucas Banta, but could only advance a single runner into scoring position.
Allen’s offense found its footing in the nightcap, but Johnson County’s offense remained in high gear.
The Red Devils caught an early break when Johnson County’s pitcher misplayed a pop-up on the infield, likely attributable to the swirling wind, before Bennett ripped an RBI single to push ACC ahead 2-1 after one inning.
But Johnson County evened the score at 2-2 in the second, took the lead for good with a run in the third, and then put some daylight between the teams with a four-run fourth.
Allen cut into the deficit when Beau Brown smashed a solo home run to center with two outs in the fourth. Sal Jacobo followed with a double, and he scored on Altamirano’s single to make it 7-4.
But the Cavaliers responded with three in the fifth and four in the sixth.
Allen’s final run came when Nathan Bach singled in the sixth, moved to second on an error and third on Bennett’s single. Tanner Strickland followed with an RBI fielder’s choice.
“We got baserunners, but never could get that big two-out hit,” Stoy said. “And anything that could go wrong, did.”
The swirling wind made life miserable for outfielders on both sides in the second game.
Allen committed five errors, most coming on pop-ups; Johnson had two miscues afield.
