Galena holds off Baxter Springs

May 14, 2008 01:05 am

— By Ryan Atkinson
ratkinson@joplinglobe.com
RIVERTON, Kan. — Galena coach Ken Cook headed to the mound in the top of the seventh, fully intending to put an end to Dakota Walker’s pitching night.
Walker and the Bulldogs, however, had other plans.
The Galena players talked Cook into leaving Walker on the mound and Walker then made the decision pay off. He got Baxter Springs’ Ayrek Smith to ground out to third, ending the Lions’ two-run rally and sending Galena to the Class 3A state tournament with a 4-3 win at Riverton.
Galena topped Frontenac 13-6 in the day’s first game. Baxter Springs rallied with one in the sixth and three in the seventh and then survived Riverton’s two-run spurt in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 win in the other semifinal.
“When I went out there, I had already made my mind up that I was going to pull (Walker),” Cook said. “But I got out there and every infielder had his back. They all said that this was Dakota’s game and they wanted him to finish it, so I left him in.”
The win sends Galena to Manhattan, Kan., for its first state tournament since 2005, when the Bulldogs lost to Silver Lake in the title game. It also means the Lions won’t be able to defend their two consecutive state championships.
“It’s huge to be able to go to state, but it’s also nice to beat a team that has won it the last two years,” said Mitch Albright, Galena’s lone senior. “It’s big for me because, counting my freshman year, I’ll get to go to state with both of my brothers.” Troy Albright is a freshman this year and Travis was a senior when the 2005 team went to state.
Albright can thank Walker and a bend-but-don’t-break Bulldog defense for the latest state berth.
Walker went all seven innings, allowing just two earned runs and six hits while striking out eight, including two in the seventh. He got out of bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth, allowing just one run.
Galena entered the seventh with a 4-1 lead before Jordan Krokroskia walked and Riley Edmondson doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs.
Walker then fanned Zack Wilson and Kory Marrett to reduce the game to one out, but Cody Wren doubled down the left field line to cut the Bulldog lead to 4-3 and put the tying run at second.
Cook, however, stuck with Walker, who induced the weak grounder to third to end the game.
“I knew the defense was behind me,” Walker said. “Even when they got within one, I knew we still had it.”
Baxter, trailing 4-1, threatened in the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out. But Edmondson’s low liner was snagged by second baseman Colton Leet, who then threw to second to complete the inning-ending double play.
“That was huge,” Cook said. “Colton Leet is probably the most underrated second baseman in the area. He goes out every night and makes the tough plays look easy and that was a good example.”
Galena took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Mitch Albright singled with two outs. Leet was then hit by a pitch and Troy Albright walked to load the bases for Drew Bilke, who drove in Mitch Albright with an infield single.
The Bulldogs scored two runs in the second on Codie Perry’s single, Dakota Walker’s double and a Lion error.
Jacoby Martin ripped an RBI triple to right-center in the fourth to plate Walker with what proved to be the winning run.
“It was a fastball down the middle and that’s what I like,” Martin said. “Right when it came off the bat I was thinking triple.”
Krokroskia went four innings on the mound for the Lions before Wilson took over. Wilson breezed through the fifth and sixth innings with six straight strikeouts.
Baxter Springs 4, Riverton 3
Riverton, behind the starting pitching of Caleb Clark, led 1-0 heading into the sixth before things fell apart.
The Lions knotted the game with a lone run in the sixth and then plated three in the seventh to go up 4-1.
The Rams scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but Baxter Springs’ Cody Wren — who pitched all seven innings — recorded the final out with the potential tying run at third.
Galena 13, Frontenac 6
The Frontenac Raiders took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Galena scored seven times before the Raiders could tack on another run.
Galena scored once in the second and three times in third and fourth. Frontenac scored five runs in the final three innings, but Galena answered with six of their own.
The Raiders committed five errors.

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