Garden City falls to Lamar in series finale

By Mike Pilosof

Garden City, KS-The Broncbusters were in trouble from the start in game two.

Sheridan Wayne, Lisa Marie Begay, and Mason Togher all homered, Lamar scored in all five innings, and the Lopes rolled Garden City 21-8 in their series finale Thursday afternoon at Tangeman Sports Complex.

Starting pitcher, Tara Reid struggled mightily with command, serving up two long balls in the first inning, one to Wayne and the other to Begay that gave the Lopes a 5-0 edge. After Garden City answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, Lamar plated three more in the second, fueled by Wayne's RBI double and Begay's single to center that stretched the lead to six, 8-2.

The Broncbuster offense was more than game early in this one, slicing the deficit to three in the bottom of the second when Lacey Kearsley drew a bases-loaded walk. But the bats weren't the problem; it was the defense in game two, and in the third, Lamar put a stranglehold on the game. Katelynne Russell doubled home two, Togher blasted a two-run shot, and the Lopes had a 12-5 lead. They pushed four more across in the fourth; then finished off the run-rule in the fifth with Wayne's two RBI extra base hit and Russel's line drive, run-scoring double.

Wayne finished with four hits for Lamar. Russel and Togher each collected three, and Hope Quinones notched the win in the circle, allowing three runs on four hits in three innings of relief.

Even in the loss, Garden City slugged out 10 hits, three of those by pinch hitter, Elycia Johnson, who finished 3-for-4 at the dish.

Scheduling change: Garden City's games Saturday at Northeastern have been canceled because of weather. Their next game is slated for Sunday at home vs. Trinidad State.