ALTAMONT — Avenging a loss to their rivals last week, the Parsons Vikings run-ruled the Labette County Grizzlies on the road, 12-2, on Monday afternoon.
The win snapped a threegame losing streak for the Vikings, which included a 12-0 defeat to the Grizzlies last Thursday.
“Last week against them, it was the first game we lost our catcher, Talan (Robertson)” Parsons head coach Josh Robertson said. “We had people in different positions. We lost a lot with our three-hole not being a part of the game. We had a rough first inning and couldn’t get past it. But today, we relaxed and had fun and got after it.”
Mikey Ramsey pitched a gem on the hill, earning the win over two frames of work with no hits and six strikeouts.
“We knew we wanted him to get through two, possibly three innings,” Robertson said. “He threw a lot of firstpitch strikes and wasn’t messing around. He went at them with the fastball and challenged them to hit it.”
Labette County head coach Sam Schaper cited Ramsey’s velocity as a difficulty for the Grizzlies’ offense, which tallied its three hits on the game after Ramsey left.
“He throws hard and you don’t see that very often in Southeast Kansas,” Schaper said. “So that’s an adjustment. He wasn’t the only one that beat us. They out-hit us, out-defended us and outpitched us. When you lose all those phases, you’re in trouble.”
Andrew Houk, who earned the three-inning save in relief for the Vikings, also had three hits at the plate for Parsons.
Connor Largent also had three hits.
Parsons did most of its damage in the third inning, plating 10 runs with four coming on bases-loaded walks.
“There’s a lot of credit to that. Sometimes, we want to be a first-pitch hitting team,” Robertson said. “But today, we wanted to take our time and get the timing down. They handled it well. It’s hard to stay back and not just jump on the first pitch they see.”
In total, Labette County’s pitching staff issued nine free passes in Monday’s loss.
“It was hard to tell why, because I’ve got faith in all of our pitchers and all the guys I brought in,” Schaper said. “I wouldn’t have brought them in if I didn’t. They just didn’t throw strikes and handle pressure. There’s nowhere to point blame but at ourselves. We usually are a little more efficient. We just didn’t respond to pressure.”
Kamden Good, Kaden Blackledge and Kaiden Nash each had a hit apiece for the Grizzlies.
Blackledge was responsible for the loss on the hill, tossing 2.1 innings while allowing five hits and two walks.
Parsons knocked out by Indy
Needing at least one win against Independence to stay in the hunt for a postseason berth, the Vikings were swept by the Bulldogs on Tuesday at home, 12-0, 18-2.
In Game 1, Parsons committed seven errors which allowed six unearned runs to cross the plate.
Joe Keal was charged with the loss on the mound while Keal and Jakarre Green notched the only two hits of the game for the Vikings.
Kamen Sprague earned the winning decision for Independence, striking out six over five innings.
As for Game 2, Parsons’ pitching staff issued 10 walks and allowed seven hits as the Bulldogs scored 18 runs, 14 of them earned. Keller Ball was charged with the loss, allowing nine runs without recording an out.
Parsons’ lone hit in the game came off Keal’s bat.
Noah Edington pitched the win for Independence, tossing all three innings.
Grizzlies fall to Pittsburg The Grizzlies, who are also out of postseason contention, fell to Pittsburg on Tuesday on the road, 13-3.
The Grizzlies tallied four hits at the plate. But their pitching staff again struggled with free passes, issuing a dozen.
Mason Morris was hit with the losing decision, throwing four innings while allowing three hits and five walks.
Blackledge tallied two RBIs in the loss.
