The Abilene Cowboy baseball team punched their ticket to the 4A State baseball tournament Tuesday with victories over Concordia and Pratt, at the Pratt Regional. It will be the 4th straight trip to State for the Cowboys. All 4 trips under Head Coach, Travis Bartley. The run of State appearances started at Pratt in 2022.
(10) Abilene 7, (7) Concordia 3
PRATT: In the first game of the day, (10) Abilene avenged 2 early season losses to (7) Concordia with a 7-3 victory. The Cowboys scored 6 unanswered runs in the game and Thomas Keener went the distance on the mound for the victory. Abilene was swept in a double-header on April 3, 5-4, 8-3 but Tuesday the Cowboys turned the tables.
In Tuesday’s game, Concordia jumped ahead in the 1st inning with a 2 out 2 RBI single by Chane Parker. Drake Blochlinger and Parker Jackson both scored for the Panthers to give them the early 2-0 advantage.
Abilene got on the board in 3rd inning on a bases loaded walk by Ethan Evans, he drove in his brother Levi for Abilene’s first run. Concordia answered though with a run of their own in the bottom of the 3rd. Chane Parker came up big again with a double that drove in Ayden Krier to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
The Cowboy offense came alive in the 4th. Nolan Wilkens reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch. Errors were an issue for Concordia. They committed 5 in the game and their pitchers walked 11 batters. Abilene got additional runs in the inning from Tyler Holloway, who walked and Levi Evans, who reached base on a bunt. Holloway’s courtesy runner, Landyn Rogers and Evans were driven in by Thomas Keener, who gave Abilene a 4-3 lead. A lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Abilene tacked on 3 more runs in the 6th. Holloway walked again, and Rogers scored for him on an error. Keener reached on an error then Kayden Thrower walked and both were driven in by Jake Bartley for the final runs of the game.
Keener was steady on the mound in the victory. He pitched his first complete game of the season. He scattered 8 hits over 7 innings, struck out 2 and walked 1 batter.
(10) Abilene 4, (2) Pratt 2
PRATT: In the Regional Final, Abilene got a rematch with (2) Pratt. The Greenbacks edged the Cowboys 3-2 in the 4A State semifinals last year. Pratt entered the game 23-4 and had won 18 straight games.
In Tuesday’s final, Abilene won 4-2. The Cowboys fell behind 2-1 in the 1st inning. Abilene jumped ahead 1-0 on an RBI double by Heath Hoekman, who drove in Keener. The Greenbacks took the lead in the bottom of the 1st with runs from Owen Schmidt and Caleb Strong. The pair was driven in by Chaz Teafatiller and Creston Pore. Neither team would score again until the 6th.
In the 6th Keener started the inning with a double and later scored on a wild pitch. In the 7th, Lane Hoekman reached base on an error and scored the winning run on an RBI single by Tyler Holloway. Canyn Taylor added the final run on an RBI single by Levi Evans.
Jake Bartley pitched a complete game for the victory. He struck out 4 and allowed 0 runs and just 2 hits after the 1st inning. Abilene entered the day without a pitcher that had pitched a complete game but that changed Tuesday.
The Cowboys are now 16-10 on the season. Abilene finish 3rd at State a season ago. They will find out their opponent later in the week.
