pictured is Senior, Thomas Keener, picture courtesy of Brad Anderson
SALINA: The Abilene Cowboy’s baseball season came to an end Thursday afternoon in a 4-2 loss to Ft. Scott. The game was a rematch from 2023 with the same two teams met in the first round with the Tigers also getting the upper hand 3-2.
Ft. Scott took advantage of Abilene errors in the 2nd inning to take a 3-0 lead. Brody Gomez reached on an error and later scored the first run of the game on the Cowboys second error of the inning. Colton Rogers scored the Tigers second run on an RBI single courtesy of Ty Marbury. Finally, Ft. Scott Senior Pitcher, Dub Chipman, drove in Kaden Cannon for the 3rd run of the inning.
Abilene answered in the top of the 3rd with a pair of runs. Thomas Keener was hit by a pitch and driven in by Jake Bartley. Kaden Thrower scored the second run of the inning on a double by Heath Hoekman to pull the Cowboys to within 3-2.
Ft. Scott scored their final run in the 4th inning to increase their lead to 4-2. Lennox Vann hit a two out triple and later scored when Abilene attempted to throw out a runner at second base. Chipman, a Senior, went the distance for Ft. Scott and picked up the win. He scattered 6 hits, struck out 4 and didn’t walk a single Cowboy. His defense was great behind him as the Tigers committed no errors on the day. Chipman will play at Ft. Scott Community College next season.
Keener, a Senior, started the game for Abilene pitched the first three innings. He allowed 3 runs and none of them were earned. Bartley pitched the final three inning and allowed just 1 hit and 1 run.
(2) Ft. Scott improved to 26-3 with the victory and will face (3) Paola in the semifinals at 11 AM on Friday. Paola won 4-3 over (6) Clay Center on a walk-off hit. Ft. Scott and Paola split a double-header at Paola on April 3.
(7) Abilene ended their season at 16-11. The Cowboys have much to be proud of as they made it to State for a 4th straight season. It was the final game for Keener, Tyler Holloway and Cole Veal, whose contributions will not be forgotten. Keener will move on to Ottawa to play baseball, while Holloway will play football at Tabor.
