MANHATTAN — Manhattan's baseball team ended Great Bend's hopes of 5A postseason play at home with a hard-fought 4-3 victory Wednesday. Manhattan roared to a 15-5 victory in the second game.
No. 4 seed Topeka Seaman (19-6) and No. 5 seed Wichita Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (19-7) moved ahead of Great Bend. The Panthers (18-8) needed to sweep Manhattan to earn the fourth seed.
No. 6 seeded Great Bend will play Salina South (13-13) May 15 in a 5A regional that features No. 3 seed Andover Central (20-5) against Emporia (8-14). The Panthers beat Hays 3-1 and Andover 4-3 to qualify for the 2023 state baseball tournament.
MANHATTAN 4, PANTHERS 3 (G1) — Manhattan converted two walks, an error and a wild pitch into the game-winning seventh-inning run. Panther reliever Owen Kaiser nearly preserved a 3-3 tie, but the Panthers committed an error on a possible forceout. Jackson Goos scored the winning run on a Kaiser wild pitch. Umphres (6-2, 2.02 ERA) has 67 strikeouts in 551/3 innings.
The Panthers led 2-0. Daxton Minton scored on a Carson Umphres groundout. J.J. Grove scored on a wild pitch. Manhattan's Jackson Hayes hit a sacrifice fly and Goode delivered an RBI single for a 2-2 tie.
Ian Premer drilled a right field home run for a 3-2 lead. Hayes tied it on a sacrifice fly after Umphres was unable to get an out on Eric Tiede's sixth-inning sacrifice bunt.
Minton was stranded at third base when Koehn Ribordy and Umphres grounded out on the first pitch of their seventh-inning at-bats.
MANHATTAN 15, PANTHERS 5 (G2) — Manhattan pounded Great Bend's pitching staff for a season high 15 runs. Owen Goode drove in five runs with three hits. The Panthers had yielded 10 and 11 runs during the regular season.
Koehn Ribordy doubled home Hunter Herrman. Umphres doubled in J.J. Grove and Ribordy in a 3-run second inning. Daxton Minton singled in Trenton Kern in he fourth. Premer scored on a fifth-inning wild pitch.
Herrman (5-3, 4.20 ERA), Minton (2-0, 2.33 ERA) and Ribordy (2-0, 7.38) yielded 15 runs.
Through 26 games, Premer is batting .473 (35 for 73); Umphres .407 (31 for 76); Kern .383 (23 for 60); and Grove .352 (25 for 71).
Great Bend 002 001 0 — 3 5 2
Manhattan 000 201 1— 4 6 0
Umphres, Kaiser and Milsap. Spiegel and Goode. W—Spiegel. L—Umphres, 6-2. HR—GB—Premer.
Great Bend 031 01 — 5 9 2
Manhattan 123 81 — 15 14 1
Herrman, Ribordy (4), Minton (4) and Kaiser. Goos and Goode. W—Goos. L—Herrman, 5-3. GB—Ribordy, Umphres, Kern; M—Goode, Walcott, Goos, Newton. 3B—GB—Herrman; M—Spiegel.
PANTHER BATTING—Premer .473 (35-74); Umphres .407 (31-76); Kern .382 (23-60); Grove .352 (25-71); Ribordy .346 (27-78); Herrman .327 (18-55); Minton .317 (20-63); Oelger .295 (13-44); Kaiser .285 (18-63); Poe .182 (2-11); Milsap .143 (1-9); Stoney .000 (0-2)
PANTHER PITCHING—Umphres 6-2, 16 ER-55.1 IP (2.02); 67K-55.1 IP; Herrman 5-3, 24 ER-40 IP (4.20); 34K-40 IP; Kaiser 3-3, 13 ER-24 IP (3.79); 28K-24 IP; Minton 2-0, 6 ER-18.1 IP (2.33); Ribordy 2-0, 13 ER-12.1 IP (7.38); Oelger 2 ER-8.1 IP (1.68); Mohr 1 ER-3.2 IP (1.95); Stoney 0 ER-1 IP (0.00).
5A WEST
1 Maize South 19-4 vs. 15 Salina Central 7-18; 8 Hutchinson 17-9 vs. 9 Hays High 16-9
2 Wichita Carroll 20-5 vs. 15 Arkansas City 8-18; 7 Andover High 17-9 vs. 10 Goddard 14-10
3 Andover Central 20-5 vs. 14 Emporia 8-14; 6 Great Bend 18-8 vs. 11 Salina South 13-13
4 Topeka Seaman 17-6 vs. 13 Newton 11-13; 5 Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel 19-7 vs. 12 Goddard Eisenhower 12-12
