By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LARNED — Larned’s Evan Skelton singled to reach first base for the third straight game. Nine batters later, Skelton reached base again in an 11-run first inning against Russell.
Larned (14-11) earned its third consecutive Class AA state baseball trip with a dominating 11-0 victory over Russell Wednesday at Moffet Stadium. Larned pitcher Latndon Erway struck out five batters and threw a nifty one-hit shutout. Larned captured Class AA American Legion state baseball titles in 1990 and 2000.
“That’s a lot of fun,” said Larned coach Chad Erway, who played for the 1990 state champions. “We’ve been waiting for that type of offensive explosion. We got that today. I was confident that we’d come out aggressive. I was really encouraged by that.”
Larned treated Russell with respect. Larned rallied to beat Russell twice for qualify for the 2014 Legion State Tournament two months after the Broncos upset the Indians to reach the 2014 Class 4A state baseball tournament. Larned also qualified for high school state baseball tournaments in 2015 and 2016.
“We have quality young men, on and off the field,” Erway said. “The guys are pretty consistent with their emotions.”
Colton Fritschen’s double spoiled Erway’s no-hit bid. Erway retired Brady Dinkel on a fly ball to preserve the shutout.
“Landon is not overpowering,” coach Erway said. “When his ball is sinking and he’s keeping it down, he’s going to be pretty successful.”
Larned pounded Russell starter Chase Prester for eight runs and eight hits. Evan Skelton and Gage Skelton started with back-to-back singles and Isiah Perez doubled home Evan Skelton. Johnathan Herter was hit by a pitch. Gage Skelton scored on a passed ball. Tyler Stelter singled home Perez for a 3-0 lead.
Alex Barger singled home Herter and pinch runner Shevin Martin scored on a passed ball for a 5-0 lead. Carson Smith walked and Mason Schartz’s single scored Barger and Smith for a 7-0 lead.
Evan Skelton was hit by a pitch by reliever Brady Dinkel. Schartz scored on Gage Skelton’s groundball. Perez forced home Evan Skelton with a bases-loaded walk. Erway scored on a passed ball and Herter drove home Gage Skelton with a sacrifice fly for an 11-0 lead.
Larned won its three games by a score of 27-1. Russell and Beloit met for the second state tournament berth for the Class AA state tournament July 27 at Fort Scott.
LARNED 11, RUSSELL 0
RUSSELL AB R H BI
Chase Prester 1 0 0 0
Brady Dinkel 2 0 0 0
Tanner Rome 2 0 0 0
Mason Beagley 2 0 0 0
Brandon Ridgley 2 0 0 0
CSchmidtberger 1 0 0 0
Walker Braun 1 0 0 0
Pfannenstiel 1 0 0 0
Colton Fritschen 1 0 1 0
TOTALS 13 0 1 0
LARNED AB R H BI
Evan Skelton 2 2 1 0
Gage Skelton 3 2 1 1
Landon Erway 3 1 1 0
Isiah Perez 1 1 1 2
Jon Herter 0 1 0 1
Tyler Stelter 2 0 1 1
Shevin Martin 0 1 0 0
Alex Barger 1 1 1 1
Carson Smith 1 1 0 0
Mason Schartz 2 1 1 2
TOTALS 15 11 7 8
Russell 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 1
Larned (11)00 x — 11 7 0
2B—Perez, Fritschen. SF—Herter. SB—Evan Skelton, Schartz, Martin. PB—Schmidtberger 4. HP—Evan Skelton, Herter. E—Dinkel. LOB—Russell 3, Larned 2. DP—Russell 1.
Russell IP H R ER BB SO
Prester 0.1 6 8 8 1 0
Dinkel 0.2 1 3 1 1 0
Dale 2 0 0 0 1 0
Larned IP H R ER BB SO
Erway 4 1 0 0 2 5
CLASS AA STATE (At Fort Scott)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27
1 p.m.--Game 1--Iola 18-13 vs. Goodland
3:30 p.m.--Game 2--Larned 14-11 vs. Marysville 29-6
6 p.m.--Game 3--Doniphan County 29-2 vs. Russell 14-8
8:30 p.m,.--Game 4--Fort Scott vs. Colby
THURSDAY, JULY 28
10 a.m.--Losers Games 1, 2
12:30 p.m.--Losers game 3-4,
6 p.m.--Winners Games 1, 2
8:30 p.m.--Winners Games 3, 4
ZONES 5-6 (At Larned)
FIRST ROUND
Larned 8, Beloit 1
Russell 16, Sylvan Grove 6
Ellis 19, WaKeeney 0
Sylvan Grove 19, WaKeeney 6
SECOND ROUND
Larned 8, Concordia 0
Russell 5, Ellis 3
Concordia 8, Sylvan Grove 0
Beloit 3, Ellis 2, 9 innings
WEDNESDAYS GAMES
Beloit 11, Concordia 3
Larned 11, Russell 0 (Zone 5 champion)
Russell 5, Beloit 4 (Zone 6 champion)
ZONES 1-2
Doniphan County 15, Marysville 3 (AA State qualifier)
Friday's game
Marysville 4, Seneca 3 (AA State qualifier)
Winners bracket
Silver Lake 14, Sabetha 7
Marysville 14, Linn 1
Seneca 15, Corning 0
Doniphan County 11, Silver Lake 1
Marysville 9, Seneca 6
Losers bracket
Corning 8, Linn 2
Silver Lake 13, Corning 7
Seneca 12, Sabetha 2
Seneca 11, Silver Lake 0
ZONES 3-4
Iola 5, Fort Scott 1
Garnett 5, Iola 3
Iola 4, Garnett 0
Iola 3, Garnett 1 (Class AA State qualifier)
Fort Scott (Class AA team host)
ZONES 7-8 (At Colby)
THURSDAY'S GAMES
Game 1--Norton 13, Goodland 7
Game 2--Ulysses 20, Smith Center 16
Game 3--Norton 6, Osborne 5
Game 4--Colby 13, Ulysses 3
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Game 4--Osborne 10, Smith Center 7
Game 6--Goodland 22, Ulysses 3
Game 7--Goodland 8, Osborne 7
SATURDAY'S GAMES
Game 8--Colby 12, Norton 0 (Class AA State qualifier)
Game 9--Goodland 10, Norton 7 (Class AA State qualifier)
