Special to the Tribune

ARKANSAS CITY – It was a wild three games.

The problem for the Barton baseball team was the end result of the craziness at the Cowley Sub Regional.

Twice Barton lost to Coffeyville sandwiched by a win over Dodge City. The final loss to the Red Ravens, a 14-8 setback in the loser's bracket final of the 4-team field, would be the season finale.

That loss sent the Cougars home to turn in their gear with a 34-18 record.

In that loser's bracket final, early on it looked like Barton was heading for a date with Cowley in the championship game the following day.

Wade Reynolds tripled in two and scored in the first inning to give Barton a 3-1 lead. The lead grew to 5-1 in the second after a leadoff home run from Colter Maldanado and another Reynolds RBI. This time a single to score Alex Rodgers.

When Maldonado singled home Connor Scott in the third, the Cougars were up 6-1. Rodgers' fourth home run of the tournament made it 7-1 in the fourth.

Then the bottom fell out as Barton began to play kick the can. Back-to-back errors in the fifth kept inning alive for Coffeyville and the Red Ravens went on to score five unearned runs, making it a 7-6 game.

Another error in the next inning helped Coffeyville but this time the Red Ravens pounded out seven hits including a 2-run homer and 2-run triple. Eight runs in the frame made it a 14-7 Red Raven lead. Six of those runs were unearned.

That pretty much ended the 2021 campaign for Barton.

The Cougars added a run in the bottom of the sixth but that would be it.

The previous day saw Barton lose to Coffeyville in the first round by a 7-5 score then stay alive that night with 9-4 win over Dodge City.

In the win over Dodge City, Rodgers had a huge game for the Cougars, belting three solo home runs.

Barton established an early lead on the Conquistadors, scoring seven runs in the first two innings.

Reynolds homered in the first on the way to a 3-0 lead. Rodgers started the second with his first home run of the game as the Cougars scored four times.

In the third inning, Rodgers hit a 1-out solo shot for an 8-2 lead then left the yard with a solo shot with one out in the fifth for a 9-2 lead.

Dodge never really threatened the Cougars after the big first two innings.

Barton went into the loser's bracket following a loss the opener in the final inning.

The see-saw affair with Coffeyville saw the Red Ravens take a 2-0 lead in the third before Micah Grover and Peyton Sparks drove in runs in the 4th to tie it at 2-all.

The Cougars took a 4-3 lead the next inning. Shawn Marquis drove in the tying run then Maldonado drew a bases loaded walk to give Barton its first lead of the game.

That lasted a couple innings before a 2-run single by Trey McClelland gave the Red Ravens a 5-4 lead in the top of the 7th.

Barton evened it at 5-all in the bottom of the inning on Connor Scott's team-leading 11th home run of the season to lead off the inning.

The game would stay tied until the 9th when McClelland struck again. This time it was a 2-out, 2-run home run to center that would be the game-winning shot.

Barton did get a Maldonado 1-out single in the bottom of the inning but that would be the biggest threat the Cougars would muster.

Cowley won the sub regional title with a 13-3 win over Coffeyville.

1st Round

Coffeyville 7, Barton 5

Cville 002 010 202 – 7 8 1

Barton 000 220 100 – 5 9 1

Cushing, Smith (5), Galvez (5), Lopez (9) and Higgins; Brunner, Tinkler (7), Cornelius (9) and Allen. W – Galvez. L – Tinkler (3-3). S – Lopez. 2B – Allen, Sparks, Barton. HR – McClelland, Coffeyville; Scott (11), Barton.

Loser's Bracket

Barton 9, Dodge 3

Dodge 002 002 000 – 4 7 1

Barton 341 010 00x – 9 9 1

Wolf, Stamatopoulos (2), Moseley (4) and Dedrick; Thornton, Theils (6) and Allen. W – Thornton (7-1). L – Wolf. S – Thiels (1). 2B – Dedrick, Dodge; Scott, Reynolds, Barton. HR – Rodgers 3 (7, 8, 9), Reynolds (5), Barton.

Loser's Bracket Final

Coffeyville 14, Barton 8

Cville 100 058 000 – 14 17 2

Barton 321 101 000 – 8 12 5

Smith, Vasquez (1), Keesee (3), Lopez (4), Galvez (6) and Higgins; Hesseltine, Lanik (5), Cornelius (6), Baumwart (6) and Allen. W – Lopez. L – Cornelius (1-2). 2B – A Gonzalez, McClelland, Coffeyville. 3B – A Gonzalez, O Gonzalez, Coffeyville; Pracht, Barton. HR – O Gonzalez, Coffeyville; Maldonado (5), Rodgers (10), Barton.

Cowley Sub Regional

Friday, May 14

G1 – E1 Cowley 10, W8 Dodge 2

G2 – E5 Coffeyville 7, W4 Barton 5

G3 – W4 Barton 9, E5 Dodge 4

Saturday, May 15

G4 – E1 Cowley 4, E5 Coffeyville 4

G5 – E5 Coffeyville 14, W4 Barton 8

Sunday, May 16

G6 – E1 Cowley  13, E5 Coffeyville 3

Cowley (43-8) advances to Region VI at Salina