BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
The Great Bend Chiefs were the Comeback Kids in Monday's doubleheader baseball sweep over the Larned Indians.
Great Bend's Stefan Spray delivered a clutch go-ahead base hit to spark a game-winning six-run rally in the opener. Chiefs' starter Chayse Gruber finished a complete game and overcame a pair of unearned runs.
The Chiefs rallied for the opening win 8-3 and duplicated that feat with a 4-2 come-from-behind victory at the Great Bend Sports Complex. The Chiefs (3-3) travel to the McPherson Tournament Friday against the Wichita Aeros (11 a.m.) and Hutchinson (3:30 p.m.).
"The pitching was very good. Our pitchers were in the zone early and often," said Great Bend coach Randy Beck. "I'm proud of the way we played for the most part. We cut down on our mental errors. Our best improvement was our energy level. Our energy level hasn't been high."
CHIEFS 8, LARNED 3 (G1) – Crafty Larned southpaw Jack Stelter kept the Chiefs in check for five innings when two errors and a missed out led to a six-run rally off the hard-luck loser.
Gruber reached on an error and Jade Poe followed with a single. Brad Beck's grounder was gloved by third baseman Gavin Alvarez, who barely missed a tag on pinch runner Gavin Haberman to load the bases. Spray's solid single scored Haberman and Poe for a 4-3 lead.
"It's been awhile since I did something like that. I wanted to keep my confidence up and to put a ball in play," Spray said. "I hit a fastball and tried to pull one down the line. We struggled early, but came back and got our momentum."
Beck scored on Joe Moeder's topped grounder that shortstop Jacob Grosfield was unable to handle for a 5-3 lead. Sage Koelsch delivered an RBI single and Paco Hernandez ripped a two-run single for an 8-3 lead.
Gruber finished off a solid 95-pitch outing with 11 strikeouts and one pickoff out. Larned's Aidan Smyth and Ian Orth scored first-inning runs after back-to-back errors and Stelter's sacrifice fly. Smyth scored the third run on Stelter's catchable bloop single to right field for a 3-1 lead.
"You've got to be mentally tough and push through everything. That's part of baseball," Gruber said. "I knew my guys had my back and they'd come back and make plays."
Gruber mixed an effective fastball and well-placed curveball to engineer an 11-strikeout performance.
"Everything worked except for my changeup," Gruber said.
Chief Brad Beck drove home Jade Poe after a second-inning triple. Hall homered in the fifth inning for a 3-2 score after five innings.
CHIEFS 4, LARNED 2 (G2) – The Chiefs' Colin Hall tripled home Joe Moeder and Jade Poe with the go-ahead runs off losing pitcher Mello Bryant. Hall scored on Sage Koelsch's sacrifice fly in a three-run fifth inning.
"Colin's triple was a big hit," Beck said. "It was good to get a timely hit. We started squaring some balls up."
Larned lefthander Logan Erway staked the Indians to a 2-1 lead through four innings. Luke Wilson doubled home Jacob Grosfield in the second inning. Gunnar Cline doubled home Grosfield in the fourth inning for a 2-1 lead.
Jade Poe drove home Paco Hernandez with a third-inning sacrifice fly.
Chiefs' starter Spray and winning pitcher Koelsch yielded 10 hits, but constantly stranded baserunners. Catcher Poe threw out Aidan Smyth on an attempted steal. Koelsch forced out Stelter at third base on Grosfield's fifth-inning bunt attempt. Koelsch retired Erway and Cline to work out of trouble.
Larned 201 000 0 – 3 3 2
Great Bend 010 016 x – 8 8 2
Stelter and Smyth. Gruber and Hall. W–Gruber. L–Stelter. 2B–L–Erway; GB–Gruber. 3B–GB–Poe. HR–GB–Hall.
Larned 010 100 – 2 10 1
Great Bend 001 03x – 4 4 0
Erway, Bryant (4) and Hope, Stelter. Spray, Koelsch (4) and Hall. W–Koelsch. L–Bryant. 2B–L–Grosfield, Cline, Wilson; GB–Hernandez. 3B–GB–Hall.
