BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
BUHLER – Great Bend Chiefs pitcher Chayse Gruber threw brilliantly in a 108-pitch outing. Gruber held the powerful Hays Eagles to a 4-3 deficit by mixing pitches superbly in 90-degree heat.
Gruber's performance was spoiled when he yielded two sixth-inning runs in a hard-fought 6-3 semifinal loss to Hays in Sunday's Bob Hooper Showcase. The Chiefs replaced Gruber after Carson Jacobs scored on a double steal and Dalton Dale doubled home Dawson VonFeldt.
Chiefs' catcher Jade Poe barely missed tagging Jacobs out, which would've ended the sixth inning.
"That was Chayse's best outing by far," said Chiefs coach Randy Beck. "He threw his three pitches in the zone and did a good job hitting his spots. He threw effectively hard inside and soft away. He executed his game plan."
The two insurance runs proved critical when the Chiefs' Gavin Haberman walked and Townshend Kurth singled on a topped grounder to start the seventh inning. But Hays ace reliever Brady Kreutzer retired Paco Hernandez, Colin Hall and Jade Poe to end the ballgame.
Beck said Gruber was throwing well enough he stayed with him.
"Chayse pitched a good game," Beck said. "You stay with him if your pitcher is throwing well and feeling good."
Poor defense cost Gruber when the Eagles scored three unearned first-inning runs. Kreutzer reached on an error. Kreutzer scored on Colby Dreiling's groundout. Brock Lummus singled and Jacobs walked. The extra out led to two more runs. Lummus scored on a double steal and Remington Cox singled home Josh Haynes for a 3-0 lead.
Lummus drilled a third-inning windblown homer to left field for a 4-0 lead.
The Chiefs rallied within 4-3 through five innings.
Jade Poe doubled home Colin Hall and Gruber's double scored Poe for a 4-2 score after four innings. Stefan Spray reached on an infield hit, but Gruber was thrown out in a rundown at second base by first baseman Josh Haynes. Reliever Garrett Wellbrock retired Brad Beck to work out of trouble.
Paco Hernandez singled home Matt Moeder in the fifth inning. Poe hit a rocket that left fielder Dalton Dale flagged down with two runners on base.
The Chiefs rolled the dice with Gruber in stifling heat on the turf. Third baseman Matt Moeder made a dazzling catch to help record an out. But Jacobs beat a tag by catcher Brad Beck on a double steal with VonFeldt. Dale's double scored VonFeldt.
''Hays is one of the best baseball teams we've played," said Beck. "It was mostly positive. We played better baseball than we have all summer. We played a solid baseball game. We swung the bats pretty good."
The championship game between Hays (7-0) and the Buhler Nationals (11-4) was postponed.
KC ACES 4, CHIEFS 1 (3rd place) – The Chiefs wasted a bases-loaded third-inning situation that threatened the Aces. Hernandez and Jade Poe singled and Hall walked to load the bases. But the Chiefs ran themselves out of the inning when Scott Lindblad tagged out Hall at second base on Gruber's line drive out. The rally ended when Poe was tagged out by Lindblad on an attempted steal.
The Chiefs led 1-0 when Poe singled home Hernandez in the first inning. A first-inning Chiefs' error on the leadoff batter led to two unearned runs. The Aces bunched together three singles in a two-run third inning off losing pitcher Colin Hall. The game was stopped after 41/2 innings with thunderstorms on the horizon.
The Chiefs (5-5) play Pratt at 4 p.m. Tuesday and Hays-Thomas More Prep at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Great Bend Sports Complex.
GB Chiefs 000 210 0 – 3 5 2
Hays Eagles 301 002 x – 6 8 0
Gruber, Hall (6) and Poe. Dale, Wellbrock (4), Kreutzer (6) and Lummus. W–Wellbrock. L–Gruber. Sv–Kreutzer. 2B–GB–Poe, Gruber; H–Dale. HR–H–Lummus.
GB Chiefs 100 00 – 1 4 2
KC Aces 202 0x – 4 7 0
Hall and Poe. Ray, Hays (4) and Hill. W–Ray. L–Hall.
MCPHERSON BOB HOOPER SHOWCASE
SATURDAY’S GAMES
POOL A—Hays Eagles 12, Kansas Senators 0; Hays 3, Topeka Scrappers 2; Liberal 7, Kansas Senators 4; Topeka Scrappers 7, Liberal 3
POOL B—Buhler Nationals 4, Emporia 3; Emporia 2, Fort Scott 1; Fort Scott 10, Marion 0; Buhler 8, Marion 5
POOL C—Great Bend Chiefs 7, Wichita Aeros 5; Aeros 16, Kingman 4; Chiefs 4, Hutchinson Colts 3; Hutchinson 9, Kingman 1
POOL D—Newton 3, Pratt 2; KC Aces 9, Pratt 1; KC Aces 9, McPherson Bullpups 5; McPherson 2, Newton 1
SUNDAY'S GAMES
WINNERS BRACKET—Hays Eagles 6, Great Bend Chiefs 3; Buhler Nationals 7, KC Aces 6
CHAMPIONSHIP—Buhler Nationals vs. Hays Eagles, ppd.
3RD PLACE—KC Aces 4, Great Bend Chiefs 1
5TH PLACE—Emporia 7, Newton 3
7TH PLACE—Fort Scott 4, Hutchinson 0
9TH PLACE—Topeka Scrappers 3, McPherson 2
11TH PLACE—Liberal 7, Wichita Aeros 2
13TH PLACE—Kansas Senators 8, Kingman 4
15TH PLACE—Marion 7, Pratt 2
CONSOLATION 1—Emporia 10, Fort Scott 5; Newton 9, Hutchinson 3
CONSOLATION 2—Topeka Scrappers 7, Liberal 1; McPherson 9, Wichita Aeros 7
CONSOLATION 3—Kingman 7, Pratt 6; Kansas Senators 10, Marion 9
