BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
ANDOVER — Great Bend's baseball team made Andover its postseason home away from home by shutting out the Andover Trojans 3-0 to clinch back-to-back 5A state baseball trips.
Great Bend pitchers Jaxon Wondra (7-3, 2.45 ERA) and Rafael Chavez combined for an impressive no hitter despite yielding eight walks with three hit batters.
Chavez recorded the game's biggest strikeouts by retiring Ian Holt with two runners in scoring position in the sixth inning. The Trojans were 0-for--7 with runners in scoring position.
"The difference in postseason is showing the ability to close out a tight game," said Great Bend baseball coach Michael Stettinger. "Hanging onto a lead prepares you for postseason. We stayed even keeled. We knew Daxton Minton was a quality pitcher. Jaxon Wondra has been lights out all season."
Andover gift wrapped a 2-0 lead for Great Bend with two walks and a hit batter. Carter Dreiling's single scored Rafael Chavez and pinch runner K.J. Cell for a 2-0 lead.
Dreiling scored on a sixth-inning wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.
Panther starter Jaxon Wondra threw 51/3 scoreless innings before passing the 105-pitch count. Wondra struck out eight batters and has 66 strikeouts in 452/3 innings.
Shortstop Daxton Minton turned Barrett Hill's third-inning groundout into a double play. Catcher Trenton Kern picked off Leland Schumacher in the fourth inning. Right fielder Carter Dreiling made a diving catch on Ryan Hatfield's deep fourth-inning fly ball.
"Jaxon navigated in-and-out of trouble," Stettinger said. "With guys on base, he got strikeouts and ground balls and let his defense play behind him."
Great Bend is 6-2 in 1-run games and has played 13 games yielding three or less runs.
"We knew we'd see No. 1 pitchers and they'd be low-scoring games," Stettinger said. "We knew runs would be at a premium. We moved our runners and got a few runners home. We bunt guys over, steal bases and put pressure on the defense.'"
No. 8 seed Great Bend (17-10) will play at No. 1 seed Salina Central (26-2) in Tuesday's 5A 5:45 p.m. baseball quarterfinals at Dean Evans Stadium.
In other 5A quarterfinal games, it's defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas (20-8) vs. Wichita Carroll (19-8); DeSoto (23-5) vs. Lenexa St. James (18-10); and WIchita Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (21-7) vs. Shawnee Heights (19-9).
Last year's state runner-up Great Bend captured state baseball titles in 1955, 1995 and 1998.
PANTHERS 2, ANDOVER CENTRAL 1 (semifinal) — Great Bend pitcher Daxton Minton sparked a 2-1 semifinal victory over Andover Central in the 5A baseball semifinals.
Minton (4-2, 2.50 ERA) yielded one earned run and struck out six batters. First baseman Kale Kern turned Jonny George's liner into a sixth-inning double play.
"Daxton threw his best game of the season," Stettinger said. "Andover Central focused on his fastball. Hats off to our pitching coach Jason Perry, and Daxton adjusted. Daxton started pitching 'backwards' and spotted his slider for strikes, then made his fastball explode out of his hand."
Jet Thompson singled home Hayden Hocker for a 1-0 Jaguar first-inning lead.
The Panthers scored two sixth-inning runs started by a Jaguar error. Kale Kern doubled home Trenton Kern. Carter Dreiling singled home Kale Kern for a 2-1 lead.
Minton stranded two seventh-inning baserunners after a single and error and retired Carter Inslee to secure the victory. The Jaquars batted 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Andover Central 100 000 0 — 1 4 2
Great Bend 000 002 x — 2 6 2
Keiter, George (6) and Fletcher. Minton and Jaxon Wondra. W—Minton, 4-2. L—Keiter. 2B—GB—Kale Kern 2
Great Bend 020 001 0 — 3 6 0
Andover 000 000 0 — 0 0 1
Jaxon Wondra, Chavez (6) and Trenton Kern. Bailey, Hill (2), Hatfield (6) and Mahoney. W—J. Wondra, 7-3. L—Bailey. 3B—GB—T. Kern.
5A QUARTERFINALS—Salina Central (26-2) vs. Great Bend (17-10); St. Thomas Aquinas (20-8) vs. WIchita Carroll (19-8); DeSoto (23-5) vs. Lenexa St. James (18-10); Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (21-7) vs. Shawnee Heights (19-9)
ANDOVER FINALS—Great Bend 3, Andover 0; SEMIFINALS—Andover 7, Valley Center 4; Great Bend 2, Andover Central 1
SALINA FINALS—Salina Central 2, Topeka Seaman 0; SEMIFINALS—Salina Central 10, Newton 3; Topeka Seaman 3, Goddard Eisenhower 1
WICHITA FINALS—Wichita Carroll 5, Goddard 2; SEMIFINALS—Wichita Carroll 6, Hays High 1; Goddard 9, Salina South 0
WICHITA FINALS—Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel 7, Maize South 4; SEMIFINALS—Kapaun Mt. Carmel 4, Arkansas City 3; Maize South 1, Emporia 0
KANSAS CITY FINALS—Lenexa St. James 2, KC Piper 1; SEMIFINALS—St. James 3, Basehor Linwood 2; KC Piper 6, Bonner Springs 1
KANSAS CITY FINALS—St. Thomas Aquinas 5, Leavenworth 2; SEMIFINALS—Aquinas 15, KC Washington 0; Leavenworth 6, Pittsburg 4
DESOTO FINALS—DeSoto 2, Blue Valley Southwest 1; SEMIFINALS—DeSoto 17, KC Harmon 0; Blue Valley Southwest 6, Spring Hill 3
LANSING FINALS—Shawnee Heights 3, Lansing 2; SEMIFINALS—Lansing 15, KC Sumner 1; Shawnee Heights 12, Highland Park 0
