BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
SALINA — Dogpiles are typically reserved for baseball teams winning regional or state championships.
A near-perfect relief performance was deemed dogpile worthy after Jaxon Wondra retired six Salina Central batters on 16 pitches to spark a shocking 5-1 upset of No. 1 seed Salina Central in Tuesday's 5A state baseball quarterfinals.
"That was unbelievable, an awesome experience," Wondra said. "I wanted to attack the strike zone. That outing is right up there, a pretty solid performance."
The Mustangs loaded the bases against Panther starter Daxton Minton. Parker Graves and Eli Kreigbaum singled and Grayton Gross reached on a sixth-inning error.
Wondra worked his magic to retire three consecutive batters to preserve a 4-1 lead. Griffin Hall and Chance Hogan hit fly ball outs and Aidan Hammond struck out. Wondra earned the save by recording six outs with 12 strikes on 16 pitches.
"I threw strikes and had confidence in my teammates," Wondra said. "Every day you go out and compete."
The Panthers (18-10) challenge 2-time defending state champion St. Thomas Aquinas (21-8) at 11 a.m. Thursday at Wichita State. Aquinas beat the Panthers 7-4 in last year's title game.
Minton (5-2, 2.40 ERA) pitched brilliantly with seven strikeouts in a 104-pitch outing against a high powered offense.
"We've got dudes on the mound," said Great Bend coach Michael Stettinger. "Daxton's pitching kept up in the game. Anytime we can turn the ball over to Jaxon Wondra, we're pretty excited. Jaxon threw strikes."
The Panthers converted three critical Mustang errors to score five unearned runs.
The Mustangs led 1-0 when Oscar Perez doubled home Keaton Smith for a first-inning run.
The Panthers turned an error with two out by second baseman Chance Hogan into four unearned third-inning runs.
Gavin Wondra walked and Minton helped force an error by sprinting to first base. Koehn Ribordy rocketed a first-pitch single to drive home Gavin Wondra and Minton for a 2-1 lead.
"That clutch at-bat ranks high. I did it for my team," Ribordy said. "It gave us an energy boost. I got on base and got to our next guy."
Ribordy's teammates responded. Trenton Kern's single drove home Ribordy. Jaxon Wondra scored on the Mustangs' second error for a 4-1 lead.
"If the other team gives you something, you've got to take advantage," Stettinger said. "We did the 'little things' right. Hats off to Salina Central, which has a great baseball team. Bodie Rodriguez was as good as we've seen, but we found a way to get the win. That was awesome."
Eli Contreras reached base on a Mustang throwing error and scored on Minton's seventh-inning single for 5-1 lead.
Great Bend 004 000 1 — 5 4 1
Salina Central 100 000 — 1 4 3
Minton, Jaxon Wondra (6) and Jaxon Wondra, Trenton Kern (6). Rodriguez, Gross (7) and Oscar Perez. W—Minton, 5-2. L—Rodriguez, 8-2. SV—J. Wondra. 2B—SC—Oscar Perez.
