BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

Great Bend’s no-hitter was a long way from a masterpiece accompanied by six walks and three hit batters.

But a trio of Panther pitchers battled through 50-degree temperatures and wet conditions to fashion a 4-2 baseball victory over Hays Thomas More Prep. Starter Owen Kaiser and relievers Koehn Ribordy and Hunter Herrman combined for 10 strikeouts while facing 29 batters.

Great Bend won Tuesday’s wet and wonderful opener 14-1. The Panthers (10-4) are ranked fourth in the 5A West heading to Thursday's home games against Dodge City.

"We're playing quality baseball," said Great Bend coach Randy Beck. "We're competing at the plate up-and-down our lineup. Our pitchers have done a nice job. We've played aggressive running the bases."

PANTHERS 4, TMP 2 (G2) – Kaiser (1-0) struck out eight batters to overcome three walks and three hit batters in a wild four innings. Ribordy and Herrman each recorded one strikeout.

"I don't remember our last no-hitter, but it's our best pitched game since we qualified for state with two wins at Liberal," said Beck. "Owen pitched very well after struggling with his mechanics on a few batters. If you play spring baseball, you'll play in wind and weather. We were focused and took our time fielding and throwing the baseball."

Three Monarch pitchers threw superbly, but five errors handed the Panthers four unearned runs.

"Good baseball teams take advantage of the other team's mistakes," Beck said. "That's what you have to do."

Panther Tyler Stuhlsatz reached on a first-inning error and scored on a Carson Umphres single.

Back-to-back successful bunts by Edwin Chavez and Trenton Kern helped score pinch runner Daxton Minton with a fourth-inning run after a leadoff error.

Minton scored the Panthers’ third run on a fifth-inning error. Chavez scored the fourth run on a passed ball.

The Monarchs scratched out two runs. Ian Nehls scored a second-inning run after a pair of hit batters and an error.

Herrman preserved a 4-2 victory by retiring Kendall Walker on a pop fly to shortstop J.J. Grove with the tying runner left on base. Joe Mindrup scored on a seventh-inning error on right fielder Stuhlsatz.

"Hunter Herrman has done an exceptional job finishing games," Beck said.

PANTHERS 14, TMP 1 (G1) – Six Monarch errors helped the Panthers score seven unearned runs. The Panthers scored in all four at-bats – three in the first, four in the second, two in the third and five in the fourth.

Ian Premer drove in four runs and Owen Kaiser delivered a 3-RBI game keyed by a 2-run single. Chavez drove in two runs. Also driving in runs were Stuhsatz, Umphres, Trenton Kern and Herrman.

Chavez (2-0) struck out five batters in three solid innings.

Hays TMP 001 00 – 1 4 6

Great Bend 342 5x – 14 7 2

Werth, Dinkel (3) and Dinkel. Chavez, Poe (4) and Kaiser. W—Chavez, 2-0. L—Werth, 0-2.

Hays TMP 010 000 1 – 2 0 5

Great Bend 100 120 x – 4 3 2

Feauto, Nehls (5), Brown (5) and Dinkel. Kaiser, Ribordy (5), Herrman (7) and Kaiser. W—Kaiser, 1-0. L—Feauto. SV—Herrman.