BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HAYS — When Calan Haberman blasted his first career home run, the momentum swung lightning-fast.
The Great Bend Braves eliminated the Salina Hawks 17-4 in Thursday’s Class A American Legion State Baseball Tournament, sparked by Haberman’s three-run shot that erased a 2-0 deficit.
The 135-pound Haberman muscled up on a third-inning fastball off Cason Long that cleared the left fence to drive home Riley Smith and Dalton Barfield.
“I had no idea. I thought it’d be a pop fly,” said Haberman, who was congratulated by teammates. “It was a high inside pitch that I’d normally not swing at. That gave us a spark.”
Great Bend Braves coach Travis Kurth said hot hitting is infectious.
“That first home run really got us going and ignited our offense,” Kurth said. “The guys hit the baseball hard when they threw strikes. It’s nice to put up some runs and make the job for our pitchers much easier.”
A smiling Eduardo Bujanda, taking his cue from Haberman, drilled a two-run homer and and two-run single in the fourth and a two-run fifth-inning double for a career-best six RBIs. His homer was barely fair down the left-field line.
“I thought the home run was a fly-ball, but it went out,” he said. “I wanted to hit the ball on a line and find a gap. I was looking for base hits.”
Haberman drove in four runs and Jesus Bujanda drove in three runs with a pair of singles. The Braves scored seven runs in the fourth inning and seven runs in the fifth inning.
“We’ll ride it as long as we’re able,” Kurth said. “It’s great that we continue to keep playing baseball.”
The Braves (27-14) advance to Friday’s 10 a.m. elimination game at Hays High against Emporia or the Andover Trojans.
Townshend Kurth worked three innings and Jesus Bujanda threw 29 pitches to keep himself available Friday for a possible doubleheader.
AMERICAN LEGION A STATE, HAYS
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Olathe Royals 11, Great Bend Braves 1
Andover Jaguars 11, Salina Hawks 8
Andover Trojans 6, Chapman 0
Emporia 12, Hays Eagles 0
THURSDAY’S GAMES
GB Braves 17, Salina Hawks 4
Chapman 7, Hays Eagles 6
Andover 15, Olathe 5
Emporia 8, Andover Trojans 6
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Great Bend Braves 6, Andover Trojans 3
Olathe Royals 5, Chapman 2
Emporia 10, Andover Jaguars 2
Great Bend Braves 5, Olathe Royals 0
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Great Bend Braves 9, Andover Jaquars 1
Great Bend Braves 3, Emporia 2
SUNDAY’S GAME
Game 15, 10 a.m.—Great Bend Braves 32-14 vs. Emporia 24-2
OLATHE 11, BRAVES 1
Olathe 202 133 — 11 11 2 `
Braves 000 010 — 1 6 1
Clayton, Collins (4) and Micahalski. Hall, Soupiset (3), Christiansen (4), Smith (4), Olivas (6) and E. Bujanda. W—Clayton. L—Hall. 2B—OR—Clayton.
BRAVES 17, SALINA HAWKS 4
Braves 003 77 —17 14 4
Salina 200 01 — 5 4 2
Kurth, J. Bujanda (4), Haberman (5) and Hall. Long, Eklund (4), Stover (5), Heigele (5) and Baughman. W—Kurth. L—Long. 2B—GB—E. Bujanda. HR—GB—Haberman, E. Bujanda.
BRAVES 6, ANDOVER TROJANS 3
Trojans 010 002 0 — 3 6 3
Braves 400 000 x —6 6 1
G. Schnidt and K. Schmidt. E. Bujanda, Soupiset (6) and Hall. W—E. Bujanda. L—G. Schmidt. 2B—GB—Hall; A—Evans. HR—GB—E. Bujanda.
