ANDOVER – In a wild 11-inning affair, Salina South eliminated Great Bend 5-4 when the Panthers committed two errors in the 5A Andover baseball regional. It was a heartbreaking setback for the Panthers (18-9).

Panther reliever Carson Umphres threw brilliantly, but was unable to overcome a pair of 11th-inning errors. Aiden Spielman reached on an error and scored the game-winning run when Brady Howard’s grounder was misplayed.

All-WAC pitcher Umphres (6-3, 1.94 ERA) escaped a bases-loaded ninth-inning when Jace Umphrey grounded out on his first pitch. Umphres recorded 69 strikeouts in 572/3 innings.

Great Bend trailed 4-2 when the Panthers converted three walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch into a 4-4 tie after seven innings. The Panthers failed to advance baserunners twice with failed bunting opportunities in the seventh and ninth innings. 

Owen Kaiser and Slade Mohr walked. Pinch runner Eli Soupiset scored on Koehn Ribordy’s bases-loaded walk. Mohr scored on a wild pitch, but J.J. Grove was tagged out at home by pitcher Brady Howard with two out after attempting to advance two bases.

The Panthers led 2-0 after one inning. Umphres singled and scored on Ian Premer’s triple. Premer scored on Trenton Kern’s single. The Panthers didn’t threaten to score until the seventh inning.

The Cougars scored four sixth-inning runs. Jace Humphrey hit a 2-run double. Ryan Brown scored on a squeeze bunt by Landon Putman. Brown scored on Tristan Bernhardt’s double for a 4-2 lead.

Salina South 000 004 000 01 – 5 7 0

Great Bend 200 000 200 00 – 4 6 2

Budke, Howard (7) and Davidson. Herrman, Kaiser (6), Minton (7), Umphres (9) and Kaiser, Kaiser (7). W—Howard. L—Umphres, 6-3. 2B—SS—Humphrey, Bernhardt. 3B—GB—Premer.