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Panthers clinch WAC baseball title
GBHS Panther logo clr.jpg

BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

When lefthanded reliever Koehn Ribordy struck out the side to preserve a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Garden City, Great Bend officially clinched back-to-back Western Athletic Conference baseball titles.

Great Bend (14-7, 9-3) secured its fifth consecutive victory by one or two runs after starting WAC play 0-2.

The Panthers won an outright WAC championship with a dominating 10-0 victory in the second game.

PANTHERS 2, GARDEN CITY 1 (G1) — Panther starter Daxton Minton (3-1, 2.52 ERA) struck out five batters. He's recorded 47 strikeouts in 36 innings. Ribordy earned a seventh inning save.

Shortstop Gavin Wondra turned a Benitez fourth-inning groundball into a double play. Second baseman Rafael Chavez snared liner and turned it into a fifth-inning double play.

The Panthers scored two unearned runs. Minton reached base on a strikeout and scored on Jaxon Wondra's single. Garden City's Jakobe Rathburn scored on Jon Almanza's groundout for a 1-1 tie.

Gavin Wondra scored the game-winning run on Koehn Ribordy's fly ball. Wondra advanced to third base on an errant pickoff throw by Buffalo reliever Anthony Ortiz (0-1).

PANTHERS 10, GARDEN CITY 0 (G2) — Hard-throwing Jaxon Wondra (6-1, 2.50 ERA) and reliever Chavez combined to strike out 10 Buffaloes in five innings. Wondra has 55 strikeouts in 361/3 innings.

Jaxon Wondra's single scored Minton and Ribordy. Chavez's single scored Jaxon Wondra and Trenton Kern for a 4-0 lead.

Christian Alcala scored on an error and Jaden Prilling scored on Gavin Wondra's single for a 6-0 lead.

Chavez scored on a passed ball after singling home Trenton Kern in a 4-run fourth. Kale Kern scored on a groundout and Alcala scored on a wild pitch for a 10-0 run rule Victor.

Garden City 001 000 0 — 1 3 2

Great Bend 000 000 x — 2 5 1

Steinmetz, Ortiz (5) and Culden Plankenhorn. Minton, Ribordy (7) and Jaxson Wondra. W—Minton 3-1. L—Ortiz, 0-1.

Garden City 000 00 — 0 2 4

Great Bend 402 4x — 10 8 1

Ryder Plankenhorn, Culden Plankenhorn (4) and Proffitt. Jaxon Wondra, Chavez (4) and Trenton Kern. W—Minton 3-1. L—R. Plankenhorn, 1-1.

WAC BASEBALL

Great Bend 9-3 14-7

Hays High 7-4 7-10

Dodge City 5-6 9-10

Garden City 5-7 10-12

Liberal 2-8 9-15

5-5—Great Bend 2-10, Garden City 1-0; Dodge City 10-12, Liberal 6-6

5-8—Manhattan at Hays; Wichita West at Garden City; Dodge City at Andover

5-9—Great Bend at McPherson; Dodge City at Rock Creek