GARDEN CITY — Great Bend's baseball team will roll into postseason as the No. 1 West seed following a 15-4 and 17-4 Western Athletic Conference sweep over Garden City Friday. The Panthers (21-5, 10-2 WAC) outscored the Buffaloes 45-8 in three wins.

Hunter Herrman (.238) raised his average 62 points with a 4-for-8 day. Owen Kaiser (.223) batted 6-for-7 and improved 35 batting points during the twin bill. Great Bend scored runs in all 10 innings.

PANTHERS 15, BUFFALOES 4 (G1) — Kaiser started on fire with a homer, two singles and four runs batted home to end a season-long struggle with an impressive outing. The Panthers busted the game open with a 9-run second inning.

Slade Mohr delivered a pair of singles and three runs batted home. Carson Umphres (.405), Ian Premer (.433), Trenton Kern (.286) and Jace Schartz all drove in runs. 

Southpaw starter Koehn Ribordy (1-0) struggled early with five early walks and four earned runs, but settled in with nine strikeouts. Slade Mohr recorded four outs.

PANTHERS 17, BUFFALOES (G2) — It was Ribordy's turn to shine with a double, triple and four runs batted home. 

Umphres ripped a 3-run triple in the Panthers' 8-run third inning. Trenton Kern drove in two runs with two hits. Daxton Minton (.431), Premer, Kaiser and Mohr each drove in one run.

Kaiser yielded three first-inning runs and threw 21/3 innings. Minton (7-1, 2.65 ERA) threw 22/3 shutout innings with a trio of strikeouts.

Great Bend 191 13 — 15 13 1

Garden City 400 00 — 4 3 1

Ribordy, Mohr (4) and Kaiser. Metzen, Steinmetz (2) and Plankenhorn. W—Ribordy, 1-0.  L—Metzen. 2B—GB—Kaiser 2, Mohr; GC—Strecker. 3B—GB—Minton. HR—GB—Kaiser.

Great Bend 218 33 — 17 14 1

Garden City 301 00 — 4 7 2

Kaiser, Minton (3) and Kern. Plankenhorn, Roth (2), Carabajal (3), Strecker (5) and Metzen. W—Minton, 7-1. 2B—GB—Wondra, Ribordy; GC—Strecker. 3B—GB—Umphres, Ribordy; 3B—Rathburn. 

PANTHER PITCHING—Umphres 6-2, 1.46 ERA; 11 ER-52 1/3 IP; 60 K/52 1/3 IP; Herrman 4-1, 2.07 ERA; 10 ER-32 2/3 IP; Minton 7-1, 2.65 ERA; 10 ER-29 IP; Kaiser 2-0, 2.52 ERA; Mohr 1-1, 3.50 ERA; Ribordy 1-0, 3.40 ERA; 10 ER-16 IP; Oelger 0-0, 0.00 ERA

PANTHER BATTING—Premer .433, 29-67; 27 R, 20 RBI, 7-2B, 3-3B; Minton .431, 31-72; 27 R, 22 RBI, 5-2B, 1-3B; Umphres .405, 30-74; 40 R, 28 RBI, 7-2B, 2-3B, 4-HR; Ribordy .407, 33-81; 20 R, 26 RBI, 3-2B, 2-3B; Wondra, .314; 22-70; 17 RBI; 2-2B; Kern, .286; 22-77; 15 R, 25 RBI, 4-2B, 1-HR; Schartz .273, 6-22; 12 R, 3 RBI; Mohr .241, 15-62; 20 R, 16 RBI; Kaiser .223, 15-67; 7 R, 2-2B, 1-HR, 11 RBI; Herrman .238, 10-42, 6 RBI

5A WEST REGIONALS

GREAT BEND—Great Bend 21-5 vs. Arkansas City 7-19; Emporia 15-10 vs. Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel 15-11  

WICHITA—Wichita Carroll 20-6 vs. Goddard 8-16; Goddard Eisenhower 16-10 vs. vs. Andover 15-11

TOPEKA—Topeka Seaman 18-7 vs. Andover Central 11-15; Salina Central 17-9 vs. Hutchinson High 15-11

MAIZE—Maize South 16-8 vs. Salina South 14-12; Hays High 16-8 vs. Valley Center 15-11

DNQ—Topeka West 4-18; DNQ—Newton 6-19