Demons blasted in homeopening doubleheader
By Shelton Burch
Sports Editor
The Red Demons fell to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play Tuesday, dropping both of their first two home games by scores 20-1 and 12-2.
In the first game, nothing went right for the Red Demons.
They got on the board first, with an RBI by junior Noah Sowers in the bottom of the first.
After that, it was all Indians in the first game.
Hays scored 10 runs in the second inning, and 10 in the third to take a 20-1 lead. Sowers got walked in the bottom of the third, but the Red Demons failed to close the gap in score, losing by a final of 20-1 after three innings.
The games started under highly-windy conditions, and in the first game that certainly factored into the score, with the Red Demons missing numerous catches in the outfield on balls that could be seen drifting between about two and six feet in the course of their flight.
“Hats off to Hays,” Red Demons head coach Zach Shipley told Z98. “They just absolutely hit missiles everywhere, and we didn’t field ‘em. When we had the opportunities we didn’t get outs and our pitches left baseballs up.”
In the second game, Hays opened up the scoring with an RBI single by junior William Sennett. The Indians scored two more in the top of the first, then two more in the second to lead 5-0.
The Indians scored in all five innings of the second, scoring three in the first, two in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and four in the fifth.
“I take this one fully on the chin,” Shipley said. “I’ve gotta get these kids better prepared.”
The losses were the team’s first since March 24, when the team lost to Wichita East 5-1. They avenged that loss later that day, beating East 3-0, then trounced Wichita South 23-0 and 11-1 last Friday.
Through the first six games, Adrian Mendoza and Noah Sowers share the team-lead in hits with eight each.
Alden Knedler has the team’s lone home run this season. Sowers leads outright in runs batted in, with seven, on-base percentage at .684, and batting average at .571.
Dodge City is next in action Friday when the team heads to Hays, Kansas to take on Hays Thomas More Prep-Marian.
