WAMEGO — Splitting the doubleheader in a fight for NCKL seedings, the Concordia High School baseball team traveled to their second-furthest opponent in a light week.
In game one, Concordia won 12-2.
Grabbing the momentum early, the Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a Boone Richard double (before stealing third and home), an Ayden Krier walk, Parker Jackson single, and a Drake Blochlinger single that scored Krier. Wamego would respond with a solo run to make it 2-1.
After a scoreless second inning, Wamego tied the game up in the bottom of the third, 2-2. Concordia matched the run in the top of the fourth, with Chane Parker scoring on a Richard hit-by-pitch to make it 3-2. Concordia rolled with the momentum once again, scoring a pair of runs from Blochlinger on a Parker single, and Parker scoring on a Maxson Frey double, to make it 5-2 Panthers.
One upping themselves, Concordia scored four runs in the sixth, with Richard, Krier, Jackson and Blochlinger all scoring to make it 9-2. In the top of the seventh, the Panthers put the game away with three more runs, with a Richard double, a Krier walk, before Jackson came up to the plate and delivered a three-run home run to make it 12-2. A quick bottom of the seventh gave the Panthers game one 12-2.
In game two, Wamego worked their way to a 7-4 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, but this is when the drama started. Junior Boone Richard came in to pitch in relief when the Wamego coach called out for an ineligible pitcher, with Richard allegedly having too many pitches from Friday’s postponed game two versus Rock Creek on too little rest. Due to the available information at the time, Concordia was forced to forfeit. Upon further inspection, it was deemed by USD 333 superintendent Tom DeBauche that: “There was a discrepancy in the official book/pitch count chart, GameChanger, and arm care restrictions for high school baseball players. We take arm care seriously and work hard to abide by the rules that KSHSAA has in place. After providing the proper documentation, three things were decided: 1. The pitcher is not ineligible. 2. The coach is not ineligible. 3. The forfeit stands as a result of the information available at the time of the initial decision.”
