Late Pittsburg rally thwarts Tonganoxie baseball title hopes in Fort Scott
Shawn F. Linenberger/Staff
Tonganoxie High pitcher Merek Davenport reacts to THS defeating Blue Valley North, 6-4, Thursday at the Adam LRoche Baseball Tournament in Fort Scott. The Chieftains finished as tournament runner-up after losing to Pittsburg, 5-3, Saturday in the tourney championship.Tonganoxie no longer is undefeated, but the Chieftains were pretty close to remaining unbeaten and were oh so on the cusp of winning the Adam LaRoche Baseball Tournament this past weekend in Fort Scott.
THS lost to host Fort Scott, 6-4, in the first game of pool play on Thursday, but bounced back for a 6-4 victory against Blue Valley North later that day in the other pool play game.
Tiebreaker rules pushed Tonganoxie into the championship game on Saturday and THS was set to face Pittsburg.
Tonganoxie scored first in all three games and had a 3-1 lead against Pittsburg, but the Purple Dragons stormed back in the late innings.
Pittsburg scored one in the sixth to cut the margin to 2-1. THS added answered in the bottom of the sixth and led, 3-1, heading into the top of seventh.
PHS scored again in the seventh, though Tonganoxie was in line for a double play. THS, though couldn’t quite put together a smooth double play and a little bobble in a lob to second gave Pittsburg (5-1) enough time to avoid the double play.
When their half of the inning was finally over, the Purple Dragons had scored 4 runs and led, 5-3. THS wasn’t able to answer in the bottom half of the seventh and fell by that score.
THS coach Mitch Loomis said he was proud of his team’s effort in the midseason tournament.
“I think we played well,” Loomis said. “Another couple hits or plays and we are 3-0 against three very good teams.
“It was a good learning experience for a young team to understand the value of every pitch and every play that will serve us well going into the Frontier League season and a tough stretch of games before the postseason.”
Tonganoxie is now 5-2 on the season. THS had a road doubleheader Tuesday at Paola after The Mirror’s print deadline, but results can be found online at tonganoxiemirror.com and at The Mirror’s Facebook and Twitter pages. THS also plays at 6 p.m. Thursday at Louisburg and 6:15 p.m. Friday at home against Basehor-Linwood. They’re also home Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. against Bonner Springs.
Fort Scott 6, Tonganoxie 4
Tonganoxie 200 101 0 — 4 8 1
Fort Scott 130 101 x — 6 8 2
Tonganoxie 6, BV North 4
BV North 001 210 0 — 4 5 0
THS 020 040 x — 6 10 2
Pittsburg 5, THonganoxie 3
Pittsburg 000 001 4 — 5 7 3
Tonganoxie 010 101 0 — 3 7 0