DERBY, Kan. — The Hutchinson High School baseball team lost a heartbreaker in game one, 12-11 in eight innings on Tuesday evening. The Salthawks then held a 2-0 lead in the middle of the fourth inning of game two when play was suspended due to lightning in the area. The game needed to be four complete innings for a game to be called "final".
The Panthers plated seven runs in the bottom of the second of game one to take a 7-1 lead, but the Salthawks had an answer. Hutchinson responded with a five-run spot in each of the next two innings to lead 11-7. Once again, Derby had an answer in the bottom of the fifth to pull within 11-9. The Panthers scored one in the fifth and one in the sixth to tie the game at 11. The game then went to extra innings.
Hutchinson failed to score in the top of the eighth, and after an error and stolen base, Derby had the game winning run at second base. The Panthers plated the run on an RBI double past a diving Jack Yoder in center field to give the Panthers the win.
The first game was delayed from 4:22 p.m. to 6:13 p.m. due to lightning and a brief rainfall that passed through Derby. The game did not end until 8:47 p.m.
Lakin Franz, Cole Bleything and Landon Parks each had two hits apiece to lead the Salthawks' nine hits. Hutchinson committed a season-high six errors in the loss.
The Salthawks took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the second game following an error and then an RBI single to center field from Lakin Franz. Eastyn Keeler got the start in the second game and had allowed just one hit through three innings, striking out three and walking one.
The game is currently suspended, and will be up to the Athletic Director from Derby and Hutchinson to determine when/if the game is resumed. The two teams need to have all games completed by Friday before the KSHSAA has regional pairings on Saturday morning.