Indians split pair in opener

By BO ALLEGRUCCI

Salina Journal

SALINA -- Hays High and Salina South finally negotiated a split of their season-opening doubleheader after six hours and two minutes of baseball Tuesday at Dean Evans Stadium.

The Cougars won the opener 5-2 behind a complete game from junior pitcher Tyler Benton, who struck out nine and walked two while allowing eight hits.

Hays High jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the nightcap and beat back a series of Salina South rallies for a 15-11 victory in nine innings. The second game saw a combined 27 hits and 11 errors as both rosters were stretched to their early-season limits on a cool, windy evening.

The Indians stranded a mind-boggling 28 base runners in the two games, but they finally salvaged a split in Game 2 with a five-run ninth inning that South could not answer in its final at-bat.

Benton's battery mate, junior catcher Ethan Vinson, homered in his first at-bat of the season and later doubled to finish the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. The Cougars blew open a tie game in the bottom of the third with a two-out rally that started with an RBI single from junior Brett Callahan and ended with two Indian errors.

That made it 4-1 South, and Benton worked his way in and out of trouble the rest of the way to start the Cougars' season on the right foot.

In the nightcap, Hays High scored in each of its first three at-bats to build a five-run lead, but the Cougars chipped away until a three-run fifth inning closed the gap to 6-5. The Indians got a two-run triple from junior Thomas Rohleder in the top of the sixth to make it 8-5, and South was down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh before things got crazy.

Hays High senior reliever Sam Rohleder walked or hit the next three Cougar batters in succession, and Ryan Curnutt scored on an Indian error before Vinson tied it with a two-run single to left.

After Hays High scored two in the top of the eighth, South answered in kind to force a second extra inning. The Indians got a leadoff single from Thomas Rohleder in the ninth and finally separated after an RBI double from junior Jay Sanders and three walks from Cougar reliever Tanner Vinson.

Vinson kept South in the game with 5 2/3 innings of solid relief, but he left with the bases loaded, and Hays High got two cheap infield hits to make it 15-10.

Ethan Vinson led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and scored on a Callahan single, but the Cougars could get no closer. Ethan Vinson followed up his Game 1 display by going 3-for-6 with two runs scored in Game 2.

Junior Sean Leary ripped two doubles in the nightcap and was one of three Cougars to finish the second game with at least two hits.

The Rohleders banged out four hits apiece for Hays High when it was all said and done.

Logan Downing won Game 2, while Nathan Meier took the loss in the opener.

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