May 3, 2006                    

Tiger baseball team rallies for dramatic 7-6 win over Cloud County

Down to its final two outs of the season, the Cowley College baseball team got a two-run  pinch-hit double by Kyle Dotson in his first at bat of the season to send its game against Cloud County into extra innings, and then won the game on Jason Sowers RBI double in the 10th inning Tuesday at City Ball Park.

“We showed a lot of character and a lot of heart,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “I was proud of our kids and happy for our sophomores to be able and win their final home game.”

The victory moves the Tigers into the second round of the Region VI Tournament. However, it was not easy as all three games in the sub-regional vs. Cloud were decided by one run.

“You have got to tip your hat to Cloud, they played extremely well,” Burroughs said.

Cowley starting pitcher Matt Peck allowed just two earned runs in four innings pitched, but left the game with the Tigers trailing 6-1. Lance Hoge relieved Peck and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

“Hoge came in and stabilized the game for us and allowed us to get back into it,” Burroughs said.

Kyle Thornton entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with runners at first and third and two outs, and got Brad Wiss to fly out to end the threat. Thornton pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to record the win.

The Tiger pitchers combined to strike out 15 Thunderbirds in the win.

“Our pitching was outstanding,” Burroughs said.

Cowley scored a run in the fifth, and got a RBI triple by Sowers and a RBI double by Pat D’Aoust in the sixth to make the score 6-4. The Tigers appeared to have wasted a golden opportunity in the eighth when D’Aoust grounded into an inning ending double play with the bases loaded.

However, Mike Dabbs was hit by a pitch to start the ninth inning and Ryan McMillan followed with a single. After Tyler Fleming grounded into a fielder’s choice, Burroughs made the decision to send Dotson to the plate in place of Blake Mitchell, who had been 0-for-3 on the day.

Dotson, a sophomore pitcher, made his first at bat of the season a memorable one as he lined a shot to the left centerfield gap to score McMillan and Fleming with the tying runs.

“He had been taking part in batting practice and had looked good, so we thought we would try to catch lightning in a bottle,” Burroughs said. “It was just a gut feeling.”

After Thornton retired Cloud in the top of the 10th, Brad Miller led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. Miller’s single set the stage for Sowers’ game-winning hit to left centerfield that scored Miller from first.

Cowley, which is now 36-20 on the season, advances to play Butler at 10 a.m. Saturday at Wichita’s Lawrence Dumont Stadium. Butler won its sub-regional over Allen County by scores of 4-1 and 5-1. The Grizzlies, the third seed in the Jayhawk West, are 34-17 on the season.

“It will be a heck of a test for us, they have got a very good club,” Burroughs said. “I hope this win against Cloud jump starts us.”

The games at the Region VI Tournament can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM.

Score by inning:                    R H E
Cloud   0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 9 1
Cowley 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 1 — 7 11 4