Hays Post
HAYS – For a second-straight night, the Hays Larks rallied from an early three-run deficit and beat the North Platte Plainsmen. Damain Ruiz led off the bottom of the eight with a triple then scored on Lenny Ashby’s single to lead the Larks to a 7-6 victory Saturday night at Larks Park.
The Plainsmen (17-31) took advantage of an error and scored four runs to take a 4-1 lead in the top of the second. The Larks answered with three in the bottom of the inning to tie the game 4-4. After Brady Evans walked and Luis Garcia singled, Trent Baker tripled to drive them both home. Baker scored on a Damain Ruiz sacrifice fly.
The Larks (36-6) took their first lead when Austen Jaslove scored on a balk in the third.
North Platte scored twice in the sixth to retake a 5-4 lead but the Larks tied it in the bottom of the inning when Lenny Ashby scored on a wild pitch.
Preston Tabor (4-0) pitched two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts and picked up the win.
Starter Luuk ter Beek allowed one earned run on three hits with a career-high eight strikeouts over five innings.
NBC OPPONENT
The Hays Larks will open NBC World Series play against the Hutchinson Monarchs. The Monarchs received the Jayhawks League's third spot in the series. The Larks and Monarchs will play at Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Wichita State's Eck Stadium.
UP NEXT
The Larks close out the regular season Sunday night vs. the Plainsmen. First pitch is 7:00 p.m.