Hays Post Sports
WICHITA – The Hays Larks raced out to an early lead then held off a late rally and defeated the Seattle Blackfins 6-5 in their pool play opener at the 91st NBC World Series Thursday afternoon at Eck Stadium.
The Larks (29-4-1), who are the defending NBC World Series champions, made it look like it would be easy by racing out to a 6-1 lead. They scored a run in the first on a Wilbert Espinal RBI double then added two in the second on Taber Stokes two-run homer to left, his fifth of the season.
After Seattle (17-16-2) scored a run in the third, the Larks struck for three in the top of the fourth. Lane Sparks singled to open the inning, stole second, advanced to third on a balk then stole home. Trent Baker scored on an error then Lorenzo Rios singled, which drove in Jackson Babcock for a 6-1 lead.
The Blackfins scored runs in the fifth and seventh on wild pitches to pull within 6-3. They scored two more in the eighth on a Brody Blum home run to left. Nolan Wilson worked a perfect ninth for the Larks to seal the win and picked up the save.
Lorenzo Rios had three of the Larks 13 hits as the Larks extended their winning streak to 14 games and have won seven straight NBC World Series contests. Trent Baker had a double, two stolen bases, and two runs scored. The Larks showed off their speed with both Baker and Lane Sparks collecting two stolen bases, and two players hitting doubles. Taber Stokes also added a stolen base to go along with his homerun.
Brooks Jones (2-0) allowed one run on one hit with five strikeouts and one walk over three innings of relief and picked up the win. Starter Nick Gray allowed one earned run on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks over four innings. Adrian Najar gave up the two-run homer in the eighth. The four combined to strike out 11 batters.
RMBL GOES 2-0
The Dodge City A’s cruised to an 8-0 run-rule victory over the Seattle Cheney Studs in seven innings in their opener earlier in the day.
UP NEXT
The Larks continue pool play Saturday at 6:00 p.m. against Oklahoma MVP. They wrap up pool play Monday at 6:30 p.m. against Lonestar Kraken. You can watch the Larks at the NBC World Series by clicking here.