Avila’s Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short in KCAC Tournament Opener

GREAT BEND, Kan. – Trailing by three heading into the top of the ninth, Avila baseball loaded the bases with two away, but No. 2-seed Tabor (35-12) brought in its closer to record the final out, and he did his job, stamping out the rally from the No. 7-seeded Eagles (22-29) in a 6-3 win for the Bluejays in Avila's first game of the 2024 KCAC Baseball Championship.

In their first ever game in Great Bend, the Eagles had to go up against one of the KCAC's top squads, and the Eagles acquitted themselves extremely nicely against the Bluejays. Tabor scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the second to jump out to an early lead, but Avila ran with them for the entire race, pulling back to within 4-3 midway through the seventh before the Bluejays pushed insurance runs across in the seventh and eighth, giving the home two a three-run lead.

Down to their final frame, the Eagles nearly pulled off a massive comeback to earn what would have been a stunning, statement win. Trailing by three in the top of the ninth, Paxton Andrade singled, Robby Cable was hit by a pitch, and Bryce Culp added to his all-time record with a HBP of his own, loading the bases with two away. Tabor starter Cutter Smith had pitched the entire game for the Bluejays, but the HBP against Culp was the final straw – Tabor called on closer Sergio Gutierrez to get the final out, and he was able to get Gio Armas to strike out to shore up the 6-3 win for the Bluejays.

Cashen Schranz gave the Eagles a very good start in their first KCAC Tournament game, throwing 6.1 innings with five runs allowed on four hits with six strikeouts and four walks. But only two of those five runs were earned, as a couple of Eagle errors contributed to that early Bluejay advantage. Tyler Mata Lloyd doubled Tabor's edge with a two-run single in the second inning, but both of those runs were unearned.

Regardless, the Eagles needed a rally after trailing 4-0 early, and finally in the middle innings the offense came through against Smith. Tyler King led off the frame with a walk and Andrade followed with a double to right before Cable matched him with a double of his own to drive both runners home. Still trailing 4-2, Cable kicked off a two-out rally in the seventh with a walk, which was followed by a single by JJ Stubblefield and a perfectly placed single up the left field line by Culp, driving in Cable to lift the Eagles back within a run.

Schranz recorded the first out of the seventh, but Tabor punched back later in the inning with an RBI single from Garryn Plummer. Brady Cardozo led off the eighth inning with a single off Armando Arguello and came around to score when Arguello induced a critical double play anchored by Landon Vahle, but the Bluejays did enough to go up by three, and Gutierrez got the final out of the game in relief of the starter Smith to secure the win for Tabor.

That victory moves the No. 2 seeds on to the winner's bracket of this half of the eight-team field, where Tabor will now face No. 6-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan, which pounded Friends 10-2 in the first game of the day Thursday. The Eagles will now face the Falcons in an elimination game in the bracket in the first game of the day Friday, starting at 9 AM. If the Eagles win, they will return to Great Bend and face the loser of Tabor vs. OKWU on Saturday morning at 9 AM, weather permitting. Stay tuned to Avila Athletics on social media and avilaathletics.com for plenty more updates from this week in Great Bend.