Falcons bounce back in second Slam contest

By LARRY MORITZ

Salina Journal

The 2009 Kansas Grand Slam Tournament was less than seven hours old and already the Salina Pestinger Falcons were facing what they considered a must-win situation.

After falling to McPherson, 5-4 in their tourney opener on Thursday afternoon, a loss to Dodge City on Thursday night wouldn't have eliminated the Falcons from title contention, but it would have had their championship hopes hanging by a thread.

The host team bounced back in a big way, collecting 16 hits and getting a complete-game effort from pitcher Tyler Benton in an 11-3 victory over Dodge City at Dean Evans Stadium.

The top two teams in the round-robin tournament will play in Sunday's championship game, so two losses on the first day would have put Salina in a huge hole.

"The way we're all looking at it is if we lose another game, we're out of it," said Salina outfielder Derek Krier, who had two hits and two RBI against Dodge. "Our goal is to win this tournament."

"With this format, after that first loss it feels like we have to win out," said Salina coach Ryan Kolzow. "Now we have to put together a string of playing good baseball."

The Falcons (12-9) will play a single game today, facing Olathe East at 8 p.m. at James Matson Field.

Salina trailed Dodge City 1-0 after a half inning but took the lead for good with five hits and four runs in the bottom of that inning. They also batted around and scored five runs in the fourth inning, taking a 10-3 lead at that point.

"Game 2 we had a good approach at the plate and when we were ahead in the count, we were looking for a pitch to drive," Kolzow said. "We weren't behind in the count very often, but when we were, we did a good job of putting the ball in play.

"We also got some key bunts down and when we did bunt, it led to some key runs."

All nine Salina starters had at least one hit, and six finished with multiple hits. That included outfielder Clay Koochel going 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Benton, Krier, Conner Martin, Tanner Vinson and Levi Debold had two hits each. Both hits for Martin were doubles.

"Everybody stayed on it and took a good approach at the plate," Benton said. "We weren't swinging at bad pitches."

Benton gave up five hits -- all singles -- and allowed only one earned run in the six-inning game. He became the first Falcon pitcher to reach four wins this season, improving to 4-1.

"I've been having some rough outings so it was nice to go out and throw like I know I can throw," Benton said.

One bad inning proved costly in the loss to McPherson. Salina led 2-0 in the top of the third after Martin walked and Vinson lifted a pitch to deep left that cleared the wall for a two-run homer.

The bottom half of that inning proved to be the Falcons undoing. McPherson scored all five of its runs on two hits, three walks and two Salina errors. Scott Paramore drew a bases-loaded walk with one out before Casey Miller's infield single got the game tied.

The lead was 4-2 after two runs scored on a misplayed ball at second, and Miller came home with his team's final run on an errant throw on a steal attempt.

"The difference in the games was the second game we avoided the big inning," Kolzow said. "The first game we played six good innings and fell apart for one, and that did it to us."

Martin's RBI single scored Travis Dolan in the fifth to make it 5-3, and Martin scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to cut the deficit to one. The Falcons had the potential tying and lead runners in scoring position when Paramore got a strikeout -- his 10th of the game -- for the final out.

Debold (3-2) took the loss, despite allowing only three hits in six innings. Martin and Vinson had two hits each and were a combined 8-for-13 in the two games.

McPherson also finished the opening day with a 1-1 record, following their victory over Salina with a 7-5 loss to the Midwest Bruins. McPherson fell behind 5-0 after three innings, managed to cut the deficit to two in the fifth but could get no closer.

Paramore had two hits for McPherson, while David Lammers was 2-for-3 with four RBI for the Bruins.

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