Trojan baseball sweeps Otero, riding an 8-game winning streak

by Derek White

The Colby Community College Trojan Baseball team has been on quite a roll lately, winning eight in a row with their two latest games being exciting until the final inning.  The Otero Rattlers came to Young Memorial Field on March 25 to challenge the red hot Trojans.  With great weather, came great baseball and the Trojans continued their winning streak with two wins against the Rattlers.  First game was 9-7, with the Trojans skipping the bottom of the seventh with a the two-run lead.  Then in the second game it was much closer as the Rattlers attempted the come from behind win but ultimately lost 13-12.

The first game went to the Trojans, but it didn’t look like it in the first inning with the Rattlers amassing four runs to start.  The Trojans were not as warm only putting up one run, but came back to tie in the second after holding the Rattlers to no runs and picking up three themselves. 

The Trojans then took the lead in the third by two runs, but ended up giving them back before getting their chance to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Fortunately, the Trojans picked up two more runs before shutting out the Rattler offense for the remainder of the game to win 9-7. 

The second game was a nail-bitter, the Rattlers took the lead in the first inning racking up two runs while the Trojans missed the scoreboard.  In the second, the Trojans stopped the Rattlers and then put up three runs to take a one-run lead into the third.  Both teams brought offense in the third inning as they both ended the period tied at five. 

In the fourth inning the Trojans stopped the Rattlers offense then put up two more runs to gain the lead.  However, in the fifth, the Rattlers cut into the lead by one as they were able to keep the Trojan bats at bay.  The sixth inning is where the wheels fell off, the Rattlers were only able to find one run in the inning, but the Trojans bats became hot and tallied up six runs to gain a six-run advantage heading into the last inning.

Something was on the Trojan’s side, because their defense let the Rattlers put up five runs, but it was one run shy of tying the game ending in a Trojan victory 9-7.  The Trojans had four earning two runs each, Jacob Mraz, Turner Zdunich, Charlie Langford, and Cam Marshak.  Marshak and Chase Kessler both had 3 RBIs, and Zdunich led the team with 3 hits.  Rory MacDonald led with four innings pitched giving up 4 hits, 5 runs, and earning 2 strike-outs. 

The Trojans currently sit at 18-10 on the season with a conference record of 6-2, and the team has been clicking as of late.  They’ve been winning since March 15, and they’ve collected wins over Garden City and Pratt Community to reach their eight-game winning streak.  They have a comfortable lead over Hutchinson for the third spot in the Western region of the Jayhawk Conference.  With only eight games played, they are tied with region leading Barton with only two losses, but Barton has played four more games. 

Next, the Trojans play at Dodge on March 27, and then they will host Dodge City on March 29.