pictured is Abilene Senior, Kyson Becker, the image is courtesy of Brad Anderson
SALINA: The Abilene Cowboy baseball team collected their first victory at State in school history. Abilene has made it to State three consecutive seasons but had lost in the quarterfinals in each of the last two years. Senior, Kyson Becker went the distance to collect his 7th win while Senior, Stocton Timbrook went 3-3 with 3 RBI.
Rose Hill got their only run in the top of the 1st. Blake Struble was hit by a pitch and then was driven in on a double by Rhett Briggs. The Cowboys didn’t take long to answer. Junior, Thomas Keener was hit by a pitch and later scored on a balk. Senior, Drew Hansen then walked and was singled in by Timbrook.
Abilene scored in the 4th on back-to-back doubles by Sophomore, Heath Hoekman and Timbrook. The Cowboys added two more runs in the 6th. Hoekman walked and was double in by Timbrook. Timbrook was then singled in by Freshman, Jake Bartley.
Becker gave up just 2 hits in the win, allowed 1 earned run and struck out 4. It was his second straight complete game this postseason. Rose Hill’s Colton Roberts took the loss. Last week he was the winning pitcher in the Rockets 3-1 upset over two-time defending champion McPherson.
Abilene will now face Pratt at 1:15 Friday in the semifinals. They entered the tournament as the #3 seed. Thursday, they scored all 7 of their runs in the 1st inning on their way to a 7-3 victory. The Greenbacks lost their first 4 games to Hutchinson and Great Bend but haven’t lost since. In all, they have now won 25 straight games. The Cowboys improved to 23-2 with their win. The 23 wins are a school-record for Abilene. Rose Hill ended their season with a 15-11 record.
