The Butler Baseball team was the last Grizzly team to compete before the KJCCC suspended all games and contests and split on the road in Concordia Thursday afternoon.
"It was devastaing news to hear that our season has been suspended but we certainly understand," said head coach BJ McVay. "As hard as these guys have worked and for the sophomores who are playing their last season at Butler I really feel for them."
The day started off for the Grizzlies on the road to Concordia with a four game series planned with the T-Birds and ended on the way home not knowing when or if they would play again.
Game one: Butler started things off quickly in the first with Colby Standard hitting an infield single that scored Jackson Syring from third to take a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. A T-Bird throwing error trying to catch Standard stealing second would score Dylan Werries and the Grizzlies would plate two in the first inning.
Cloud would have an answer in the bottom half with a Larsen RBI single and a wild pitch that scored Rice.
RBI singles to right field in the third and fourth innings by Portner and Syring would tack on two more runs for Butler and they led 4-2 after four complete innings from Concordia.
Cloud scored one run in the sixth but a two run seventh for Butler would put the game away. The runs were scored after a leadoff double by Werries brought Standard to the plate. He hit a double that scored Werries and Austin Portner followed him up with a single to right that would move Standard all the way home. Butler held a 6-3 lead with three out to play.
Zach Nagle, who came in relief in the bottom of the sixth, would see four batters in the inning. The first batter reached on an error, but Nagle hung in and retired the next three striking out two and getting an infield pop-up to himself. Butler would take game one 6-3.
Dillan Janak improves to 3-1 on the year getting the win pitching 5.2 innings. He gave up three runs off seven hits. He walked six and struck out four in his 29 batters faced. Zach Nagle is credited with the save going 1.1 innings allowing just one hit, walking one and striking out three in his seven batters faced.
Colby Standard was 3 for 4 in game one with two runs scored and two RBI's with a stolen base. Austin Portner finished 2 for 4 with two RBI's while Dylan Werries went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a walk. Thomas Beiswanger finished the game 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Game two: Started as a pitching duel up until the sixth inning when Cloud put a string of runs together scoring three in the sixth and seven in the seventh to end the game 11-1 in the T-Birds favor.
Izack Tiger got the start on the bump for Butler and went 5.1 innings allowing four runs off three hits. He walked three and struck out six. Cloud was also able to score runs off Cade Phelps and Braden Meek who came in the game in the fifth and sixth innings.
Thomas Beiswanger drove in the only run of the game in the top of the second with an RBI single to center field that scored Josh Cameron.
Butler (15-4, 3-3) will now wait until the suspension is lifted to find out when and where they will play next.
The KJCCC along with the community college presidents in Kansas decided Thursday afternoon to suspend all games/contests until April 1 with all the games on the schedule from March 13-April 1 being canceled and not made up. The presidents will meet again later in the month to decide if it is safe to resume competition at that time.
