Region VI Second Round
6-seed Fort Scott vs 3-seed Butler
Date: May 17th
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Eck Stadium | Wichita, KS
Watch Live: kjcccsports.net/
Massey Ratings Game Prediction: Butler 7-6
Massey Ratings Chance to Win: Butler 58%, Allen 42%
OPENING NOTES
- The 3rd seeded Butler Grizzlies and the 6th seeded Fort Scott Greyhounds will meet in the second round of the Region VI Playoffs at Eck Stadium
- From this game on the Region VI Playoffs is a double-elimination tournament
- The winner of this game will face the winner #7 Seward/#2 Johnson at 4PM on Thursday and the loser will play the loser of Seward/Johnson Thursday at 10AM
- The Grizzlies finished second in the Jayhawk West and Greyhounds finished third in the Jayhawk East
- The Grizzlies advanced to this game after defeating Allen County 2-1 in the first round
- Fort Scott swept Hutchinson 2-0 in the first round
- Butler Baseball has won at least 35 games in five straight seasons
- The Grizzlies have won seven of their last ten games
- The Grizzlies have advanced past the first round in the playoffs for five straight years
- Neither team appeared in the NJCAA Rankings all season
- Butler is 34-14 against unranked opponents this year
- Butler's strength of schedule (SOS) is ranked 118th by Massey Ratings, Allen's SOS is 142nd
- Against common opponents, Butler is 19-10 and Allen is 22-13. Those teams being Cowley, Neosho, Coffeyville, Highland, Pratt, KCK, Colby, and Crowder
Last action for the Grizzlies
Friday, May 12th | Region VI First Round | Game Three | Allen 8, Butler 20 (7)
- The Butler Baseball team crushed the Allen County Red Devils in the decisive game three of the Region VI First Round
- The Grizzlies jumped out to a 20-1 lead through three innings to power them to a win
- Hayden Dyer was 3-4 in the game. He recorded seven RBIs in the game, highlighted by a grand slam in the third inning
- The 20 runs scored in the game was the most runs the Grizzlies have scored in a game since March 19th, 2022, when they scored 23 against Seward in a 23-1 win
- The Grizzlies enter the game against Fort Scott with a record of 38-21 overall
THE OPPONENT
- The 6th seed overall and KJCCC East third place finisher Fort Scott Greyhounds enter with a record of 37-21 overall and they finished 19-13 in conference play
- Fort Scott is 7-3 over their last ten games
- This was the Greyhounds best regular season finish since 2019, when they also finished 37-21
- In their series against Hutchinson, the Greyhounds run-ruled the Blue Dragons 11-0 in game one and won game two 10-6
- The Greyhounds hit seven home runs over the two games
- Fort Scott has a Massey Ratings RPI ranking of 84th, up 13 spots from last week
- For comparison to teams in the conference, Hutchinson is ranked 90th and Seward County is 77th
- The Greyhounds have not played a game at a neutral site this season
- Fort Scott leads all of NJCAA Division I in home runs this year with 134
- The Greyhounds have the third best batting average in the KJCCC at 0.357
- Of the eight teams remaining in the Region VI Playoffs, the Greyhounds have the second highest team ERA, sitting at 6.98
- Fort Scott has the 54th ranked offense in NJCAA Division I
RECENT WINNING
- The Grizzlies have won 9 of their last 12 games and have held opponents to four or fewer runs in 8 of those 12 games
LOOKING TO BUILD
- The Grizzlies have not won a second round Region VI game since 2015 when they beat Cowley as an eight seed
MOST RECENT MEETING
- While the teams have not met in the regular season since at least 2012, the Grizzlies and Greyhounds met in the 2021 sub-regional where they played three times. The Greyhounds beat the Grizzlies 12-1 in the opening round, but the Grizzlies ultimately charged through the losers' bracket earning a rematch with the Hounds in the championship. The Grizzlies won game one 6-5 to force a decisive game two, which the Grizzlies won 15-14 on a walk off triple by Cache Stone
JUST KICKEN' IT
- Starter Caden Kickhaefer leads the KJCCC with an ERA of 2.41 this season
- Kickhaefer is fourth in innings pitched by pitchers in the KJCCC with 74.1
- Kick is also tied for the fewest home runs allowed among pitchers in the Jayhawk Conference with four
HUDDY HOMERS
- Justin Hudson leads the Grizzlies in home runs this season with 16 and he's hit four homers over his last seven games played
IN DYER NEED
- After missing nine games last month due to injury, Hayden Dyer has returned to the lineup and had a big impact on the Grizzly batting order. Since his return, he's batting 0.422, with 21 RBIs, and he's hit seven home runs, while drawing ten walks
TIGER KING
- Grizzly ace Izack Tiger is the all-time program leader for strikeouts in a career with 228. He has a career K/9 of 11.21 and a K/9 this year of 12.61 which ranks 22nd in the NJCAA and is the second highest mark in the Jayhawk Conference
OTHER KJCCC SECOND ROUND MATCHUPS:
#7 Seward vs #2 Johnson (1PM)
#8 KCK vs #1 Barton (4PM)
#5 Cloud vs #4 Cowley (7PM)
TEAM LEADERS AS OF 5/16:
HITTING
Batting Average: Hayden Dyer: 0.391
RBIs: Hayden Dyer: 64
Hits: Hayden Dyer: 70
Runs Scored: Josh Holmes: 50
Doubles: Justin Hudson: 18
Triples: Five players tied: 1
Home Runs: Justin Hudson: 16
Walks Drawn: Brock Kuehler: 38
PITCHING
Innings Pitched: Caden Kickhaefer: 78.1
Wins: Tied: Caden Kickhaefer and Izack Tiger: 10
Saves: Blake Werry: 7
Strikeouts: Izack Tiger: 106
ERA: Caden Kickhaefer: 2.41
Fewest BBs Issued (Min 40 IP): Caden Kickhaefer: 22
Complete Games: Izack Tiger: 5
LOOKING AHEAD
As mentioned, a win means the Grizzlies will play the Seward/Johnson winner tomorrow at 4PM. If they lose, the Grizzlies will play the Seward/Johnson loser at 10AM.
