Preview: Baseball Set for Opening Round of Region VI Playoffs, Hosting Neosho

Who: 8-seed Butler (30-25, 19-13 KJCCC West) vs. 9-seed Neosho (31-22, 15-17 KJCCC East)

What: 2024 Region VI Baseball Playoffs Opening Round

Where: El Dorado, Kan.

Venue: McDonald Stadium

Tickets: Season passes are not valid for Region VI Playoff games. Tickets can be purchased at ButlerGrizzlies.com/Tickets in advance or at the gate.

Game 1: Thursday, 1 p.m. | Game 2: Friday, 1 p.m. | Game 3: Saturday 1 p.m. (If Necessary) *All three games are nine innings*

Bracket: Click here for full bracket

Streaming Platform: BCTV+ will produce all streams on ButlerGrizzlies.com or the BCTV+ app.

Series Info: Best of 3, winner advances to Region VI Tournament at Eck Stadium in Wichita, plays 1-seed Johnson County on Wednesday, May 15th, at 4 p.m. in the first round.

Matchup Notes

• Butler baseball is hosting the opening round of the 2024 Region VI playoffs for the third straight season and the Grizzlies have advanced past the opening round for five consecutive seasons.

• Butler is 9-4 vs. Neosho since the 2012 season including 4-2 on the road and 5-2 at home.

• The Grizzlies turned in a fourth place KJCCC West finish while Neosho finished fifth in the KJCCC East.

• The two squads met twice this season with each team winning on the road. Neosho won 17-8 at McDonald Stadium on March 19th while Butler won 8-0 at Hudson Field in Chanute on April 9th.

• Neosho banged out 17 runs on 19 hits in their win over the Grizzlies in El Dorado. Second baseman Gilbert Rodriguez was 6-6 at the plate, scoring five runs. Center fielder Davan Brady was 3-5 and drove in four runs. Butler used six pitchers in the contest with each allowing at least a run. Kage Ralstin suffered the loss allowing six runs in 2.1 innings. Butler took a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the second before the Panthers scored a four spot in the third to climb back on top, never relinquishing the lead again. Micah Kobuszewski led Butler with four hits and two runs scored. He hit his third home run of the season (at the time) in the second, a solo shot to right to get Butler's scoring started. Charlie Marcantel finished with two hits and two RBI and Taber Stokes drove in two runs, also walking three times.

• In the win over Neosho at Hudson Field, five Butler pitchers combined for the nine-inning shutout in an 8-0 win. Austin Bagnall earned the win, striking out three. Caden Hinther got the start and threw 3.0 scoreless, hitless innings. Kage Ralstin, Dainan Burrows and Gavin Willet combined to throw the final 4.0 innings. Neosho managed just two hits in the game. Starting pitcher Trevor Amershek (L, 0-1) suffered the loss giving up four runs and seven hits in 3.0 innings. Butler's Taber Stokes and Breon Horne both homered in the game, their first home runs of the season. Stokes finished with three hits and four runs driven in. Horne had three hits and two RBI. Justin Hudson and Jordan Hedrick also drove in runs for the Grizzlies.

• In 2019 Butler hosted Neosho in the Region VI opening round and won the first two games, sweeping the series from the Panthers with scores of 4-3 and 8-0 to advance to Wichita for the first time since 2015. In game one, Joshua Cox and Javier Pena hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to walk off the Panthers 4-3. In game two, Butler got eight scoreless innings from starting pitcher Dillan Janak while Pena impressed again with two hits and two RBI.

• In 2012 Neosho hosted Butler in the Region VI Sub-Regional with the Grizzlies falling 5-1 to the Panthers. Butler starting pitcher Dakota McKaskle threw 7.2 innings allowing five runs on 12 hits. Butler left fielder Cooper Biggers led the Grizzlies with two hits while Levi Parked drove in Butler's only run in the eighth inning.

Looking at the Grizzlies
 
• The Grizzlies enter the region playoffs on a two-game losing streak after being swept in a doubleheader in Concordia by Cloud on Saturday. The Grizzlies did split that series however, winning both games in the DH at McDonald Stadium on Friday, clinching a fourth-place finish in the Jayhawk West.

• The Grizzlies are just 3-7 in their last 10 games played. They suffered a six-game losing streak, their longest losing streak of the season, from April 19th through April 28th losing three games to Seward and three to Dodge City.

• Butler is 16-9 in home contests, 13-14 on the road and 1-2 at neutral sites.

• Offensively Butler is hitting an even .300 as a team with a .439 on-base percentage and a .492 slugging percentage. They rank 12th out of 19 in the KJCCC in batting average, sixth out of 19 in on-base percentage and ninth in slugging. The Grizzlies have hit the second most home runs (64), walked the second most (302), hit the fifth most doubles (104) and scored the sixth most runs (456) across both divisions in the KJCCC.

• Catcher/designated hitter Charlie Marcantel paces Butler with a .374 average in 34 games played and 107 at bats.

• Third baseman Anibal Rivera is just behind Marcantel, hitting .345. Rivera has started all 55 games for Butler and leads the Grizzlies with a .542 on-base percentage, 66 runs scored, 49 walks, 23 hit by pitches, and 241 total plate appearances.

• Shortstop Taber Stokes joins Rivera as the only two Grizzlies to have started all 55 games this season. Stokes is hitting .328 with a team-high 61 hits, 18 doubles, 22 stolen bases and seven sacrifice flys. Stokes began the season playing third base with Rivera at short but the two swapped positions on 3/14 vs. Hutch and have not switched back since.

• First baseman Justin Hudson paces the Grizzlies in RBIs (54), home runs (15) and total bases (102). Hudson is hitting .279 with a .426 on-base percentage and is slugging .618. He has missed Butler's last six games and is hoping to be active for the Grizzlies postseason run.

• Who's hot lately? In Butler's series split with Cloud County, Brock Toothaker filled in for Hudson at first base, starting all four games. Toothaker was 8-16 (.500) at the plate with three doubles, scoring five runs.

• Pitching wise, Butler holds a 7.51 team ERA, 1.83 WHIP, and strikes out 7.11 batters per nine innings. The 7.51 ERA ranks 12th out of 19 KJCCC squads while the Grizzlies strike out batters per nine at the 13th best clip in the league.

• Starting pitcher Caden Kickhaefer has been Butler's ace this season, holding an 8-3 record in 62.2 innings pitched all in 13 starts. The sophomore has a 5.46 ERA and is striking out 9.48 batters per nine innings. Kickhaefer turns it up a gear when throwing at McDonald Stadium, boasting a 3.08 ERA in five starts, not allowing more than three earned runs in any of his home starts. He has struck out 31 compared to just 13 walks in home starts.

• Redshirt freshman Dayton Pelfrey ended the regular season with his last two appearances being starts after he initially came out of the bullpen for his first 12 appearances. In the first start at Dodge City, Pelfrey threw 3.1 innings allowing four earned runs. In his second start at home in a win vs. Cloud, Pelfrey tossed 6.0 innings allowing one earned run and striking out two, picking up the win to move his season record to 5-1.

• Freshamn reliever Jack Haag is third in the KJCCC with seven saves on the season as he is often trotted out to close things out for the Grizzlies. He is first on the team with 17 appearances in relief and second on the team with 17 appearances behind only Austin Bagnall's 18.

Looking at the Panthers

• The Panthers enter the series on a one game winning streak. They lost 3/4 to Fort Scott in their final regular season series but managed a win in the finale. In their last 10 games the Panthers are 3-7.

• Neosho is 22-10 in home contests, 9-12 on the road and 0-0 at neutral sites. They hold conference series wins over Highland (won all 4), Coffeyville (won all 4), Allen (won 3 of 4) and Labette (won 3 of 4).

• Neosho holds a .279 team batting average that ranks 16th out of 19 in the KJCCC. Their .383 on-base percentage ranks 17th out of 19 in the league. The Panthers do hit for power with 53 home runs (11th best) and 91 doubles (11th best). Neosho has stolen the least amount of bases in the KJCCC with just 18 swiped bags this season.

• Offensively Neosho is led by right fielder Brenden Fry who is hitting .384 with a team-high 66 hits, 19 home runs, 58 RBIs and a .490 on-base percentage. The 19 home runs rank second best in the KJCCC.

• Second baseman Gilbert Rodriguez is hitting .333 on the season with 57 hits and a .431 on-base percentage. Kam Koester leads the Panthers with 20 doubles which ranks second in the league only to Seward's Nathan Hopkins who has 23 doubles.

• Neosho boasts a 5.09 team ERA, fourth best in the Jayhawk. Despite the impressive team ERA the Panthers strike out batters at a 6.84 per seven inning clip, 17th out of 19 in the KJCCC.

• Chayse Gruber is the Panther ace, holding an 8-3 record with a 2.72 ERA and 57 strikeouts to 14 walks. The 2.72 ERA is third best in the KJCCC. Gruber has thrown at least 5.0 innings in all 12 of his starts with eight complete games.

• Reliever Conor Wolf ranks second in the conference with nine saves. He has 15 appearances this season, throwing 25.2 innings with a 0.70 ERA. Wolf has struck out 16 compared to three walks and has allowed just two earned runs in his 25.2 innings.

• Pitcher Casey Clemenson has made seven starts this season and has struck out five or more in 6 of 7 starts including a 10-strikeout game in a win over Highland and two eight strikeouts games to begin the season in wins over Northeast and NIACC.