EL DORADO BRONCOS CLAIM THEIR THIRD NBC WORLD SERIES TITLE (5th overall)
By John Curtis, El Dorado Times
The clock struck midnight on the El Dorado Broncos at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The Broncos, however, were glad it had.
Broncos' baserunner Wes Cunningham scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by David Allbritton in the bottom of the 11th inning just as Saturday night turned into Sunday morning to give the Broncos a 2-1 victory in championship game of the 75th National Baseball Congress World Series.
"I don't remember running," Cunningham said about the winning run. "I just remember Andy yelling four (home plate) and I started going home. I was on third and I knew I was going to score. After I slid, I just looked for the first person I saw and it was K.T. (Kyle Tiernan). I figured I better grab somebody because I knew I was going to be dog piled when I scored."
The Broncos (41-9) completed their second sweep of a tournament at Lawrence-Dumont — El Dorado won the NBC Midwest Regional two weeks ago — and gave the franchise its fifth national title, the third with the team in El Dorado (1996 and 1998 was the others). The Kansas team, who was a heavy fan favorite in the final game, had to withstand a two-hour rain delay at the start and another hour-long rain delay in the seventh inning.
This game was all about who could finally take advantage of the big break, and it was the Broncos who cashed in to win.
Cunningham opened the inning with a single, then went to third when the throw of catcher Daniel Dellasega on Kirk Walker's sacrifice bunt went past first base down the rightfield line. Travis Whipple was intentionally walked to load the bases with no out. The Pilots' Charlie Robertson came in and struck out Matt Giller, setting up the final piece to the Broncos' championship.
Allbritton lifted the ball to rightfielder Gunnar Glad for the second out and Cunningham streaked for home. The throw from Glad to Dellasega was high and just off target, allowing Cunningham to score the run.
The sacrifice fly completed the turnaround for Allbritton, the former Barton County Cougar who will be playing at Emporia State starting this fall. A .191 batter going into the tournament, Allbritton batted .500 in the seven wins and was named one of the two top catchers of the tournament.
"I was just trying to put it in play," Allbritton said. "I wasn't thinking of trying to do anything special." On how well he batted in the tournament, Allbritton said. "It really wasn't much of a switch. It was just a matter of staying in there and keep swinging. I was able to get some breaks."
Jake Sabol was named the most valuable player of the tournament. The Central Michigan product won one game, saved two others, and pitched seven innings in the championship game. The righthander allowed only one earned run in 17 2/3 innings of the tournament (0.51 earned run average), winning one game and saving two others. He wasn't around for the decision; but all Sabol was concerned with was the national title, plus a chance to get into the Chippewas' starting rotation next spring.
"It's incredible," Sabol said. "I would have never thought when I drove to El Dorado that we'd win a national title," Sabol said. "These guys made it so great and we were able to jel together. It was amazing. I think I earned my right to get some more looks (at a starting spot at Central Michigan), but I'll celebrate this right now."
The Broncos' pitching was dominant throughout the tournament, and that didn't change against the red hot bats of the Glacier Pilots. Anchorage, who has five titles and six runner-ups to its credit, was batting .344 and scored 80 runs in their first eight games of the tournament; but against El Dorado, the Pilots only got six hits and one run.
Newman senior Steve Trevino pitched the 10th and 11th to get the pitching decision after Cobey Guy, Mike Nixon and Randal Builliard kept Anchorage off the board in the eighth and ninth innings. El Dorado's pitching staff ended the tournament giving up 44 hits and 11 earned runs in 65 innings of work (a 1.52 ERA). El Dorado coach Andy Schatzley said the Broncos on the mound were able to handle the extra pressure they faced in the national tournament.
"The atmosphere is something you can't prepare guys for," Schatzley said. "It was something they just had to get used to and, for the most part, they were able to pitch through the pressure."
The Broncos didn't lose any games to teams outside the Jayhawk League in completing their run. El Dorado won all 19 games against non-league opponents in 2009.
"It's a testament to the league and how well the Jayhawk League is," Schatzley said. "Those things we went through (Saturday night), we went through at Liberal, at Hays, and at Derby. We went through a tough game almost every night and that helped prepare us for the World Series."
In the end, however, all that mattered to Cunningham was that winning the World Series was the perfect ending for an almost perfect season.
"When I got out of the dog pile, I just had the realization that this was the only was this summer was meant to end," Cunningham said.
Jayhawk League has strong showing in 2009 World Series
All four of the Jayhawk League representatives finished in the top 10 of the 2009 NBC World Series. El Dorado won, beating Liberal in the winners’ bracket final. Liberal finished third in the tournament, reaching the semifinals before losing to eventual national runner-up Anchorage (Alaska). Hays tied for fourth in the NBC, losing to El Dorado in the Sweet Six round. Derby placed ninth in the tournament, making a triple play in their first game of the tournament against Casa Grande (Ariz.).
Broncos sweep through Midwest Regional
By John Curtis, El Dorado Times
Centerfielder Elliot Frey has started to come to his own as a member of the El Dorado Broncos, and he picked about the best time to have his breakout game.
Frey recorded four hits, three runs, two runs batted in, two stolen bases and a diving catch to end an inning which led the Broncos on their way to a 15-4 victory Thursday night over the Team Elite Kings to claim the National Baseball Congress Midwest regional title at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
The Murray State product was named most valuable player at the tournament for his play throughout the six-day event, but it was his play Thursday night that solidified his effort at the tournament.
"We were all just ready to come out every single game," Frey said. "The coaches were telling us not to get too hyped up that it was a championship game or that we were playing for something. We just need to do what we do everyday and that's play a hard nine (innings).
"That's what I try to do on the field. I had been kind of struggling earlier on in the season, but there's nothing wrong with getting hot at the right time."
Wes Cunningham, who has spent most of this year hitting in the third spot — right behind Frey in the batting order with the Broncos and at Murray State — also had a big offensive day in the title game. Cunningham also had four hits, four runs batted in and three runs.
"I'm used to batting near Frey and I'm used to him getting on base and making things possible," Cunningham said. He later joked: "I can't let Frey out-do me, so I have to try to match him as best as I could."
Jake Sabol (Central Michigan) had a few tense moments in the championship, but pitched five innings to record the win, his sixth of the season. Sabol struck out five and didn't walk anybody, giving up eight hits and all four runs (two were earned).
"It was a little rough getting used to the mound and everything," Sabol said. "The guys did well behind me and all I tried to do was to get them to hit it in the air. My two-seamer was effective today and I just threw that most of the time."
Mathias Simmons (Neosho CC), Mike Nixon (Central Michigan), Randal Builliard (Louisiana-Lafayette) and Nick Ward (Butler CC) all pitched an inning after Sabol, giving up one hit and one walk combined. For the series, the Broncos pitching staff gave up three earned runs and finished with an ERA of 0.68 for the five games of the tournament, including two shutouts.
The regional title wasn't the only title the Broncos (32-8) got to celebrate on the artificial turf at Lawrence-Dumont. Ten minutes after grabbing their trophy for the tournament, they were told that Derby lost at Hays 3-2 which gave El Dorado sole-possession of the Jayhawk League title as well. That prompted a second celebration on the field.
The Broncos, who had 19 hits as a team in the championship game, took the early lead with two runs in the first and second innings. El Dorado scored in seven of the nine innings they went to bat.
Frey singled off losing pitcher Cory Goudeau, stole second and scored the first run on a RBI triple by Cunningham, with Cunningham later scoring on a passed ball against the Kings' Joe Manbodh. Frey knocked in a run with a single in the second inning after Matt Langseth (Cornell) had a sacrifice fly to score Chad Carman (Oklahoma City).
The Kings (25-20) came back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning against Sabol, before El Dorado answered with five runs in the top of the third to take a firm grasp in the title game. Langseth hit his second sacrifice fly to bring home another run, Graham Tyler (Brown) hit a RBI double, Frey hit his second RBI single, and Cunningham closed out the scoring with a two-run infield single.
El Dorado made the score 10-3 on a RBI single by Matt Giller (Kansas State); and after a Kings' run in the bottom of the fourth, the Broncos made it 12-4 in the top of the sixth on a RBI single by Carman and a RBI triple by Langseth.
Cunningham knocked in Frey on a double for one run in the seventh inning, while Travis Whipple (Louisiana-Lafayette) had a RBI sacrifice fly for the second run in the inning. The Broncos closed out the scoring with a run in the ninth on a RBI single by Kirk Walker (Oklahoma City).
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Celebrating 35th Season in 2010
The Jayhawk League is Summer Collegiate Baseball at its best! It is one of the most prestigious, well scouted, and competitive leagues in the nation. The Jayhawk League has teams in one of the Midwestern states in the heartland of America: Kansas. The six-member league has an automatic berth into the National Baseball Congress World Series that is played in Wichita, Kansas. The Jayhawk League is a wood bat league that plays according to the American League rules.
Dozens of current Major League stars have played in the Jayhawk League on their way to stardom, surely to be followed by dozens more. Some of the Jayhawk League alumni who have become prominent Major League stars include Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Barry Bonds, Ozzie Smith, Andy Benes, Trevor Hoffman, Doug Drabek, and Chuck Knoblauch.
Jayhawk League teams continue to dominate at the NBC World Series. They have won three Championships and countless top finishes in the past ten years. The Jayhawk League is recognized as a premier league in the National Baseball Congress.
The league consists of the Derby Twins, Dodge City Athletics, El Dorado Broncos, Hays Larks, Haysville Heat, and Liberal BeeJays.
