'Hounds knock Allen out of share of 2nd

Fort Scott Community College's baseball entered Thursday's Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division doubleheader against Allen at Lions Field in a four-way tie for second place that included the visiting Red Devils.

After an 8-7, 16-6 sweep of Allen, the 'Hounds left the ballpark tied with only Kansas City Kansas. KCK swept last-place Highland while Cowley, which was also tied, was swept by seventh-place Independence.

There are rematches today with Fort Scott traveling to Allen, hoping to put the Red Devils a little further behind while keeping pace with leader Neosho County, which is two games ahead of Fort Scott and KCK.

Fort Scott (15-7 East, 29-8 overall) had to rally to win game one after reliever Boby Johnson allowed Allen (13-9, 19-17) to score twice in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead.

Darren Hasch and Jake Biller were both hit by pitches starting the bottom of the sixth. Gabe Franklin sacrificed to move the runners over. Jedd Andrade singled in Hasch to tie the score and Andrew Tanous singled home Biller to give the 'Hounds the lead.

Johnson (1-0) got the side out in order in the top of the seventh, striking out the last two batters.

Franklin was 3 for 3 for Fort Scott while Andrade, Tanous and Danny Crews each had 2 hits. Tanous hit a 3-run homer in the first inning to help the Greyhounds get out to a 5-1 lead.

The teams combined to hit eight homers in game two. Biller bashed two of them, pushing his team-leading total for the season to 11.

One of Biller's blasts came during a 9-run third inning that made it 10-0. Hasch hit the first one, Biller the second and Andrade the third. All of them were 2-run shots with 2 outs.

Biller's other home run came in the sixth inning with two runners on. Tanous hit his fifth homer of the season in the fifth, a two-run shot.

Tanous was 4 for 5 with 4 runs batted in. Andrade was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI. Franklin, Nick Banman and Mackay Williams also had 2 hits each.

Ryan McCullough (6-1) went the distance, the game stopped after 7 of 9 scheduled innings. He allowed 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10.

In addition to this rematch in Iola today, Neosho County (17-5, 34-5) hosts Coffeyville, KCK (15-7, 27-12) hosts Highland. and Cowley (13-9, 24-14) is at home against Independence.

Game One

Fort Scott....................... 510 002 x -- 8 12 1

WP -- Johnson (1-0). LP -- Musser (2-4).

HR -- Allen: Jordan Jr (8, 3rd inn., 2 on, none out). Fort Scott: Tanous (4, 1st in, 2 on, 1 out).

Game Two

Fort Scott..................... 109 033 xxx -- 16 15 1

WP -- McCullough (6-1). LP -- Nice (3-4).

HR -- Allen: Enriquez (3, 5th inn., 1 on, 2 out), Jordan Jr (9, 6th inn., 1 on, 1 out), Gomez (2, 6th inn., 1 on, 2 out). Fort Scott: Andrade (6, 3rd inn., 1 on, 2 out), Hasch (2, 3rd inn., 1 on, 2 out), Biller 2 (11, 3rd inn., 1 on, 2 out; 6th inn., 2 on, none out), Tanous (5, 5th inn., 1 on, 1 out).