By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post
WICHITA – Traditionally there are fireworks at the end of the NBC World Series championship game. Saturday night Santa Barbara started the show early scoring six runs in the first two innings and cruising to a 12-1 win over the Hays Larks to win their 10th title and denying the Larks their first crown in six trips to the title game.
The Foresters (31-12) had two singles and took advantage of two Larks errors to score two in the first inning. They added four more in the second after back-to-back walks to open the inning.
The Larks would get their only run on a Hunter Rosson homer to left center field in the fifth. Rossen finished with two hits giving him a team-high 12 in the tournament.
Santa Barbara has now won 10-straight NBC World Series title games and this is their 10th NBC World Series championship. They became the third team in NBC World Series history to win three straight joining Fort Wayne (IN) in 1947-50 and Fairbanks (AK) in 1972-74.
The Foresters have won 15-straight games overall at the NBC World Series which ties the record set by the Boulder Collegians for the most consecutive wins.
The Larks are now 0-6 in NBC World Series championship games. They are tied with Fairbanks (AK) and Anchorage (AK) for the second most runner-up finishes, one behind Liberal who has seven.
This was the 40th appearance by a Kansas team in the championship game. Kansas team are now 19-21 in the NBC World Series finals.