The Barton Community College baseball team saw its Cinderella postseason run come to a heartbreaking end Saturday evening at Eck Stadium, surrendering a walk-off grand slam to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Johnson County Community College in an 11-9 loss after coming within two outs of knocking off its third nationally ranked opponent of the Region 6/Plains District Tournament.
Building up a 6-0 lead through the opening three innings and regaining control with three runs in the eighth to hold a 9-6 advantage into the final frame. Johnson County opened the ninth with three straight walks and capitalized on a throwing error before Ryan Bradford's one-out grand slam completed the comeback.
The loss closes the Cougars' season at 35-22 overall after finishing as one of the final four teams remaining in the Region 6/Plains District Tournament, while the Cavaliers improved to 61-3 with a pair of elimination victories on Saturday to force Sunday's winner-take-all championship game against third-seeded Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Barton grabbed the early momentum with a four-run second inning. After Kyle Graves and Hayden Oviatt opened the frame with singles, JJ Spafford delivered an RBI single to plate the first run. Following Kyle Walker's one-out walk, Rhett Winchester ripped a bases-clearing triple to stake the Cougars to a 4-0 lead. Barton added two more runs with two outs in the third as Micah McGavran's triple set up Oviatt's RBI single and Spafford's RBI double, stretching the advantage to 6-0.
Making his first collegiate start, Jake Field was sensational holding the nation's second-highest hitting team scoreless and to just three hits through his opening four frames of work with a pair of punchouts.
Already having set the all-time collegiate single-season home run record at 191 in Thursday's loss to fifth-seeded Cowley, Ryan Bradford put Johnson County on the board with a two-out solo shot in the fifth. The Cavaliers pulled within 6-4 in the sixth on a two-run single and a sacrifice bunt following a Barton miscue.
Turning to the bullpen for the final two outs of the sixth, the Cougars saw their lead disappear in the seventh as Boston Bruce connected on a two-out, two-run homer to even the contest at 6-6.
With the nation's top-ranked team carrying all momentum after erasing a six-run deficit, Barton answered in the eighth to reclaim the lead. Oviatt's leadoff single, hit third hit of the contest, set the stage for Spafford's no-doubt two-run homer out to left for his fifth of the season and second of the tournament. Following Walker's one-out walk and consecutive singles by Winchester and Kyler Horsman to load the bases, Graves two-out drawn hit by pitch forced in the Cougars' final run and extended the advantage to 9-6.
After escaping further damage in the eighth on a runner's interference call that stranded two-Cavaliers, Johnson County opened the ninth with three straight walks to load the bases. A fielder's choice and throwing error brought home a run and left the bases loaded for Bradford, who drove a 2-0 offering over the left-field wall for the walk-off grand slam, his second home run of the game and nation-leading 38th of the season.
Barton outhit the Cavaliers 16-10, led by Spafford's 3-for-4 performance featuring a home run, double, and four RBIs. Oviatt also collected three hits and scored three runs, while Winchester added three hits and drove in three runs, highlighted by his bases-clearing triple in the second inning. Walker and McGavran rounded out the Cougars' five multi-hit performances with two hits apiece.
Settling for a no-decision effort in his first collegiate start, Field turned in a strong outing against the nation's highest scoring offense, allowing foru runs, three earned, on seven hits over 5.1 innings. The freshman walked three and tied a career high with four strikeouts, while a trio of Cougar relievers combined to cover the final 2.2 innings.