Hoke’s strong start helps Cowley beat Dodge City 8-2 in sub-regional opener
Cowley College freshman Grady Hoke continued his string of strong starts on the mound by limiting 12th-seed Dodge City to four hits and one run in seven innings of an 8-2 victory over the Conquistadors in the first game of a best-of-three sub-regional played Thursday in Arkansas City.
The fifth-seeded Tiger baseball team improves its record to 34-21 on the season. Dodge City falls to 24-30.
On Thursday, Cowley took an early lead thanks to an RBI double by Jace Patton and a two-run single by Quinn Groebl to lead Dodge City 3-0 after two innings of play.
The score would remain 3-0 until Holden Groebl's 10th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth inning, increased Cowley's lead to 6-0.
"That home run came at a big point in the game and put a little distance between us," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.
Josiah Sems scored on a passed ball in the sixth inning to make the score 7-0, and Hoke continued to cruise while pitching into the eighth inning before a leadoff walk to Jonah Andrade had Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs come out to remove Hoke from the game. Hoke struck out four and walked one while improving his record to 7-4.
Over Hoke's last four starts, he has allowed only 12 hits and two earned runs over 22 innings pitched.
"Grady has really matured and was really locked in against Dodge," Burroughs said.
The Conquistadors would score two runs in the top of the eighth inning to cut Cowley's lead to 7-2. However, Drake Fittro tripled home Sems in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Tigers went on to the 8-2 victory.
Holden's brother, Quinn, added two hits and a pair of runs batted in, and Sems went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
Hudsen Periman followed Hoke on the mound and was charged with a run before sophomore Jack Hamm finished with two innings of scoreless relief.
Dodge City's Cameron Stewart (7-6) took the loss after allowing seven hits and seven runs in 5 2/3 innings.
The teams will play again today at 2 p.m. at Tiger Ball Park in Ark City. A Cowley win would advance the Tigers to the Plains District Tournament, May 13-16 at Wichita State University. If Dodge City were to win on Friday, the teams would play a third and final game on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"We need to string good at-bats together and have another strong day on the mound," Burroughs said.
Score by inning: R H E
Dodge City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 2 5 0
Cowley 0 3 0 0 3 1 0 1 x – 8 10 0