By Charles Chaney
EL DORADO, Kan.— Circle already had their legs underneath them after playing in the Air Capital Classic over the weekend but a rivalry game against El Dorado handed them their first loss of the season.
Circle and El Dorado split the doubleheader at McDonald Stadium in El Dorado on Monday night, with Circle scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to stun the Wildcats in the first game, 9-7. In the second game, El Dorado went up 7-4 once again but this time were able to hold on for the win.
Circle is now 3-1 on the season, while El Dorado is 1-1.
Easton Smith led Circle, going 4-for-8 with four runs scored. Cash Killian continued his hot start, going 4-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBIs. on the night.
El Dorado was led by Hamm, 3-for-6 with two runs and an RBI. Zac Jacobs went 4-for-7 with two runs and two RBIs. He also had a pair of doubles. Easton Perkins finished with a win in the second game and was 4-for-8 with three runs scored and an RBI.
Circle will continue their road trip as they head to Mulvane (2-0) on Thursday for some AVCTL-III action.
El Dorado travels to Wichita Collegiate (0-2) on Thursday to begin AVCTL-IV play.
Game 1: Circle 9, El Dorado 7
Circle scored five runs in the top of the seventh to come from behind in the second straight game and stun their rival, El Dorado, in their first game of the night 9-7.
Circle chipped out runs with back-to-back hits from Easton Beardsley, L Maholland, Andrew Tillman and then a sac fly from Ben McAdoo gave Circle all the ammunition they’d need to complete the comeback.
“That’s our mantra this year, is that we’re never out of the fight,” Circle head coach Braden Kirkpatrick said. “Our job is to battle and whatever the case may be, and putting pressure on the defense. We did that in the first game.”
It was much like on Saturday against Cheney, a team who swept beat Collegiate on Monday night, they never quit and they battled. They would need every run on Monday, too. After giving up five runs in the bottom of the fifth and another in the sixth, it appeared the Thunderbirds were on the ropes and facing their first loss of the season. However, the top of the lineup was huge for them. The first six batters managed at least two hits apiece and were able to stay afloat late.
“It’s about timely hitting for us early in the season,” Kirkpatrick said. “We just want to be a great defensive team and we want to throw strikes and challenge hitters. HItting is going to the be thing we’ll work on this year. It’s one of the hardest things to do.”
Liam Maholland came in the final two innings and were able to pitch out of a jam and help Circle get the win.
After losing a bunch of really successful players and introducing a new coach so late into the season, they’ve hit the ground running. They run-ruled Chase County on Friday and then turned around and beat Cheney in extra innings behind a big-time performance from Cash Killian.
“We’re trying to piece things together early in the season,” Kirkpatrick said. “This is my fifth year in the program and I have confidence to take over this program.”
El Dorado broke through on the scoreboard first when Bryden Soper singled on a ground ball up the middle and scored Zac Jacobs to make it 1-0 Wildcats. However, Circle would respond in the top of the fifth with four runs. the scoring was capped on a triple from Danick Bleich that scored Killian from second.
The Wildcats would respond with a flurry of runs in the bottom of the fifth and would take a 6-4 lead after five.
Circle would get the final say in the seventh.
It started when Killian doubled to score Easton Smith. Bleich would then score Razey from third, putting the Thunderbirds within one with one out. The next two batters would put Circle in front for good, including Maholland’s double and McAdoo’s sacrifice to score Westin Rose.
Maholland would shut down the Wildcats in the bottom of the seventh, sitting them down in order to win the game.
Smith, Razey, Killian, Bleich, Beardsley and Tillman all finished with two hits for Circle.
Maholland picked up the win for Circle, throwing two innings, allowing one run on two walks and striking out four.
For El Dorado, they were littered with two hit batters, too. Hunter Hamm, Jacobs, Soper and Sam Green all collected two hits. Hamm finished with three stolen bases for El Dorado.
G1: Circle 9, El Dorado 7
CHS 000 040 5—9 12 2
EHS 000 151 0—7 10 0
W- Maholland. L-Beggs. 2B: Killian 2 (C), Razey, Maholland. 3B – Bleich (C), Jacobs (E), Scanlon (E).
GAME 2: El Dorado 7, Circle 4
For El Dorado, it was déjà vu.
The Wildcats jumped out on Circle, 7-4, in the second game as they did in the first one. This time, they were able to hold on and take home their first win of the season, 7-4, over the Thunderbirds.
“I chalk it up to first game jitters,” El Dorado head coach Adam McCormick said. “Balls didn’t bounce our way and that’s baseball. My guys know that we have a veteran group with these seniors. We were able to talk between games and put it behind us.”
El Dorado fell behind 1-0 on a miscommunication after Killian tried to draw the attention to himself as he attempted to take second. That allowed Razey to come home with no play at the play, putting the Thunderbirds ahead.
The Wildcats had a response as four of the first five batters in the second inning reached base. They’d punch home the first run when Charlie Beggs singled to score Jacobs and tie the game. Tanner Riddle would sac fly on the next batter to score Perkins and give El Dorado the lead for good.
“We told them, it’s not who you are in March or April or early in the year,” McCormick said. “It’s who we are in May. We’re working toward that.”
After Bleich doubled to score Smith, El Dorado once again had a response. After Grady Scanlon opened the inning with a walk, it was Perkins tripling to score him two batters later. Then, Soper was able to score Perkins on a sac grounder on the ensuing at bat.
El Dorado built their lead with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. Scanlon singled on a fly to right, scoring Beggs and Hamm and putting El Dorado ahead, 6-2.
Circle would get two back in the top of the fifth, just like they did in the first game, setting the stage for El Dorado to put this game away. El Dorado added an insurance run on a double from Jacobs to score Scanlon from first as they’re lead grew to 7-4.
“I was proud of our approaches today,” McCormick said. “That’s something we’ve talked about our guys is getting your pitches early and often in the count and staying right back up the middle. We don’t have a lot of home run hitters on our team, so we got to base-to-base and our guys really have bought into that the first couple weeks of practice.”
El Dorado used a combination of Soper and Jordan Linson to secure the win as Linson picked up the save, throwing only two pitches and getting the final out.
Perkins went three innings for El Dorado, striking out three and holding Circle to two hits. Hamm also went 3.2 innings and allowed just two hits. He struck out four as well.
Perkins was solid at the plate, going 3-for-4 in the second game with an RBI and scoring two runs. Jacobs also finished with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Beggs went 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.
Smith led Circle in the second game with two of the team’s four hits. He also scored two runs.
G2: El Dorado 7, Circle 4
CHS 101 020 0—4 4 0
EHS 022 201 X—7 12 1
W – Perkins. L – Beardsley. 2B: Bleich (C). 3B: Perkins (E).
