Roadrunners start fast to defeat Highland Kansas

Sedalia, Mo.-The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners baseball team picked up its second consecutive win with a 16-5 victory in five innings because of the run rule over Highland Community College-Kansas on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at Liberty Park Stadium-Dey Field.

SFCC (3-3) scored 10 runs on seven hits in the bottom of the first inning to take control of the contest early. The offensive outburst included a three-run home run from outfielder Devin Wassmann of Platte City, Missouri and a grand slam from catcher Carter Rice of Sedalia, Mo.

"It has been a slow start for our offense," said Roadrunners head coach Jud Kindle. "We've had to make some adjustments. I think we were on time with the fastball in the first inning. We were not trying to do too much; we were trying to stay through the middle of field or put iit in the right-center field gap. I thought we had better approaches today."

Corner infielder Andrew Hill of Columbia, Mo. added a third and final home run for SFCC in the bottom of the second inning.

As a team, SFCC produced 11 hits. Outfielder Collin Ross of Branson Mo. had a pair of hits including a triple and three runs scored. Utility player Malachi Antle of Licking, Mo. contributed a pair of hits including a double and three RBIs. Hill scored three runs. Freshman utility player Casen Lett Parkville, Mo. scored a pair of runs. Carter Rice also scored a pair of runs. Outfielder Jacob Bell of Kansas City, Mo. had a pair of hits including a triple and scored two runs.

Pitcher Brayden Beckmann of Ashland, Mo. (1-1) got the start on the mound for SFCC. Beckmann pitched three innings, gave up three runs on four hits, struck out five and walked two to earn the victory.

"That was the first start for Brayden Beckmann," said Kindle. "He is going to a special kid here. We really like him. We think he has a chance to be really good for us."

SFCC will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 19 with a doubleheader against Frontier Community College. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Liberty Park Stadium-Dey Field.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics