Tabor moves into first in KCAC

Manny DeLeon returns home after hitting a solo home run during Game 1 with McPherson Friday. DeLeon hit four home runs that day, including a grand slam earlier in Game 1, and a second grand slam and a two-run home run in Game 2.  DeLeon batted .533 in the four-game series (8-for-15), including five home runs. He drove in 15 runs in Tabor’s sweep of the Bulldogs and was named KCAC Player of the Week.After sweeping McPherson Friday and Sunday, the Tabor College baseball team moved into first place in the KCAC race with a 25-7 record with one series to go.

York, the KCAC’s previous leader, moved to 24-8 after splitting with Bethany, while Sterling, who has won 14 games in a row, improved to 24-8 after sweeping Ottawa.

Coach Mark Standiford said it is important for the Bluejays to focus on doing their part.

“You can’t really worry about what everybody else is doing,” he said. “If you do that, you’re going to lose focus on what you have to do.”

The Bluejays certainly held up their end of the bargain, outscoring McPherson 53-21 in a four games.

Manny DeLeon finished the series 8-for-15 at-bat (.533), hitting five home runs, including two grand slams, and driving in 15 runs. He was named KCAC Player of the Week.

“He’s a very good hitter,” Standiford said. “ He can hit just about any pitch for that matter. When he gets going, there’s not many guys better than him.”

In Friday’s 13-2 Game 1 Bluejay victory, eight of Tabor’s runs scored via the long ball. DeLeon drove in five runs on 2-for-3 hitting, including a third-inning grand slam and a seventh-inning solo shot.

Colton Flax homered in the third inning, giving Tabor a 5-0 lead, and the Bluejays increased it to 7-1 through six, after Flax led off with his second home run.

DeLeon’s seventh inning solo shot made it 8-1. McPherson scored once in the eighth, then Tabor sent nine batters to the plate in the frame, which included a solo home run by Couch.

Neufeld was 3-for-4 at-bat and had two RBIs.

Thomas Longworth (9-3) earned the pitching win. He scattered eight hits and two earned runs over eight innings of work, while walking one batter and striking out two.

Tabor won Game 2, 10-3, scoring all 10 runs in the first three innings before the Bulldogs scored in the fifth.

DeLeon carried his momentum into Game 2, driving in seven runs on 2-for-3 hitting—both home runs—including a grand slam in the second inning and a two-run home run in the third.

DeLeon drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, which also included a two-run single by Joel Frias and an RBI single by Dalton Iveans.

The Bulldogs scored twice in the fifth and once in the seventh.

Shaw was 3-for-3 at-bat.

Dylan Algra (3-1) earned the pitching win. He scattered four hits and two runs (both earned) over five innings of work. He walked no one and struck out three batters.

The series continued Sunday. With the wind blowing strongly from the south, Tabor hit eight home runs in a 22-12 Game 1 victory.

The Bluejays held a 22-6 lead heading into the ninth, but McPherson doubled its run total in the final half-inning.

Tabor led, 2-1, through three innings, and began to gain distance in the fourth. All five runs in the frame scored via the long ball: DeLeon and Raulier Martinez hit two-run home runs, and Ryan Neufeld hit a solo shot.

Baca led off the five-run fifth inning with a home run, and Martinez collected his second two-run bomb of the game later in the half-inning. Tabor led, 12-1 at the end of the fifth inning.

The Bluejays outscored McPherson 6-4 in the sixth inning. Cline hit his second long ball of the day—he also hit one in the second—to key the inning. Each team added one run in the seventh, then Tabor plated three more in the eighth thanks to Shaw’s three-run home run.

Three of the Bulldogs’ final six runs scored via home run in the top of the ninth.

“Anytime the wind blows out here this hard, there’s going to be a lot of home runs hit, and we did,” Standiford said. “We took advantage of it, there’s no doubt.”

Baca and Couch were each 3-for-5 at-bat with two RBIs. Cline was 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Martinez was 2-for-4 (four RBIs).

Greg Turner (7-4) earned the pitching win. He scattered nine hits and five runs (three earned) over 51⁄3 innings of work. He walked two batters and struck out four.

Tabor won Game 2, 8-4.

The game was tied at 4 through three innings, but the Bluejays took the lead for good when Shaw tripled and scored on Baca’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Tabor plated three insurance runs in the sixth, thanks to Neufeld’s two-run single and Shaw’s RBI triple.

Shaw and Baca each hit home runs in the first inning, Cline hit a solo home run in the second, and DeLeon drove in a run with a single in the third.

McPherson scored three in the second and one in the third.

Shaw was 3-for-4 at-bat and had two RBIs.

Colton Moore earned the pitching win. He scattered two hits over three scoreless innings of relief, while walking no one and striking out four batters.

“We really have a lot of confidence here when we play,” Standiford said. “Especially from an offensive standpoint, we feel like we can score just about any time.”

Coming—Tabor will conclude the regular season with a four-game series at Ottawa (9-23, 15-36) Friday and Saturday. Game 1 is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. both days.

Tags from the story
Written By
More from Janae Rempel
Tabor women’s soccer season concludes
The sixth-seeded Tabor College women’s soccer season came to a close in...
Read More