Great Bend Sweeps Salina Falcons

Last weekend, the Salina Falcons entered the 30th annual Kansas Grand Slam Tournament on a four-game win streak.

Now, the Falcons are in a funk.

Great Bend, a team that played in the same tournament, made the trek back to Salina Wednesday evening and left with a doubleheader sweep, winning 10-3 and 6-2 in six innings. With the two losses, Salina dropped to 6-7, falling in the last five contests.

In the opener, Great Bend pounced on Salina with four runs in the second. A pair of Salina errors aided the explosive inning, but Salina made up for its mistakes with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning, two runs drive in by Nolan Puckett on a double down the first base line.

From there, the game belonged to the Chiefs. Great Bend limited Salina to three hits the rest of the way. Meanwhile, a total of eight walks was given up by Salina pitchers. An additional two batters reached after being hit by pitches.

Matthew Moeder earned the victory for Great Bend, lasting six innings, giving up seven hits and three runs. Puckett led the way offensively for Salina, going 1-for-4 with two RBIs.

Not much changed in the nightcap as the Chiefs jumped out to a 6-0 advantage before two runs were scored by Salina in the fifth inning. Great Bend suffered from four errors and six walks, but Salina had similar issues with two errors and six walks.

Salina’s Cooper Thompson was 1-for-2 with a RBI. The Falcons mustered just two hits at the plate.

The Falcons now have a week off before traveling to Newton next Wednesday.