Broncbusters take game one from Dodge City

By Mike Pilosof

Dodge City, KS-On Saturday, the Broncbusters inched closer to at least a share of the Jayhawk West crown.

Alexis Maestretti and Nya Chacon each homered, Lacey Kearsley struck out five, and Garden City beat Dodge City 10-4 at Legends Park.

The Broncbusters were rolling early. Elycia Johnson led off the game with a walk, and McKayla Encinias clubbed an RBI double to make it 1-0. Three batters later, Kearsley smashed a two-run double to the gap, Chacon followed with a run-scoring extra base hit, and Garden City had a 3-0 lead.

Amy Schmeckpeper's team made it 4-0 in the second, taking advantage of a one-out error; then scored on Encinias' double to center. Once Dodge City sliced the deficit in half with two runs in the third, the Broncbusters went back on the offensive in the fourth. Maestretti and Chacon crushed a pair of two-run homers to stretch the lead to six.

The Conquistadors answered with a run in their half of the fourth and another in the fifth before Garden City put the game away in sixth. Chacon doubled again, Griego slapped an RBI single, and Micaela Mirabal pushed a ball past a diving Ollevia Lowe at second to make it 10-4.

Kearsley picked up the win in the circle, allowing just one earned run on seven hits in a complete-game performance. Nya Chacon finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, Kearsley was 3-for-5 with three runs scored, and Encinias went 5-for-5 with two runs knocked in.