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The Liberal Bee Jays gather in the outfield at Brent Gould Field under the scoreboard after knocking off the Hays Larks 18-6 to clinch the Jayhawk League championship, the first since 1999. L&T photo/Earl Watt
JAYHAWK LEAGUE CHAMPS! Bee Jays destroy Hays 18-6 for first league title since 1999 Schmidt hits grand slam By RUSTIN WATT • Leader &Times The Liberal Bee Jays made history Monday night at Brent Gould Field. In a game that had the Jayhawk League title on the line, the Liberal bats came alive in a big way en route to an 18-6 win and a Jayhawk League title. It was a long time coming — nearly two decades in fact since Liberal won the league despite two national titles in that window. It was 1999 when Liberal last won the league. Regis Philbin was hosting, “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”, and Haley Joel Osment uttered the famous line, “I see dead people.” Bill Clinton was president. It was a night of celebration and celebrate the Bee Jays did. Champagne bottles popped as the team showered each other in jubilation following a dogpile on the mound after the final out. “It felt great,” head coach Daniel Parker said. “And it’s all a credit to these kids. None of these guys have egos and that’s pretty rare to see in summer ball. I’m proud of the way these guys came out. They punched us in the mouth a little bit with three in the first, and we answered back with a nine spot. And that just shows what type of kids these guys are. There’s no quit in them, they play hard all nine innings, and I’m just very proud of these guys.” The festivities began at 5:30 p.m. with host family recognition as well as the player of the year announcement in Jaron Robinson. Robinson had been big most of the summer for Liberal and was big in the final series that mattered most as well reaching base four times in the title game and knocking in a run. “He’s been our rock at shortstop for 42 games,” Parker said. “He brings it every day, he’s special defensively and here as of late he’s got the bat going. He’s been incredible for us, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.” Despite falling down 3-0 in the top half of the first, Liberal answered in the bottom by sending 14 Bee Jays to the plate for the next 25 minutes. Marcus Shoemaker reached on a ball deep in the hole at short before Garrett Scott singled to left. Robinson walked to load the bases and Colton Onstott brought in two runs with a single to right. Cale O’ Donnell tied it up with an RBI double to left center. Third basemen Trent Maloney wore a pitch to load it back up for the catcher Kyle Schmidt. Schmidt stepped in and took a ball yard to straight away center for a grand slam that put Liberal up 7-3. “Going into that at bat with the bases loaded I was just looking to get some RBIs,” Schmidt said. “He threw me the same pitch twice and it was lucky I was able to put a good enough swing on it to put it over the fence.” Liberal added two more in the bottom of the first and never looked back, burning through five Hays hurlers in the win. Zach Autin got the start for Liberal and went six innings before Cody Wernli came in and finished it up. “It feels great to get a title for the Liberal Bee Jays,” Robinson said. “We’re just gonna keep doing what we’re doing in playing good baseball. We just beat two really good teams, and we’re going to carry that over to the NBC and hopefully we can make a good run at it.” “It’s so cool coming into this league and playing with these guys,” Schmidt said. “With the chemistry that we’ve had all summer it’s a good feeling to come out on top of this league and do something that’s really special for this town and the team.” After partying like it’s 1999, Liberal will be playing the Southwest Kansas All Stars Wednesday night at Brent Gould field before fitting in a couple more in Wellington early next week against the Wellington Heat in preparation for the NBC tournament in Wichita beginning July 29.
ABOVE: Kyle Schmidt puts his hands in the air as he rounds second base after hitting a grand slam in the first inning that gave the Bee Jays a 7-3 lead and was part of a nine-run first inning that sparked the Bee Jays to an 18-6 win over the Hays Larks which clinched the Jayhawk League title for the Bee Jays. LEFT: Kyle Schmidt (37) is greeted at home plate after hitting a grand slam home run that cleared the 15fot wall over the center field fence, putting the ball out of Brent Gould Field at about 420 feet Monday against the Hays Larks.The deep shot led to an 18-6 win that secured the first Jayhawk League championship for the Bee Jays since 1999. L&T photos/Earl Watt
12 JAYHAWK LEAGUE BANNER SEASONS 1976 1978 1981
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1996 1999 2017