By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Opening day was a resounding success for the Salina South baseball team, who swept a battle of top-four baseball teams from a season ago, collecting victories of 6-1 and 7-6 over the Abilene Cowboys.
Game One: Salina South 6, Abilene 1
It didn’t take the Cougars long to collect their first runs of the season as in the top of the first Wyatt Breeden brought home Caden Stauffer on a fielder’s choice, and a sac fly by Aiden Spielman scored Jace Humphrey to deliver the Cougars an early 2-0 lead.
Spielman continued an impressive day at the plate, bringing in two more runs on an RBI single in the third, and came in to score a run himself as part of a two-run sixth inning for South.
While the bats were impressive, the star of game one was undoubtedly Jace Humphrey, who silenced the Abilene bats from the mound.
In six innings of work on just 86 pitches, Humphrey held the Cowboys to just one hit, walking just two while fanning six batters in a shutout effort.
Abilene would score a late run in the seventh on a pair of Cougar errors, but it was too little too late for the Cowboys, who dropped the season opener.
Game Two: Salina South 7, Abilene 6
The nightcap of this doubleheader had a similar feel to it, as the Cougars picked up right where they left off, scoring two runs in the first, two more in the second, and another in the third to take a sizable 6-0 lead after three.
With their backs to the wall, the Cowboys responded, rattling off five unanswered runs in the home half of the third to make this a ballgame once again.
It looked like the Cougars would earn some breathing room in the fourth, but a batter's interference call wiped a run off the board and set the scene for an inning-ending double play.
With the momentum of that play, the Cowboys managed to get the tying run to the plate on an RBI double from Landyn Rogers.
Abilene had the go-ahead run 90 feet away and loaded the bases, but three strikeouts from Caden Stauffer ensured the game would go to the final inning on level footing.
South led off the seventh with a Landon Putnam single, and the right fielder advanced to second on a wild pitch, then to third on a textbook bunt single from pinch hitter Lawson Rassette.
The Cougars wouldn’t get another hit in the seventh, but they wouldn’t need to, as a wild pitch got away from the Cowboy catcher, allowing Putnam to scamper home and score the deciding run.
Salina South begins their season at 2-0 while Abilene will look to rebound next week at 0-2.