By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Abilene baseball team’s recent run of upsets came to an end in the quarterfinal round of this year’s state tournament, as the Cowboys fell 4-2 at the hands of the Fort Scott Tigers.
For the Cowboys, another fantastic baseball campaign draws to a close at 16-11, while the Tigers improve to 26-3 and will face the winner of 25-3 Paola or 19-6 Clay Center in the semis on Friday.
Fort Scott took an early lead in this game, capitalizing on an error, an RBI single, and a sacrifice fly to hold a 3-0 advantage after two innings.
The Cowboys wasted no time eating into that lead as a Jake Bartley sac fly and a Heath Hoekman RBI double made it 3-2 in the very next frame.
Unfortunately, those runs would be the only the Cowboys could muster, as Fort Scott added an insurance run at the plate in the fourth, and slammed the door shut on the mound.
Thomas Keener and Jake Bartley split six innings, allowing just one earned run in a strong showing, but couldn’t get the run support necessary to survive and advance.
Abilene finished the day with two runs on five hits and two errors in the field while the Tigers scored four runs on seven hits without any defensive miscues.