GREAT BEND, Kan. – The Ellis Railroader baseball team was able to advance to the school’s first ever state championship game on Friday afternoon, defeating Chase County by a score of 5-4 in 9 innings.

Semifinals
The score was knotted at three for eight innings until Chase County’s Joel Jirak took a chance stealing home in the top of the 9th with no outs. The throw to home was in time and Ellis catcher Nathan Cox stretched out to tag Jirak at home plate but Jirak made a slippery move and avoided the tag, safely stealing home for a run. Ellis head coach Brent Cain argued the call saying that Jirak had left the base-path but the call would stand and Ellis would be down a run in the bottom of the 9th.

Junior Hernandez lead off the bottom of the 9th with a single, Dalton Hensley would be hit by a pitch and Easton Smith would hit a single to load the bases for Ellis in the bottom of the 9th with no outs. Brayden Bittel came up to bat and hit a soft ground ball to first base. Garrett Jackson, first baseman for Chase County had a tough decision to make with Junior Hernandez flying home from third and all runners advancing. Jackson elected to throw the ball home and the ball soared over the head of catcher Jacob Sharp. Hernandez scored safely and Hensley scored on the error, giving Ellis the victory in extra innings.

Championship Game
Ellis took on Leon-Bluestem in the championship game on Friday evening. It was a close game through the first three innings with Ellis taking a quick 5-1 lead.

The 4th, 5th, and 6th innings were disastrous for Ellis as a multitude of defensive errors resulted in Leon-Bluestem taking an 8-5 lead. Ellis could not get their bats going and were shut-out in the final four innings.

Ellis left 13 runners on base and scored five runs off 10 hits. Leon-Bluestem scored eight runs off seven hits and left seven on base. Eight of the nine Ellis starters are seniors.