HAYS – Ellis raced out to a 4-0 lead then held off the comeback bid of the Hays Monarchs Jr. American Legion and won 4-0 Friday evening. Ellis scored three runs in the second inning and another in the fourth. The Monarchs then scored single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but came up short on on the comeback bid.

Tate Garcia drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Luke Ruder’s RBI single in the seventh closed the gap to two. Eston Brown’s run scoring single an inning later pulled the Monarchs to within a run.

Cole Zimmerman allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits over 4 2/3 innings and suffered the loss.