The Thomas More Prep – Marian baseball team took two games from Great Bend Thursday at TMP Field to increase their win streak to 17. The Monarchs rallied in game one to win 9-7 and then put on a hitting clinic in the second to win 14-5.

TMP Coach Brian Schumacher Post-Game Interview:
Coach Post interview

 

Game 1:  TMP-Marian 9, Great Bend 7

TMP (17-1) trailed 5-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning before managing to score four runs to tie up the game. The Panthers (10-6) responded in the top of the sixth regaining the lead 6-5 after scoring on an error by the Monarchs. Thanks to three straight hits in the home half of the sixth inning TMP would post four more runs to finish off Great Bend.

Senior Pierce Schippers was the starting pitcher for the Herd but only lasted two innings giving up five runs on four hits. Junior Shane Zimmerman came on in the third inning and struck out the side on his way to a seven-strikeout game in his five innings on the mound. Not only did Zimmerman (5-1) get the win but he also went 4-for-4 from the plate with a double.

Great Bend’s senior Jace Bowman got tagged with the loss. The Panthers as a team had seven hits while TMP ended with 11 hits.

Game 1 Highlights
Highlights Game 1

Game 2: TMP-Marian 14, Great Bend 5

Every Monarch that started in the batting lineup managed to get a hit in the second game and TMP poured it on in three monster innings. TMP spanned out 16 hits and scored five runs in the first, four in the third, and five more in the fifth inning to earn the sweep over the Class 5A Panthers.

The game was tied at 5-5 heading into the bottom of the third inning but then with the bases loaded senior Nick Hammeke hit a triple to bring in all the runners.

Hammeke (6-0) earned the win pitching six innings and giving up five runs on seven hits. Hammeke also struck out seven betters while only walking one. The Panthers’ Conor Sell was hit with the loss lasting 2 and 2/3 of an inning.

Hammeke, Taylor Pfeifer, and Dylan Gottschalk all picked up four hits in the doubleheader. Zimmerman went 6-for-8 through both of the games. Going back to the game against Larned this past Tuesday, Zimmerman had a stretch where he hit safely in eight straight plate appearances. His streak came to an end in game two on a fly out to centerfield in the second inning.

The two wins lock TMP in for the #1 seed at the Lakin Regional on May 14th and 15th. The Monarchs will now get an opening-round bye and will not play until the semifinals on Tuesday, May 15th. TMP will close out their regular season next Thursday in Colby against the Eagles.

Game 2 Highlights:
Highlights Game 2