WICHITA, Kan.—
As the momentum carousel spins at the top of the City League baseball standings, Wichita East had an explosive start to the season and sat atop the standings with an unblemished record. After Kapaun picked up a 1-run win over Carroll, it appeared the Golden Eagles had some work to do.But after picking up a revenge win over Kapaun, the Golden Eagles look to once again be the team to beat with a statement win, taking out East 13-0 in six innings behind a two-hit gem from sophomore pitcher Jordan Miller.
“We know that everybody wants to beat us,” said Miller. “It’s a good feeling, but you’ve got to come out there fierce and ready to play. Coach (Charlie Ebright) really gets you ready for it every week.”
Ranked No. 4 in the state, Wichita East gave Carroll it’s best shot. Pitcher Nick Ragias had Carroll a little off balance in the first inning, but in the next two, had trouble getting the ever important third out.
In the second inning, with two on and two out, Carroll’s Zeke Palmer drove in Evan Koehler, and Taylor Sanagorski came in after an error on the play. Tanner Palmore slammed an RBI double to give Carroll a 3-0 lead, scoring all three down to its last out in the inning.
For Palmore, the double was his first of two in a two-for-three outing with a pair of doubles.
In the fourth inning, the Golden Eagles picked up another run with two outs. Sanagorski scored on his second time in as many plate appearances when Palmer picked up his second RBI of the game.
Although Ragias was two pitches away from a 0-0 tie through four innings, Carroll had a 4-0 lead, getting timely hits in the clutch to create some distance.
And with Miller on the mound, the Golden Eagles didn’t need much in the way of insurance runs.
By the time the Blue Aces were done in the bottom of the fourth, Miller had picked up three of his six total strikeouts, got six groundouts, and had only allowed one hit to Ragias, who was promptly thrown out stealing.
By the time the game was over, Miller got 13 of 18 total outs in the game either on the ground or by strikeout. And he did it all without walking a single batter.
“I was feeling pretty good,” said Miller. “My off-speed was working well, and when they did put the bat on the ball, my defense was behind me.”
East started to bounce back in the second game that was tied at 1-1 when the rain came and postponed it in the sixth inning.
