Not long ago, fans were wondering if the Dodge City Athletics would win another game. Now after winning four of their last five games in dramatic fashion, the question is, will the A’s qualify for the BaseballSavings.com 76th Annual National Baseball Congress World Series tournament?
The tournament starts July 30 and runs through Aug. 13.
“The talk of Kansas is the NBC tournament,” A’s center fielder Allen Riley said. “It would be really nice to go there. If we make it, it would great. ... I know the host families and all the fans would love to see us there and would love to support us.”
The top two teams in the Jayhawk League standings who do not earn an automatic bid will qualify for the tournament. The top team in the league standings, the Haysville Heat, grabbed one automatic bid by winning the Midwest Regional on Thursday.
The El Dorado Broncos will also receive an automatic bid for winning the NBC World Series last year.
As of today, Liberal and Hays are heading to the tournament. Dodge City is currently 3 1/2 games behind Hays, with five games left to be played, including a meeting between the two teams on Wednesday.
“There is still plenty to play for for everybody,” A’s coach Phil Stephenson said.
Dodge City will need to keep winning and some help from Derby this weekend who play Hays to qualify.
Even if the A’s do not make the postseason, they did improve from a season ago. Last summer, Dodge City finished the season 5-25 in league play, while this year the A’s have accumulated a 10-17 record, doubling their win total from last year.
Part of the team’s recent success can be attributed to Stephenson being named the head coach on July 8. He replaced Jeremy Irlbeck, who lost 13 straight games.
“I definitely think we owe a lot to the coaching change,” Riley said. “Coach Stephenson is a well-known guy around here, and he is a really good coach. I feel like his coaching methods allowed us to get into a good groove.
“I am not saying anything against Irlbeck. I think it was just time for a change to switch things up, and we did that and I guess it is
working.”
Since the change, Dodge City has gone 6-6 and 4-1 in its last five games.
“I think it is just something you go through in baseball,” Riley said. “You go through a span where you play really well as a team, and you go through a span you don’t play real well. I think that is what we were doing earlier, because we were not winning games.”
“We did everything to put us in a bad situation to win a game, and now we are doing everything the right way. I guess it is just turning the page, flipping the script.”
Each of the A’s last four wins has been a come-from-behind victory.
On Thursday night, the A’s trailed by seven going into the bottom of the second, but soon the bats came alive. The A’s scored seven in the fourth and 15 in the eighth.
Karch Kowalczyk, who has not hit a home run since high school, hit two in that eighth inning — a three-run shot and a grand slam.
He finished the night going 5-for-5 with two homers, two doubles, a single, two walks, four runs and eight RBIs.
Since Stephenson has come on board, several players have improved drastically at the plate.
“A lot of times it is an individual that takes it upon theirself to change how they approach the ball game,” Stephenson said. “We just got to find a way to keep the ship going in the right direction. I don’t swing the bat, I just put them in best position to succeed.”
Rick Lesperance had five hits and five RBIs while batting .125 in the 16 games he played in under Irlbeck. In nine games under Stephenson, Lesperance has had eight hits, six RBIs and is batting .258.
Brock Green has seen his batting average improve from .288 to .363 since Stephenson became coach. Prior to the coaching change, Green had only one home run. But since the change, he has hit three.
The A’s will need continued success at the plate if they are going to fight for a playoff spot.
Starting today, Dodge City will travel to Haysville to play a three-game series against the Heat.
“Haysville is a really good team,” Riley said. “They swing the stick and they pitch well. I mean for us to be successful, we have to keep doing what we have been doing: Play error-free baseball. I feel like we will be good because we have been swinging the stick and we are in a groove now. If we can take that down to Haysville, we will be all right.”
The first time the two teams played this season, Haysville swept a three-game series in Dodge City, scoring more than 11 runs in each game.
Haysville comes into the series after winning its last six games on the way to becoming the Southwest Regional champions.
“They are a good ball club, but I feel like we are a good ball club too and we are playing like it now,” Riley said.
|
|
|
Not long ago, fans were wondering if the Dodge City Athletics would win another game. Now after winning four of their last five games in dramatic fashion, the question is, will the A’s qualify for the BaseballSavings.com 76th Annual National Baseball Congress World Series tournament?
The tournament starts July 30 and runs through Aug. 13.
“The talk of Kansas is the NBC tournament,” A’s center fielder Allen Riley said. “It would be really nice to go there. If we make it, it would great. ... I know the host families and all the fans would love to see us there and would love to support us.”
The top two teams in the Jayhawk League standings who do not earn an automatic bid will qualify for the tournament. The top team in the league standings, the Haysville Heat, grabbed one automatic bid by winning the Midwest Regional on Thursday.
The El Dorado Broncos will also receive an automatic bid for winning the NBC World Series last year.
As of today, Liberal and Hays are heading to the tournament. Dodge City is currently 3 1/2 games behind Hays, with five games left to be played, including a meeting between the two teams on Wednesday.
“There is still plenty to play for for everybody,” A’s coach Phil Stephenson said.
Dodge City will need to keep winning and some help from Derby this weekend who play Hays to qualify.
Even if the A’s do not make the postseason, they did improve from a season ago. Last summer, Dodge City finished the season 5-25 in league play, while this year the A’s have accumulated a 10-17 record, doubling their win total from last year.
Part of the team’s recent success can be attributed to Stephenson being named the head coach on July 8. He replaced Jeremy Irlbeck, who lost 13 straight games.
“I definitely think we owe a lot to the coaching change,” Riley said. “Coach Stephenson is a well-known guy around here, and he is a really good coach. I feel like his coaching methods allowed us to get into a good groove.
“I am not saying anything against Irlbeck. I think it was just time for a change to switch things up, and we did that and I guess it is
working.”
Since the change, Dodge City has gone 6-6 and 4-1 in its last five games.
“I think it is just something you go through in baseball,” Riley said. “You go through a span where you play really well as a team, and you go through a span you don’t play real well. I think that is what we were doing earlier, because we were not winning games.”
“We did everything to put us in a bad situation to win a game, and now we are doing everything the right way. I guess it is just turning the page, flipping the script.”
Each of the A’s last four wins has been a come-from-behind victory.
On Thursday night, the A’s trailed by seven going into the bottom of the second, but soon the bats came alive. The A’s scored seven in the fourth and 15 in the eighth.
Karch Kowalczyk, who has not hit a home run since high school, hit two in that eighth inning — a three-run shot and a grand slam.
He finished the night going 5-for-5 with two homers, two doubles, a single, two walks, four runs and eight RBIs.
Since Stephenson has come on board, several players have improved drastically at the plate.
“A lot of times it is an individual that takes it upon theirself to change how they approach the ball game,” Stephenson said. “We just got to find a way to keep the ship going in the right direction. I don’t swing the bat, I just put them in best position to succeed.”
Rick Lesperance had five hits and five RBIs while batting .125 in the 16 games he played in under Irlbeck. In nine games under Stephenson, Lesperance has had eight hits, six RBIs and is batting .258.
Brock Green has seen his batting average improve from .288 to .363 since Stephenson became coach. Prior to the coaching change, Green had only one home run. But since the change, he has hit three.
The A’s will need continued success at the plate if they are going to fight for a playoff spot.
Starting today, Dodge City will travel to Haysville to play a three-game series against the Heat.
“Haysville is a really good team,” Riley said. “They swing the stick and they pitch well. I mean for us to be successful, we have to keep doing what we have been doing: Play error-free baseball. I feel like we will be good because we have been swinging the stick and we are in a groove now. If we can take that down to Haysville, we will be all right.”
The first time the two teams played this season, Haysville swept a three-game series in Dodge City, scoring more than 11 runs in each game.
Haysville comes into the series after winning its last six games on the way to becoming the Southwest Regional champions.
“They are a good ball club, but I feel like we are a good ball club too and we are playing like it now,” Riley said.
