Demons baseball score one upset but not two

The Dodge City Red Demons were able to pull off one upset, but they weren't able to get two Tuesday at the Class 6A Campus regional.
    The No. 10 Red Demons beat the host Colts 4-1 to open the regional, then lost to No. 4 Wichita North 11-3 in the regional final to close out their season with a 7-15 record.
    Dodge City head coach John Neill said the Red Demons had the right attitude going into Tuesday's regionals after losing Friday night to Hays to end the regular season.
    “We got a little momentum going last Friday night after having to play three games,” Neill said. “We started getting our confidence and enthusiasm going that we stressed to carry on to the regional tournament, and that's what the kids did.
    “They went in there confidence with the idea that they could play with anybody, and they played with the energy at this time of the year.”
    Ty Thomas allowed only a seventh-inning run in leading the Red Demons to the victory over Campus, seeded third in the regional. Despite being a sophomore, Thomas has had experience pitching in big games for the Red Demons, and he showed that experience in pitching a complete game against the Colts.
    Thomas allowed only two hits and a seventh-inning unearned run against Campus, while striking out three.
    “It was a combination of him battling and us playing defense behind him,” Neill said. “We made some outstanding plays out there.”
    Dodge City scored two runs in the fifth when Steven Mills scored on a RBI double by John Mills, and Corey Santana later scored from third on a RBI fielder's choice by Jordan Slaton. Brock Helfrich scored from third base on a throwing error in the sixth, then knocked in Aaron Heiland on a hit-and-run single in the seventh to make the score 4-0.
    Campus ended its season with a 16-5 record.
    The Demons weren't able to continue their momentum against the Redskins, especially pitcher Matt Applegate. Applegate struck out 13 Dodge City batters to earn the win.
    “(Applegate) is definitely going to be a D-1 pitcher,” Neill said. “He throws close to 90 miles per hour, and he was attacking the zone. At times, he kept the ball up a little bit and we were able to hit him pretty hard, but he's a very good pitcher and it was fortunate for them they were able to save him for the championship game.”
    North scored two in the top of the first in the title game, but the Demons got one back in the top of the second. The Redskins (18-4) then added one in the bottom of the third and sent 11 to the plate in an eight-run fourth.
    “It was just a snowball effect (in the fourth inning),” Neill said. “We had one play where if we make it, then they only score a run, but we didn't make that play and it just snowballed from there. They got confident, and we couldn't make the plays.”
    Dodge City closed out the scoring with two runs in the top of the fifth. Slaton was the losing pitcher for the Red Demons.