A’s Meiners hits game-winning triple

    It was a happy Fourth of July for the Dodge City A's, as the team celebrated their independence from their recent losing streak and beat the Liberal BeeJays in dramatic fashion. A's shortstop Travis Meiners hit a game-winning three-RBI triple in the top of the ninth inning to break a 5-5 tie and win the game 8-5.
    "We battled back hard," said A's head coach Phil Stephenson. The game was the first of a three-game series between the A's and the BeeJays in Liberal.
    The A's fell behind in the bottom of the first inning, as starting pitcher Evan Cunningham began the game on the wrong foot and gave up four quick runs.
    "Evan gave up four but he did a great job in that first inning to keep us in the game," Stephenson said. The runs Cunningham saved by getting out of the first inning when he did ended up being more influential in the game than they normally are against a big lead early in a game.
    The A's got one run in the third inning and three more in the fifth behind timely hitting from their lineup. But the Beejays still held a one-run lead, and when Cunningham tired with one gone in the top of the sixth, Stephenson gave the ball to reliever Tyler Bevard.
    Bevard, who had been shaky before his last appearance, pitched a clutch three and two-thirds without giving up another run to close the game out and earn the win.
    "His last two outings, he's been very good for us," Stephenson said.
    But the bats may have been even more clutch in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, with two outs, A's third baseman Oscar Sigala singled in a run to tie the game at five. When the Liberal pitching staff was able to get out of the inning after giving up the equalizer, the game appeared to be headed for extra innings.
    Meiners and the A's had other plans.
    When the shortstop stepped up to the plate, it was in the situation every hitter dreams of. The bases were loaded, and there were two outs already recorded in the A's half of the ninth.
    With one swing, Meiners changed the face (and the outcome) of the game. His triple emptied the bags and Bevard was able to hold serve in the bottom of the inning to close out the game.
    The win moves the A's to a 10-14 overall record and a 6-12 Jayhawk League mark. Dodge and Liberal play again at 7 p.m. today in Liberal for the second game of the three-game series. Eric Holmes will get the start for the A's.