At 11 innings, it was the longest game ever played in the 10 years of Monarchs baseball history. And here's how it happened.

 

The Monarchs gave Kyle Ptasnik the start, and Kyle gave them eight stellar innings, the most innings a Midland pitcher has ever thrown during a summer game. Scattering five hits and three walks, he also picked up five strikeouts during Kyle's Excellent Adventure. The trouble is, the Turner pitcher was also throwing smoke and keeping the Monarchs off the basepaths in droves. While Midland managed a hit in every inning but one, in half of those innings, one hit was all they did manage.

 

Turner drew first blood with a solo shot to left in the top of the fourth. Midland turned right around in the bottom of the inning and scored a marker of their own with two out. Peyton Morris doubled and then gave way to courtesy runner Chris Seagraves who quickly moved to third on a passed ball. One pitch later, Cody Guthrie punched a single into left and Peyton scored easily to tie the game at 1-1.

 

In the fifth, Turner scored again after a leadoff double by the Bears' #5 hitter and a single two batters later. But this time, Midland was not able to answer, stranding Ryan Ash at third to end the inning. And after that, it seemed the pitching just got stronger, even as the pitch counts mounted. Kyle gave up a walk with no hits during the next three innings, while Turner held the Monarchs scoreless on four scattered singles. 

 

With the game in the final inning (or so many of us thought) and Tanner Holland on in relief, Turner managed a two-out single but no more, thanks to a great catch by Cody in right. And as often happens, a defensive gem in one inning oftens precedes an equally useful turn on the offensive side. With one out in the ninth, Cody picked up his second single of the night, and promptly stole second. With two outs and a painful loss staring the Monarchs in the face, Alex Connely worked the tiring Turner pitcher for a walk. Then with Chris at the plate, the count went full and brought the boys in red down to their final strike. Chris used the next pitch to full advantage, tagging a shot into left to bring Cody sprinting home for the tying run.  So it was on to extra innings, with the score tied 2-2.

 

Tanner was more than efficient in the 10th, putting down the heart of the order 1-2-3 on a minimal eight pitches. When Midland got a runner on in their half of the 10th things were looking good, but Turner turned their second DP of the game and sent the Monarchs back to the dugout in short order.

 

Moving on to the 11th frame, Mac Stephenson took the mound, indicating that he had one inning's worth of pitches left in his arm. And boy, did he ever... Throwing some of the nastiest off-speed stuff seen at Bill Robertson Field in many a game, Mac mowed down the Bears, getting a 6-3 grounder and then the final two outs on called third strikes.

 

Inspired by his effort, the West Platte boys determined to finish the game, here and now. Clay Lambrecht opened the inning with a single, then dashed for second on a grounder by Peyton Morris. While the flip from short to second nailed Clay, the followup throw over from second not only sailed over the first baseman's head, but completely over the fence for a two-base error.

 

Cody now stepped in, and with an 0-1 count, watched a wild pitch go by that sent Peyton over to third. The count went to 2-2, and then Cody found himself plunked in the back and on his way to first (and no, we didn't have any ice). Mac now stepped to the plate with a chance to pick up a victory for the Monarchs, and a pitching win for himself. As it turned out, Turner did the gifting all on their own. With a 1-1 count on Mac, the Bears pitcher attempted a pickoff of Cody and threw the ball past the scrambling first baseman and up the right field fence. Peyton came home like a freight train, and the Monarchs fans and players celebrated a sudden 3-2 victory. Hey, we'll take it!

 

NOTES: Midland played their third consecutive error-free game... Logan Glaze popped a foul ball in the 10th inning that resulted in a broken windshield for one of the visiting fans... After Turner scored in the fifth inning, they didn't have another runner reach third for the rest of the game... Player of the Game is Peyton Morris, going 3-for-5 with a double and also scoring the winning run. He and Logan had six of the Monarchs' 13 hits... There were three double plays in the game for both teams... The Monarchs' middle infielders were busy during the game with Jacob Reinhart and Alex Connely being involved in more than 40% of the outs...