Avila Outslugged by (20) Kansas Wesleyan in Regular Season Finale

SALINA, Kan. – Already assured of a postseason berth for the first time in program history, Avila baseball (22-28, 17-19 KCAC) had to face (20) Kansas Wesleyan in the final series of the 2024 regular season, and the Coyotes (41-8, 32-4 KCAC) ultimately claimed all three games this weekend in Salina.

This series was certainly altered and affected by adverse weather. This was supposed to be Avila's final home series of the season played on Friday and Saturday at The Z, but imminent serious weather threatening the Kansas City area all weekend forced the series to get shifted to Dean Evans Stadium in Salina. The games were all still considered home games for the Eagles, but the Coyotes took full advantage of playing at home, bashing a total of 20 home runs in the series to ultimately win three "road" games to close out the year.

The Eagles mounted a seriously impressive rally in Friday's series opener against the conference's top team before the Coyotes once again flashed their extra-base ability to slug their way to a win, a common theme over the weekend. Three Coyotes homered in the top of the first inning to help KWU vault out to a huge 8-1 lead early, but Ricky Dober and Landon Vahle combined to lift the Eagles back into the game against one of Kansas Wesleyan's top starters, Brett Maddock, in no time at all.

Vahle started the rally with an RBI single in the third inning before Dober clubbed a grand slam off Maddock in the third to lift the Eagles to within two scores. KWU pulled one back with a Zack Beatty sacrifice fly, but Vahle knocked Maddock out of the game in the fourth with a two-run shot, and then Dober hit a solo shot, his third homer of the game, on the first pitch from Nathan Galusha to complete an incredible comeback, tying the game at nine apiece.

Ryan Wingerd and Julio Perez threw scoreless innings in relief for Avila, but then Kansas Wesleyan erupted yet again, getting home runs from three different players in the seventh to reestablish a commanding lead. Armando Arguello was excellent over two scoreless, but KWU put the finishing touches on a resounding win with three more in the ninth to spoil Hadley Price's Avila debut. Jacob Williamson had five hits and three RBI and Jarrett Gable added four hits and two RBI for KWU in an 18-9 win; Dober homered three times with a total of six runs driven in in a career game for the Eagles.

The teams quickly returned to the field for the second game of the series on Friday evening, where the Coyotes quickly picked up where they had left off, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. Vahle brought two runs back in the home half with a two-run blast against KWU veteran starter Jarrett Brannen to make it 4-2, but the Coyotes then took over completely, scoring the next 12 runs over the following three innings to take a commanding lead.

In a scheduled 7-inning game, Avila didn't have much time to punch back, but the Eagles certainly finished strong, scoring the final six runs of the game in an encouraging late rally. Gio Armas kickstarted the rally with a two-run homer in the fifth, and later in the inning Travis Curry delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single. Rhett Rogers scored on a wild pitch, and Dober capped things off in the seventh inning with a solo shot, his fourth long ball of the day overall.

It made little difference in the end as Kansas Wesleyan prevailed 16-8 to clinch the series win. Kendall Foster went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBI for KWU, and Reece Bishop also drove in four; Armas went 3-for-3 with a homer and two knocked in for Avila.

Saturday's finale was the game most beset by weather. The start time was changed twice, ultimately moved all the way up to a 9:30 AM local start time in an effort to avoid the incoming weather. The teams avoided the precipitation, but the Coyotes continued to rain down hits and runs in an eventual run-rule win. The Coyotes scored in each of the first five innings of the game to build a massive early lead before Avila finally got on the board in the sixth inning thanks to a pinch-hit homer from Robby Cable.

Kendall Foster went deep yet again to ensure the Coyotes led by enough to secure an early victory before Avila made one final push, scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh. JD Leslie walked and scored in his final series and Curry drove in a run with a knock, wrapping up a 16-3 win for Kansas Wesleyan in seven innings in the final game of the season for both teams. Jacob Williamson went 4-for-4 with four RBI and four runs scored to cap off a stellar weekend.

Even with the three losses, Avila baseball has already locked up a spot in next week's KCAC Championship for the first time in program history. The conference will announce the full bracket, schedule and long-withheld overall postseason plans later this weekend; stay tuned to Avila Athletics on social media and avilaathletics.com for plenty of coverage all week long from Great Bend.