Wellington Heat take KCBL Tournament crown, now comes NBC World Series
Alex Lyon gets two home runs in KCLB Championship.
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington Heat staved off a late inning rally by the Kansas Cannons and secured a Kansas Collegiate Baseball League Tournament Championship at Hibbs-Hooten Field Monday night.
The 5-4 Heat victory completed a two-game sweep in the double-elimination tournament after losing to the Cannon on Saturday. Wellington now sets its sight on the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita where they have already qualified in the championship level of the tournament.
Their tournament start won’t begin for another two weeks. In the meantime, they will schedule a couple of games with the Sunflower League member Cheney Diamond Dawgs to remain sharp.
2018 Wellington Heat sweep both KCLB regular season and tournament championship. Click on photo for larger version.
Heat shortstop Alex Lyon had a monstrous game Monday, hitting two home runs, stealing a couple of bags, and making every play at shortstop.
“When Alex gets in a mood, he can take over a game,” said Nate Landry, a Wellington Heat coach. “He has the ability to take a team on his back and refuses to lose. It was that way tonight.”
Lyon, second at bat, set the tone for the game by knocking the ball out of the park in the first inning on a solo home run.
The Heat added a run in the third after Joe Rankin singled and eventually returned home on a Caleb Dubler sacrifice fly.
Wellington would add two more runs in the fourth to lead 4-1 on an Luys Amaro double. Lyon would then added his second home run contribution in the sixth to make it a 5-1 Heat advantage.
The Cannon made its move in the bottom of the eighth with three runs. Andrew Stole then came in relief on the Heat mound and retired the next four batters to preserve victory for the Heat.
