Garden City Wind Rally Past Tucson Saguaros, 8-6

GARDEN CITY, Kansas — The Garden City Wind erased a four-run deficit with six unanswered runs and defeated the Tucson Saguaros, 8-6, on Friday night at Clint Lightner Field.

Tucson carried a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning after scoring three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Will Thomas tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth, and Connor Kiefer followed with a two-run single that gave the Saguaros a 4-2 advantage. Diego Zuniga then extended the lead in the fifth with a two-run home run that scored Trent Mallonee.

Garden City began its comeback in the bottom of the fifth when Dom Enbody singled home Peyton Lewis. Lewis added an RBI single in the sixth, scoring Jordan Williams and cutting Tucson's lead to 6-4.

The Wind completed the comeback with a three- run seventh inning. Aidan Grabowski brought home Ben Bach on a fielder's choice, Williams drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Enbody, and pinch hitter Leyton Barry lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Rob Morosetti and gave Garden City a 7-6 lead.

Garden City added an insurance run in the eighth. Lewis walked, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before scoring on Enbody's sacrifice fly.

Lewis led the Wind by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base. Bach also collected three hits, while Enbody drove in two runs. Kaden Kirshenbaum finished 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

Zuniga paced Tucson's offense by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a home run and two RBIs. Sloan Laird and Gavy Perez-Torres each had two hits, while Kiefer drove in two runs.

Garden City's bullpen shut down the Saguaros after the fifth inning. Tyler Bare allowed one hit over two scoreless innings, Gavin Peterson struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth, and Jack Robinson retired Tucson in order in the ninth. The Wind relievers combined to allow just one hit and no runs over the final four innings.

Tucson starter Quentin O'Conner allowed four runs on 11 hits over six innings while striking out six. The Saguaros' bullpen surrendered four runs over the final two innings.

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