Dragons ready for 5A regional

The sting of last year’s loss in the Class 4A regional baseball tournament at Al Ortolani Field may still be lingering with the Pittsburg Purple Dragons.

But this year, the Dragons have 11 seniors and a different determination to rewrite their history as they enter the Class 5A regional tournament Monday afternoon at JayCee Ballpark.

PHS (15-1) will come in as the No. 1 seed and will take on the No. 8 seed KC-Wyandotte (2-13) at 4:30 p.m. and head coach Mike Wilbert said that his seniors know exactly what it at stake.

“These guys know that this is it and they want to do something that we have not done in three years and that is win the regional and go to state,” Wilbert said. “It is nice to have senior players because those kids mature and with 11, we can spread the load and not just rely on one or two and someone different can step up for us.”

However, the advantages all work in the Dragons’ favor with the regional at Pittsburg and the Dragons claiming the top seed.

“It is definitely an advantage to play at your home park and to be a No. 1 seed,” Wilbert said. “This is a tough time of the year because there is a little bit more pressure on the kids because they know that it is a one-and-done type of situation if you have a bad game.”

As for Wyandotte, Wilbert knows that they will be hungry with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

“They won’t have any pressure on them,” Wilbert said. “They have not had the success that they wanted to have but, nevertheless, they have played good competition in the Kansas City area and I know that they will come down here feeling like they can compete with us.

“I told the kids on Friday that it is not really about who we are playing, it is about who we play,” Wilbert said. “If we play like we are capable of ... I like our chances.”

Pittsburg will lean on its bread and butter, the pitching and defense.

“Pitching and defense will take you a long ways and timely hitting with also get you wins,” Wilbert said. “Our pitching and defense will, hopefully be solid as they have been all season long.”

On the mound, Wilbert will start senior Shane Drenick against Wyandotte. Drenick is 6-0 with a .66 earned run average. In addition, Wilbert will hold Brandon Spear (6-0, .72 ERA) in reserve if the Dragons make the championship game at 7 p.m.

“It is a good problem to have because we have two pitchers that are 6-0 and can come out and do nice things for us,” Wilbert said.

As a team, the Dragons are batting .343 led by Drenick’s .465 batting average. Drenick has a team-high 20 hits with 20 RBIs. Both Austin Ross and Zach Richardson are also batting over .400 with Tanner Smith hitting .392.

PHS has allowed more than three runs on just one occasion — a 9-7 loss to Carthage, Mo. — and more than two runs just twice all season.

“Our lineup is very solid from top to bottom and if we just score a few runs our pitchers will keep us in it,” Wilbert said.

Offensively, Wilbert said that it will have to be the top of the order that will have to spark the Dragons at the plate.

“They are the engine that drives our train,” Wilbert said. “Hopefully, those guys hitting in those spots will get on so that our 4-5-6 guys will have someone to drive in. We have done a good job of putting pressure on other teams with our speed but you can’t use your speed to get to first base so you have to get a hit or a walk and if we can do that we can manufacture some runs.”

The first game of the day will feature No. 4-seeded Gardner-Edgerton (12-8) against No. 5-seed KC-Sumner (9-8) at 2 p.m.

Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140.