MANHATTAN — The Humboldt Cubs brought home the fourth-place plaque from Friday’s state baseball tournament after falling to the Sabetha Bluejays 2-1 in the consolation game.
Senior pitcher Cole Mathes put Humboldt on his shoulders while engaging in a pitcher’s duel through extra innings. The Bluejays emerged victorious after the Cubs failed to score in their final at-bat with a pair of pop-ups bringing their season to an end.
“I’m super proud of the way we competed today. We put ourselves in the right position to break through, and take the lead or tie it up in both games and it just wasn’t our day,” Humboldt coach Mike Miller said. “We came up short a couple of times, but we competed. We battled. I’m proud of how we played the whole tournament. We played good, clean baseball and that’s all you can ask for.”
Mathes tallied five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings on the mound while allowing four hits, a run and five walks.
Junior second baseman Mason Sterling put Humboldt on the scoreboard with an RBI single, plating senior pinch-runner Brody Gunderman. That was all of the offensive production the Cubs could muster.
“I had been struggling at the plate all weekend,” Sterling said. “I was just trying to make contact there at the end. I got us one and got us a couple of extra innings. In the end, it just wasn’t enough.”
Senior shortstop Blake Ellis and senior catcher Jacob Harrington tied for the team lead in hits while successful in 2 of 4 and 2 of 3 at-bats respectively. Gunderman tallied a pair of strikeouts while coming on in relief while allowing two hits and a run.
“It was a ride. I love my boys, and I tried to give it my all on the mound,” senior pitcher Cole Mathes said. “I’m going to miss practicing with them. They have a bright future. They all work hard and when they were under us we tried to teach them what we could. That’s our job as role models. Hopefully they follow in our footsteps.”
With the loss, the Cubs end their season with a 24-6 record. With nine seniors graduating, Humboldt may be in for a rebuild next season, but Coach Miller does not believe it will be long until the Cubs are back in contention for a state title.
“I wanted it one more time for these guys. To get back here and prove we have some of the best players in the state,” Miller said. “They were able to do that, and I’m happy for them. These young guys got some big shoes to fill. A lot of them got a taste of it this year, and some got a taste of it at the state tournament. They know what the expectations are and I think they will be up for the challenge.”
