The Humboldt Cubs demolished Prairie View, 10-3, in the opening round Thursday of the regional quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Humboldt (21-4) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the eighth-seed Prairie View Buffalos and never looked back.
Humboldt senior ace Logan Page will likely get the start against Iola Tuesday. He picked up the win with a team-leading six strikeouts, limited to preserve his arm for Iola, while also driving in a team-leading three RBIs.
Page put the Cubs on the scoreboard with a two-RBI single in the opening frame, then senior third baseman Kyler Isbell, who later relieved Page and tallied five strikeouts, plated Page with a two-RBI single. Humboldt added three more runs to their lead in the second on a Page sacrifice fly, as well as freshman outfielder Kolton Hanson and senior first baseman Colden Cook reaching home on passed balls.
The Buffalos staved off the mercy-rule despite Humboldt adding insurance runs after Hanson capitalized on another passed ball in the third, followed by a Cook RBI single and an RBI line-drive by senior outfielder Cole Mathes in the fifth — giving Humboldt a 10-2 advantage heading into the final frame.
Isbell tied senior shortstop Blake Ellis for the team lead in hits as the pair reached base on 3 of 4 at-bats. Cook and Mathes had two hits.
First pitch for Tuesday’s regional semifinal game against the fifth-seeded Iola Mustangs is at 2 p.m. The Mustangs edged fourth-seed Anderson County 8-7 Thursday. Regardless of who wins, at least one Allen County team will make it to the regional championship and face the winner of the other semifinal contest featuring the second-seed Burlington Wildcats (19-6) and third-seed Neodesha Blue Streaks.
