A's hold on for win

It was closer than it needed to be, but the Blue Springs Rod’s Sports A’s opened Regional 6 play with a win Thursday.
Entering the ninth inning with an 8-1 lead, the A’s gave up six ninth inning runs, holding on to defeat host Minot Post 26, 8-7, in the first game of the tournament.
“Probably the best thing that came out of this game was we won,” A’s manager Mike Rooney said after the game.
The A’s scored six runs in the fifth inning and two more in the seventh to build an 8-0 lead behind pitcher Kyle Barbeck.
Barbeck finished with 15 strikeouts and one earned run in eight innings on three hits.
In the ninth, Ben Briant came on in relief and got two outs, but struggled in the inning. Kyle Seithel came on for the last out – striking out the only hitter he faced – to earn the save.
“I thought Ben would come in, get three outs and it would be over,” Rooney said. “I never dreamed (this would happen).”
Briant helped the cause offensively with two hits and two RBIs, while Chace Ellis had three hits and drove in a run. Seithel had a double and an RBI, while Matt McHenry drove in two runs.
Rooney said part of the problem for the A’s (51-6) came from not pitching to the situation.
“Our problem is we weren’t smart,” he said. “We have the 8 and 9 hitters who had five hits because we were throwing the fastball past them and decided to try to get them out on changeups. That’s just dumb baseball.”
The A’s next play a team out of Dubuque, Iowa, in a game scheduled for 8 p.m. today.
Rooney said the team from Dubuque will be a handful.
“They swing the bats extremely well,” he said. “They have kids from six different high schools. They draw from all over, so they get the best kids.. They’re going to be a tough opponent.”