Region VI Second Round Preview: #3 Butler vs #6 Fort Scott

Region VI Second Round

6-seed Fort Scott vs 3-seed Butler

Date: May 17th

Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Eck Stadium | Wichita, KS

Watch Live: kjcccsports.net/

Massey Ratings Game Prediction: Butler 7-6

Massey Ratings Chance to Win: Butler 58%, Allen 42%

OPENING NOTES

• The 3rd seeded Butler Grizzlies and the 6th seeded Fort Scott Greyhounds will meet in the second round of the Region VI Playoffs at Eck Stadium 
• From this game on the Region VI Playoffs is a double-elimination tournament
• The winner of this game will face the winner #7 Seward/#2 Johnson at 4PM on Thursday and the loser will play the loser of Seward/Johnson Thursday at 10AM
• The Grizzlies finished second in the Jayhawk West and Greyhounds finished third in the Jayhawk East
• The Grizzlies advanced to this game after defeating Allen County 2-1 in the first round
• Fort Scott swept Hutchinson 2-0 in the first round
• Butler Baseball has won at least 35 games in five straight seasons
• The Grizzlies have won seven of their last ten games
• The Grizzlies have advanced past the first round in the playoffs for five straight years
• Neither team appeared in the NJCAA Rankings all season
• Butler is 34-14 against unranked opponents this year
• Butler's strength of schedule (SOS) is ranked 118th by Massey Ratings, Allen's SOS is 142nd
• Against common opponents, Butler is 19-10 and Allen is 22-13. Those teams being Cowley, Neosho, Coffeyville, Highland, Pratt, KCK, Colby, and Crowder 

Last action for the Grizzlies 

Friday, May 12th | Region VI First Round | Game Three | Allen 8, Butler 20 (7)

• The Butler Baseball team crushed the Allen County Red Devils in the decisive game three of the Region VI First Round
• The Grizzlies jumped out to a 20-1 lead through three innings to power them to a win
• Hayden Dyer was 3-4 in the game. He recorded seven RBIs in the game, highlighted by a grand slam in the third inning
• The 20 runs scored in the game was the most runs the Grizzlies have scored in a game since March 19th, 2022, when they scored 23 against Seward in a 23-1 win
• The Grizzlies enter the game against Fort Scott with a record of 38-21 overall 

THE OPPONENT

• The 6th seed overall and KJCCC East third place finisher Fort Scott Greyhounds enter with a record of 37-21 overall and they finished 19-13 in conference play
• Fort Scott is 7-3 over their last ten games
• This was the Greyhounds best regular season finish since 2019, when they also finished 37-21
• In their series against Hutchinson, the Greyhounds run-ruled the Blue Dragons 11-0 in game one and won game two 10-6
  • The Greyhounds hit seven home runs over the two games
• Fort Scott has a Massey Ratings RPI ranking of 84th, up 13 spots from last week
  • For comparison to teams in the conference, Hutchinson is ranked 90th and Seward County is 77th
• The Greyhounds have not played a game at a neutral site this season
• Fort Scott leads all of NJCAA Division I in home runs this year with 134
• The Greyhounds have the third best batting average in the KJCCC at 0.357
• Of the eight teams remaining in the Region VI Playoffs, the Greyhounds have the second highest team ERA, sitting at 6.98
• Fort Scott has the 54th ranked offense in NJCAA Division I 

RECENT WINNING

• The Grizzlies have won 9 of their last 12 games and have held opponents to four or fewer runs in 8 of those 12 games

LOOKING TO BUILD

• The Grizzlies have not won a second round Region VI game since 2015 when they beat Cowley as an eight seed

MOST RECENT MEETING

• While the teams have not met in the regular season since at least 2012, the Grizzlies and Greyhounds met in the 2021 sub-regional where they played three times. The Greyhounds beat the Grizzlies 12-1 in the opening round, but the Grizzlies ultimately charged through the losers' bracket earning a rematch with the Hounds in the championship. The Grizzlies won game one 6-5 to force a decisive game two, which the Grizzlies won 15-14 on a walk off triple by Cache Stone

JUST KICKEN' IT

• Starter Caden Kickhaefer leads the KJCCC with an ERA of 2.41 this season
• Kickhaefer is fourth in innings pitched by pitchers in the KJCCC with 74.1
• Kick is also tied for the fewest home runs allowed among pitchers in the Jayhawk Conference with four

HUDDY HOMERS

• Justin Hudson leads the Grizzlies in home runs this season with 16 and he's hit four homers over his last seven games played

IN DYER NEED

• After missing nine games last month due to injury, Hayden Dyer has returned to the lineup and had a big impact on the Grizzly batting order. Since his return, he's batting 0.422, with 21 RBIs, and he's hit seven home runs, while drawing ten walks

TIGER KING

• Grizzly ace Izack Tiger is the all-time program leader for strikeouts in a career with 228. He has a career K/9 of 11.21 and a K/9 this year of 12.61 which ranks 22nd in the NJCAA and is the second highest mark in the Jayhawk Conference 

OTHER KJCCC SECOND ROUND MATCHUPS:

#7 Seward vs #2 Johnson (1PM)

#8 KCK vs #1 Barton (4PM)

#5 Cloud vs #4 Cowley (7PM)

TEAM LEADERS AS OF 5/16:

HITTING

Batting Average: Hayden Dyer: 0.391

RBIs: Hayden Dyer: 64

Hits: Hayden Dyer: 70

Runs Scored: Josh Holmes: 50

Doubles: Justin Hudson: 18

Triples: Five players tied: 1

Home Runs: Justin Hudson: 16

Walks Drawn: Brock Kuehler: 38

PITCHING

Innings Pitched: Caden Kickhaefer: 78.1

Wins: Tied: Caden Kickhaefer and Izack Tiger: 10

Saves: Blake Werry: 7

Strikeouts: Izack Tiger: 106

ERA: Caden Kickhaefer: 2.41

Fewest BBs Issued (Min 40 IP): Caden Kickhaefer: 22

Complete Games: Izack Tiger: 5

LOOKING AHEAD

As mentioned, a win means the Grizzlies will play the Seward/Johnson winner tomorrow at 4PM. If they lose, the Grizzlies will play the Seward/Johnson loser at 10AM.