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Butler Community College Athletics

Butler Baseball Takes Down Neosho, Advances to Second Round of Plains District Tournament

EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler Grizzlies defeated the Neosho County Community College Panthers in a best-of-three game series to advance to the second round of the Plains District Tournament.

Butler Baseball Takes Down Neosho, Advances to Second Round of Plains District Tournament
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May 9, 2026

EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler Grizzlies defeated the Neosho County Community College Panthers in a best-of-three game series to advance to the second round of the Plains District Tournament. 

Game 1 (9 inn.) – Butler 13, Neosho 8

Butler opened the series with an explosive offensive performance, powered by three home runs from Tanay Vyas and a steady start from Shane Holman to take Game 1 convincingly.

The Grizzlies jumped ahead early with a three‑run first inning, highlighted by back‑to‑back homers from Vyas and Danny Wideman. After Neosho briefly surged with a four‑run fourth — capped by a grand slam from Gabe Rice — Butler immediately punched back. Vyas launched his second homer in the bottom half to restore the lead.

Butler broke the game open in the sixth and seventh, capitalizing on wild pitches, a balk, and defensive miscues. Vyas delivered the knockout blow with his third homer of the game, a two‑run shot in the seventh.

Holman struck out eight over six innings to earn the win, while Butler's offense turned just seven hits into thirteen runs.

Game 2 (9 inn.) – Neosho 16, Butler 9

Neosho County responded with urgency in Game 2 on Friday, defeating the Grizzlies 16-9 to extend the series to a third game. 

The Panthers set the tone early, hitting a grand slam in the opening inning to take a 4-0 lead.  After Neosho hit a solo homer in the top half of the inning to extend their lead to 5-0, the Grizzlies answered in the bottom half of the inning by scoring six runs to take the lead at 6-5. 

Neosho rallied in the fourth by putting up six runs of their own in the inning to ultimately put the game out of reach. 

Neosho's Casey Clemenson earned the win, throwing eight innings and 114 total pitches on the afternoon to help the Panthers extend the series to a third game. 

Game 3 (9 inn.) – Butler 9, Neosho 8

The decisive game delivered pure postseason chaos — six home runs, multiple lead changes, and a late Butler comeback that sealed the series.

Neosho County looked in control early behind home runs from Maverick Williamson (two), Lars Koester, and JD Troutman, building a 5–1 lead by the sixth inning. Williamson's second blast — a towering two‑run shot — felt like a potential dagger.

But Butler refused to fold.

The Grizzlies chipped away in the sixth, then erupted in the seventh. Tanay Vyas ignited the rally with a two‑run homer, and Jackson Ellison tied the game with a clutch RBI single. Suddenly, the momentum had flipped.

In the eighth, Danny Wideman delivered the swing of the series — a three‑run moonshot to center that put Butler ahead 9–6. Neosho made one final push with Troutman's two‑run homer in the ninth, but Connor Robinson shut the door to secure the win. Wideman's home run was his 25th on the season, putting him tied for second on the all-time single season home run list in program history. 

Butler starter Cooper Annin had an impressive outing on the mound, throwing 4.1 innings, allowing only three hits, three earned runs and four strikeouts. 

Next up: The No. 6 seeded Grizzlies advance to the second round of the Plains District Tournament to take on the No. 3 seeded Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils on May 13th at 10 a.m. from Eck Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University.