Buffs’ baseball splits with Wichita West
Story courtesy Garden City High School Sports Information
GCHS wins first, 6-5; drops nightcap, 7-6
As the 2026 regular season draws to a close next week for the Garden City Buffaloes’ baseball team, there are still the signs that when they play a complete game in areas of hitting, pitching, fielding, they can be competitive with any team.
On Friday in their next-to-last home doubleheader against a solid Wichita West team, the Buffs found a way to win the opener in dramatic fashion, 6-5, but fell behind early in Game 2 only to see its late inning rally come up short in a 7-6 setback.
The doubleheader split left the Buffs with an 11-13 season record. Their final regular season contests will come on Tuesday when they host Thomas More Prep, one of the premier Class 2-1A schools in Kansas.
TMP just lost its first game of the season on Friday, a 6-2 setback to Class 6A Manhattan (17-4). The Monarchs will bring a 21-1 record into the twinbill set to have the first pitch at 4 p.m. at Clint Lightner Field.
“I felt like we were pretty much in control of Game 1,” head coach Lance Allred said. “We don’t see West much so coming in we didn’t really know too much about them. It took us a little while to figure out the pitching and their style of play.”
The Buffs built a 3-0 lead through two innings of Game 1 before West struck for two runs in its third inning at-bt. The Buffs countered with a single run in the third only to have the Pioneers score once in the fourth and twice in the fifth to go up 5-4.
However, the Buffs rallied to score the tying and what proved to be the winning run in their half of the fifth.
After Ryder Plankenhorn had pitched the first four innings (6 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts), Jakobe Rathbun came in to relieve him and pitched two solid innings, holding the Pioneers scoreless, walking two and striking out two.
“We just had a lot of different guys step up in different ways in the game,” Allred said.
The Buffs hammered out 11 hits, including a pair of doubles by Drew Strecker (2 RBIs) and one by Rathbun (1 RBI). Gio Benitez and Jonathan Almanza delivered the other two RBIs.
In the nightcap, the Buffs couldn’t give ace hurler Eli Steinmetz enough early help and three costly errors allowed West to score three unearned runs.
“It seems like it’s a lot of the same things we’ve struggled with most of the season,” Allred said. “Simple plays that usually come with someone on base.”
The Buffs trailed 4-0 in the nightcap after three innings but after a single run in the fourth and three in the fifth, they were down just 5-4. The seventh inning proved pivotal as the Pioneers pushed across two runs in the top half for a 7-4 advantage.
Their three-run fifth inning came on an RBI triple by Culden Plankenhorn, who then came home on Rathbun’s fielder’s choice groundout. Strecker then blasted a home run.
The Buffs scored twice in their final at-bat.
Culden Plankenhorn singled and Rathbun doubled with Plankenhorn stopping at third base. Strecker singled to center, scoring both Plankenhorn and Rathbun. Almanza grounded out with Strecker moving to third with just one out. Benitez reached when he was hit by a pitch. But Ryder Plankenhorn grounded into a 6-3 double play, with Benitez out at second to end the game.
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Friday, May 8
At Clint Lightner Field
Game 1
GARDEN CITY 6, WICHITA WEST 5
Wichita West…002…120…0…–…5…6…0
Garden City…121…020…x…–…6…11…3
Pitching—West: Lagarda, Dominguez (5) and Combs; Garden City: R. Plankenhorn, Almanza (5), Rathbun (6) and C. Plankenhorn. 2B—West: Hauser; Garden City: Strecker 2, Rathbun. 3B—West: Custer.
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Game 2
WICHITA WEST 7, GARDEN CITY 6
Wichita West…121…010…2…–…7…9…2
Garden City…000…130…2…–…6…8…3
Pitching—West: Hauser and Bandy; Garden City: Steinmetz, Strecker (7) and C. Plankenhorn. 2B—West: Custer; Garden City: Wells, Rathbun. 3B—Garden City: C. Plankenhorn. HR—Garden City: Strecker.