Broncos cinderella NBC bid ends with third place finish

Wednesday

Aug 15, 2012 at 1:00 PMAug 15, 2012 at 1:49 PM

Midnight finally struck for the Cinderella team in the NBC World Series on Friday night.El Dorado dropped a 2-1 decision to defending champion Santa Barbara in the semifinals.The Broncos, who finished fifth in the Jayhawk League and weren’t given much of a chance in the NBC, wound up tied for third place with the Hays Larks.

Midnight finally struck for the Cinderella team in the NBC World Series on Friday night.El Dorado dropped a 2-1 decision to defending champion Santa Barbara in the semifinals.The Broncos, who finished fifth in the Jayhawk League and weren’t given much of a chance in the NBC, wound up tied for third place with the Hays Larks. Hays lost in the semifinals to the Seattle Studs 6-2. Earlier in the tournament, El Dorado defeated Seattle 1-0.Tied 1-1, the Broncos loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Chuck Duarte opened with a double. Daniel Baptista and Tyler Coughenour drew walks. Chris Godinez grounded to third and Duarte was forced at home, leaving the bases loaded.David Harris struck out, and Tyler Buchanan grounded out to end the inning.Trailing 1-0, El Dorado tied it in the fifth. Buchanan walked, was sacrificed to second by Anthony Perez. Buchanan moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Arturo Corona’s sacrifice fly to left.Brandon Faulkner took the loss for El Dorado, going eight innings and striking out seven.Perez was chosen the Most Inspritional Player. While at Tabor College, he broke a thumb but still returned to play. Then, he broke his collarbone, and doctors said he would be out for six months. He returned to play for the Broncos in July and played the remainder of the season.The Broncos finished with a 29-24 record.NBC World Series Awards#14 Josh Stone, Best Pitcher#41 Daniel Baptista, Best 1st Baseman#27 Pat Hon, Coach of the Tournament