The Neosho County Community College baseball team punched its ticket to Wichita and the next round of the Region VI Tournament with a sweep of the Pratt Community College Beavers on Saturday afternoon.

In game one, the Panthers shook off an early home run by the Beavers to respond with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. "We made some base running boneheaded plays in the first game," Coach Steve Murry said. "We also had a bad pitch in the first game, but other than that, we were pretty much error free." Neosho County went on to win game one 13-3. Sophomore center fielder Darian Abram got the offense off on the right foot with a single. After freshman third baseman Brylie Ware was hit by a pitch, sophomore first baseman Ryan Toliver homered to give the Panthers a 3-1 advantage. It was a lead that Neosho County never surrendered the remainder of the game.

"We came out and hit when we should," Murry said. "We pitched it when we should. I thought we had some nice performances." Later in the game, Abram started the seventh inning with a home run, and two batters later Ware scored on a double by sophomore right fielder Evan Bourn to cap off the run-ruled contest. Sophomore pitcher Trent Latta went the distance for the win, striking out two. Offensively, Abram, Toliver and Bourn tallied three hits apiece, while freshman designated hitter Aaron Dees, catcher Cooper Minnick and sophomore second baseman Chad Thomas added two apiece.

In game two, started nearly identical to the first. The Beavers homered in the top of the first, but Neosho County answered with its own run in the bottom half of the inning. After freshman starter Mason Knopp retired Pratt in order in the second, the Panthers plated two in the home half of the inning.  A triple by freshman left fielder Nate Crossman led to a run and freshman Josh Norlin homered to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead. Over the next three innings, the offenses for both teams went cold and it wasn't until the a four-run sixth inning by the Panthers put the game out of reach.

The Beavers made a comeback attempt in the top of the eighth with two runs, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers scored three more times in the home half of the inning. Knopp struck out five and walked none in eight innings of work to improve to 10-0 on the season. Offensively, Ware and Dees were 2-for-5 at the plate. Designated hitter Blake Tomasino and Toliver combed for six RBIs on two hits. "They put together two wins and punched their ticket to Wichita," Murry said.

With the sweep, the Panthers tied the school record for the most wins in a single season with 49. "I'm really excited," Murry explained. "This team has achieved a lot this year. It would have been sad not to get to Wichita. Now we are, and we'll have to see how the chips fall." The top-seeded Panthers (49-9) will play the No. 9-seeded Allen County Red Devils at 1 pm Friday in Wichita at Lawrence Dumont Stadium. "At this point, a win is a win," Murry concluded. "I don't care if they are ugly or pretty. Everyone is going to leave crying when it's done unless you win that last game. It's just survive and advance and see how long you can delay it."