By Scott Elpers

 The Derby Twins baseball team is one step closer to missing a spot in the National Baseball Congress World Series after losing its first game of the NBC Midwest Regional at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Saturday. 

Derby struggled offensively in most of its 4-3 loss to the Kansas Cannons this past weekend, and will have to work its way through the losing side of the tournament bracket for the automatic berth that’s awarded to the winner of the NBC Midwest Regional.

The Twins didn’t muster up their first hit of the game until the top of the sixth inning with a bunt from Travis Becherer. With two outs in Derby’s pocket, Chuck Duarte grounded out to third base on the next at-bat, leaving Becherer stranded at first. 

“We didn’t hit one ball out of the infield through six innings,” said Derby head coach Billy Hall. “It just looked like wasted bat after wasted bat.”

Chris Lindmark singled to right field in the top of the seventh, but was left stranded at first base in a similar situation after Cody Silverman struck out on the next at-bat to end the inning. 

“For seven innings it was a terrible game,” Hall said. “We went through the motions, didn’t show up and we deserved to lose today.”

The Cannons upped their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh with three consecutive hits off Derby pitcher Luke Barker. The right-hander struck out two and gave up three runs on seven hits in 6-2/3 innings of work. 

Derby’s offense sputtered to life in the top of the eighth inning. After a Caleb Simpson walk and an Ethan Loosen single, Duarte hit in both runs and reached third base after a shot to deep center field and a throwing error by the Cannons. Duarte snuck in for Derby’s next run to tie the game at 3-3 after a wild pitch on the next at-bat.

After giving up a lead-off single in the bottom of the eighth, Derby retired three straight batters and forced the Cannons to leave a runner in scoring position with the game still tied at 3-3.

With one out in the top of the ninth, Lindmark made his way into scoring position for the Twins with a double to center field. Silverman popped out to center field on the next at-bat and Owen Conway did the same to left field to leave Lindmark stranded at second base.

“Over the course of the whole summer, we have not hit well with runners in scoring position,” Hall said.  

Tied at 3-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Cannons drove in the winning run from third base with a single up the middle of the infield.

Derby’s chance of making the NBC World Series is slimming down with every loss. The Twins still have a shot in the double-elimination regional that runs through June 19. If Derby is eliminated from the NBC Midwest Regional with another loss, it will need to win its remaining five league games to get closer to the top of the Jayhawk League for another shot at an NBC World Series berth. 

Kansas Cannons 4, Derby 3             

              1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E 

Derby      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 6 1

Kansas    0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 4 10 1

W — Martinez, Kansas 

L — Barker, Derby 

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