The 2019 legion baseball season came to a close for the Sabetha Raptors Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the AA/AAA State Legion Baseball Tournament as Hays battled back from a two-run deficit in the seventh to walk-off the Raptors 5-4.

The Raptors wasted no time jumping on top of Hays with a run in the first inning on an RBI double from Riley Herrmann before scoring two more in the second on a 2-RBI single from Gabe Garber to lead 3-0 after two innings.

Hays then came right back with a run in the third thanks to a Sabetha error, before the Raptors went back up by three with an RBI single from Blake Frey in the fifth.

The Eagles next best opportunity came in the fifth when they got one, but Jalen Worthley cut down a runner at home to end the inning which left the bases loaded and leaving Sabetha with a 4-2 lead which held until the seventh.

After the Raptors went down quietly in the top of the seventh Hays won the game in the bottom of the inning and walked off thanks to two walks and two singles in the inning.

Brayden Becker got the start for Sabetha and went 4.2 innings allowing just one earned run on two hits, while Braden Argabright came on and pitched the final 1.2 innings allowing three runs on four hits.

Joe Gruber and Gabe Garber were named the McDonald’s Players of the Game on 103.9 KNZA as Gruber had a hit and a run scored while Garber had two hits and two RBI.

The loss ends a magical season for the Raptors who finish with a 34-3 record and ends the legion baseball careers of six impactful young men in Joe Gruber, Trevor Kramer, Riley Herrmann, Seth Burdick, Blake Frey and Brayden Becker.