Merchants fall 10-1 to star-studded Kansas at NBC World Series

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 31, 2017

By Charles Chaney

For The Herald

WICHITA, Kansas — While the club of former Major League Baseball players named the Kansas Stars beat the Everett Merchants 10-1 in seven innings on Monday night at the National Baseball Congress World Series, it was the Merchants who became stars to friends and family after playing on national television.

The game was broadcast on ESPN2 due to the Stars roster being loaded with former MLB players, including Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, who started on the mound and allowed only one hit in four innings.

“My phone blew up,” first baseman Jake Levin said. “While we didn’t win, being able to play on national television was amazing.”

The Merchants found the spotlight thrilling and a bit intimidating.

“It was great playing on ESPN,” player-coach Ty Holm said. “It took us a second to get over those nerves, but I thought we did really well after that first inning.”

The Stars jumped out to an early lead in the first innings on a three-run home run by former Toronto Blue Jay Andy LaRoche. A wild pitch scored Delwyn Young, giving the Stars a 4-0 advantage after two innings.

The Merchants (1-1 in pool play) plated their only run in the bottom of the sixth. Holm singled and advanced to second on a Max Whitt walk. Holm then stole third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Mike Nickeas to cut the Stars’ lead to 6-1.

Errors and walks would lead to more four runs for the Stars in the top of the seventh and an eight-run rule would end the game early.

“They could’ve had 18-19 runs,” Holm, who finished with a team-high two hits, said. “We did really good digging out of some jams and keeping them at bay.”

Everett controls its own destiny despite the loss. They’ll have a showdown with the Colorado Cyclones on Wednesday with the winner advancing to the knockout round. The game time has yet to be announced.

“This game is great,” Holm said. “We still control our destiny and that hasn’t changed. We win on Wednesday and we move on. If we don’t, our season is done.”