SALINA — It was a pitching dual for the ages in the opening round of the 4A state baseball tournament on Thursday, when Rock Creek’s sophomore ace Brock Lubbers outdueled Mulvane’s Parker Clubb — a senior who is committed to play college ball at Louisville — to walk away with a 3-1 win in the opening round.  

“I just thought we competed 1-9 at the plate, we didnt give them any easy at-bats,” Mustang head coach Shane Sieben said after the game. “That was the biggest thing we talked about before the game, they have one dude, we’ve got to have nine dudes. (Clubb) is unbelievable, he’s a D1 kid, he runs it up there in the 90s. We knew it was going to be tough, but we also felt that if we just made him work 1-9, and we had a plan at the plate and stuck to it, at the end of the day we would be right there.”

Rock Creek, the No. 4 seed, broke a 0-0 deadlock in the fourth inning when Wyatt Wells battled back with two strikes to deliver a clutch single, driving in two runs to give his team the lead.

“I was just excited,” Wells said of the go-ahead single. “Our whole team played a really good complete game. We all did our part. We did our best to win and get to play again tomorrow.”

Lubbers was dominant for the Mustangs, recording 21 outs and allowing just three hits and one run over seven innings. He struck out eight and issued two walks in a stellar outing. On the opposing side, Clubb conceded five hits and three runs — two of them earned — while striking out seven and walking one in five innings of work.

Wells led Rock Creek offensively, driving in two runs from the eighth spot in the lineup and finishing 1-for-2 at the plate. Meanwhile, teammate Ryker Zoeller tallied a team-high two hits in his 2-for-3 performance. The Mustangs also showcased their defensive prowess, turning a key double play in the second inning.

For fourth-seeded Mulvane, Hays Ensley, Hudson Myers, and Clubb each recorded a hit. Clubb went 1-for-2, accounting for his team’s lone RBI. The Wildcats also executed a double play in the game.

Rock Creek stays alive to take on the top seeded McPherson (26-3), who edged out Tonganoxie in the first round 3-1. The winner of that game will move on to the title game to compete for this year’s state championship.