Washburn rests his aching bones
By CONOR NICHOLL
The Hays Larks missed one of their best weapons against left-handed pitching in Tuesday night's game against Junction City when first baseman Dusty Washburn was scratched from the lineup.
Washburn carries a .412 batting average against left-handers this summer, second-highest on the Larks behind Rich Michalek.
Washburn's bat could have been a help against Generals' left-hander Lance Hoge. Seven of the nine starters in Tuesday's lineup bat .200 or lower against left-handers.
Hoge pitched seven shutout innings and allowed four hits as Junction City handed the Larks a 12-0 loss that ended a season-high six-game winning streak. Washburn watched the game from the stands with several teammates, just the third game he hasn't played in this summer.
"He was a little stiff tonight," Larks manager Frank Leo said.
Washburn, Fort Hays' All-American first baseman in the spring, had an experience Monday night that harkened back to his days at Thomas More Prep-Marian.
In the Larks' wild 14-13 victory over Salina, Washburn pitched a scoreless inning and caught the last two innings -- his first time pitching and catching all spring and summer.
"Yesterday I was not intending him to catch two innings and work that hard," Leo said. "He had to work pretty hard, threw an inning, he was a little sore coming to the ballpark. No need to push it, give him another night off."
Leo expects Washburn to start tonight when Hays heads east for a rematch against Junction City.
"We will put him back in the lineup (today) and get him ready to go," Leo said.
Today's pitching
For the third straight day against a third straight nonleague opponent, the Larks plan to team pitch against Junction City tonight. Jordan Beistline, the team leader in appearances (16), will make his first start of the summer.
Beistline, from Div. I Jacksonville State, made 15 appearances (eight starts) in the spring and posted a 3-2 record and 4.74 earned-run average. For Hays, Beistline is 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA.
"Hopefully we can get a couple of innings out of him," Leo said.
Swingman Tyler Sturdevant will be in relief and starting center fielder Brandon Eckerle will likely pitch, too. Eckerle pitched in three games (two-thirds of an inning) in spot relief for Michigan State as a freshman.
"Again, it is going to be a piece thing," Leo said. "We are not a deep staff. We have a roster of 23 players and practically all of the Jayhawk League teams carry 28 players. Carrying three or four more pitchers makes a big difference."
Eckerle would join the multiple Larks position players that have seen action against Salina and Junction City. Leo has rested his top three starters, Patrick Cooper, Jason Stacy and Eddie Carl, at least a week each for this weekend's key Jayhawk League road series against Liberal. Hays leads the Jayhawk League by two games over Derby and four games over Liberal.
In the nonleague games on Monday and Tuesday, Leo has used Washburn, shortstop Mike Brownstein, catcher Eric Roof, right fielder Billy Boockford, third baseman/outfielder Jason Kudlock and middle infielder Andrew Heck to throw some innings. For many of them, it's the first appearance on the mound all summer.
With Eckerle, Boockford and Heck, the trio could use the summer innings to help them in the spring at school.
"Billy Boockford, he came into Notre Dame as a pitcher and Heck threw about 10 innings at Duquesne," Leo said. "Maybe in these nonleague games they can eat some innings up for us and get us to the league games and hopefully that is going to happen (today)."
Michalek, Roof hot at plate
Even though the Larks didn't score Tuesday night, Michalek and Roof each reached base twice. Along with Brownstein, they were the only two Larks to reach base more than once against Junction City.
Tuesday capped an impressive six-game home stand for Michalek and Roof, an offensive output that helped Hays finish 5-1.
Michalek, the team leader in multiple offensive categories, including batting average, on-base percentage and hits, went 7-for-16 (.438 average) in the six games with five walks, six runs scored, four RBIs and three extra-base hits (including a homer).
Roof, the starting catcher, batted .368 (7-for-19) with seven RBIs, two extra-base hits and one homer.
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