By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

Hays Legion infielder Sam Rohleder sat in the first-base dugout at the Hays High field before the start of the Class AAA Legion state tournament and discussed the Eagles' strong season.

"To be honest, I think that the team this year cares a little bit more than last year's team and I think that is the main reason why we won nine more (regular season) games," he said.

Rohleder believed the difference was the team's six players who finished their senior year in high school in the spring -- Sam Rohleder, Austin Klaus, Justin Klaus, Dave Klaus, Travis Budke and Matt Malott. The quintet fueled a 29-win season and a trip to the state tournament for the first time since 2004.

"Definitely," Sam Rohleder said. "We are a really tight group of seniors. We have been playing with each other for quite awhile and we have been looking forward to this year for a long time."

Those seniors, which had never reached a state tournament in varsity spring or summer ball, were the foundation for one of the biggest one-season turnarounds in Legion history. After a 19-24 season in 2007, the Eagles finished 29-16 and tied for fifth at the state tournament with a 1-2 record this past weekend.

It was the largest one-season jump since the Eagles improved by 11 wins from 2002 to 2003, the second-largest leap since 1994. As well, 2008 was the 13th time a Legion team reached state.

"I am proud of every one of these guys," said Mike Jenner, in his first year of his second stint as Legion coach.

Austin Klaus, the starting center fielder for the Eagles, also was pleased with the season. The team accomplished two goals that HBA President Mel Karst set before the summer. They won three games in the Pueblo, Colo., tournament, a six-game run that Rohleder called a "turning point," and advanced to state.

The 3-3 record at Pueblo was the Eagles' best since a 5-3 finish in 2003.

"I think this is the best senior leadership we have had," Austin Klaus said.

Five of the six seniors hit .285 or better, while Rohleder paced the team in RBIs, Malott led in stolen bases and Budke won six games. The four Hays High seniors, who had reached three straight sub-state championship games in spring ball, broke through this summer.

"We couldn't do it during school ball and that was our big thing," Malott said. "This senior class was supposed to be the one to go and win state during school ball and we couldn't do it again. We came out and we wanted to win it in the summer. This is a big deal for us and something that we have really wanted and something that we have wanted for four years."

"It would probably mean the world to these guys," said Logan Downing, a junior at HHS this spring.

The seniors helped an offense that averaged more than six runs per game and tallied 20 runs in three contests at state. That production was called "definitely our biggest strength" by Malott, who was helped by Jenner and new assistant coach Michael Billinger.

Jenner, who led the Legion team to two second-place finishes at state in 1997 and 1999 in his first tenure, was a hands-off coach who let the athletes play. During practice, he didn't make wholesale changes, but had suggestions that assisted Malott and Budke, among others, improve their hitting.

"Jenner is a little more mellowed out, a little quieter," Sam Rohleder said. "He will help you out and he just expects highly of you."

At state, the Eagles defeated Andover 6-0 in the first round and then lost a wild 23-16 game to Pittsburg on a night when the temperature was over 100 degrees and both teams used multiple pitchers. A loss to Lawrence on Sunday ended an improved year.

"We push each other, and I think that is part of the reason why we have come along so well, is that we have just pushed each other to be better," Sam Rohleder said.