By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

For the third time this spring, senior right-hander Matt Malott took a no-hitter into the late innings for the Hays High School baseball team. Malott, just like his previous two appearances, lost the no-hitter.

But he still finished with another strong performance and continued a brilliant senior year for the Indians.

Malott carried no-hit ball into the fifth and nearly matched junior Logan Downing's no-hitter against Dodge City on April 1. He eventually allowed a single in six innings in the Indians' 7-0 victory over Dodge City at the HHS field.

At the plate, Malott, the leadoff hitter, reached base three times and scored twice.

He helped Hays High move past a mistake-filled loss to Salina Central on Saturday that cost the Indians the Western Plains Diamond Classic. Malott, who made an error in the defeat, erased the miscue with a strong day versus the Red Demons.

"Matt has really improved his game, he has, I think matured as a baseball player," HHS coach Frank Leo said. "He has learned how to handle the lows and the ups and the downs."

Malott's all-around performance bumped the Indians to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. The second game was postponed because of lightning and will be made up Thursday at 6 p.m. at the HHS field.

A win Thursday and two victories in a rescheduled doubleheader at Liberal on Friday would provide the Indians at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference title with Great Bend and give HHS a home site for the regional.

Before Tuesday's contest, though, Hays High honored six seniors, Nathan Meier, Sam Rohleder, Justin Klaus, Austin Klaus, Taylor Pfannenstiel and Malott. The senior class, which enjoyed a 63-18 record entering Tuesday, collected another victory.

Every senior played and five of them collected one hit, scored at least one run and drove in at least one run. Overall, Hays High finished with nine hits against Dodge City left-hander Ty Thomas, only the second lefty the Indians have seen this season.

"I was very pleased with our execution," Leo said. "Ty Thomas is going to be a good left-handed pitcher. ... We talked about making adjustments with the left-hander's ball and I thought we had a great approach early in the ball game."

Malott (3-0) took care of the pitching with his third strong start. On April 1, the right-hander missed a no-hitter in an 11-0 win versus Larned and threw six innings of one-hit ball.

Against Belle Plaine in the first Diamond Classic game, Malott tossed 3Ôªø1âÑ3 no-hit innings before he permitted a single in a 15-0, four-inning win.

Versus Dodge City (6-11 overall, 2-5 WAC), the Indians' defense committed three errors in the first two innings, one apiece by junior first baseman Ross Karlin, Sam Rohleder and shortstop Austin Klaus. The Indians have made 12 errors in the last four games.

"We have not had a chance to get defensive reps in at practice, the weather has just been brutal," Leo said. "(Monday), we couldn't get on the field, it was too wet. We need get defensive reps in the next couple of days and get the rhythm in.

"It is all a rhythm thing," Leo added. "Right now, we are really not in sync. We need to get in sync on the routine play."

Malott, though, worked around the miscues. He coaxed three ground ball outs in the second inning, had a perfect third and retired the side in the fourth. Malott, mainly using a four-seam fastball and a slider, permitted a single in the fifth that broke up the bid.

"His slider is his pitch, when he has bite on that slider and when he gets it down, it has good late break," Leo said.

Overall, Malott finished with no walks and five strikeouts in six innings and lowered his season ERA to 2.16 in 22Ôªø2âÑ3 innings. The Indians have four shutouts this season, including all three of Malott's wins.

"We emphasize pitching down and the last three outings, Matt has done a very good job of pitching down," Leo said.

Malott, who earned Diamond Classic all-tournament honors this past weekend, continued his strong hitting. He led off the bottom of the first with a single to right and eventually scored on a two-out hit by Pfannenstiel. Pfannenstiel, nursing some knee problems, finished 1-for-3 after missing the Diamond Classic.

"He had a big hit his first time up," Leo said of Pfannenstiel. "Left vs. left, two outs, 0-0 ball game and I was very impressed and very proud with what he did there."

Malott also walked in the fourth and sixth. In the sixth, he was nearly picked off first. Malott, though, took off for second and Dodge City first baseman Ryan Scheck's throw hit Malott in the back.

Malott was credited with a stolen base, his 18th of the year, tied for the sixth most in the 27-year Leo era. He later scored the final run of the game and his 24th run this spring, one off the single season leader board.