Larks complete series sweep
By CONOR NICHOLL
Last week, the Hays Larks struggled and dropped a season-high three straight against Derby and Nevada (Mo.). The starters posted a 5.79 ERA and no one went more than six innings.
The offense, which slumped all July, had a collective .134 batting average and scored just nine runs in the defeats.
"Every team hits a spot," Larks manager Frank Leo said. "You have to get out of it in a hurry."
The Larks ended the losing Wednesday in a 3-2 win against Nevada. Ace Patrick Cooper worked seven innings, the offense delivered six hits and fashioned a much better approach.
"We had a few more louder outs, it wasn't easy, soft groundballs, popups, strikeouts," Leo said.
They haven't lost since.
Hays has won five in a row, a summer best, including a 7-1 win against El Dorado at Larks Park on Sunday night.
The Larks improved to 22-11 overall and 18-8 in the Jayhawk League and swept the four-game weekend series against El Dorado.
They remain two and a half games ahead of Derby for first place. It's the longest winning streak by Hays since July 16 to 20, 2007, a streak that also included four wins against El Dorado.
Sunday's output gave Hays 34 runs in the five wins, after the Larks tallied 32 in its previous nine.
"I think now we have gotten a little more focused, not wasting at-bats and getting competitive in key situations," Leo said. "We had a bunch of hits tonight and we had some big hits."
The Larks had four extra base hits, including a two-run homer and RBI double by Kevin Hennessey. Rafael Neda, in his first game after missing the summer's first half with an injured finger, also drove in a run with a double.
Casey Hauptman delivered seven innings of nine-strikeout, one-run ball for the victory. Starting with Cooper, it was the fifth straight strong start by a Larks starter.
He was backed by a defense that made no errors, six fewer than El Dorado, and had strong infield defense by shortstop Mike Brownstein, second baseman Rich Michalek and first baseman Dusty Washburn.
"Just felt pretty good there for awhile, just go out there and throw strikes, get ground balls, get people out," Hauptman, a University of Nebraska product said.
In his last start, Hauptman had his poorest outing all year when he worked six innings and permitted five runs (and two homers) in a loss versus Nevada. That was the last of the Larks' three straight defeats.
The next day, Cooper worked his seven innings and the Larks' offensive approach changed. While his teammates won, Hauptman threw a bullpen and focused on hitting spots and not leaving pitches up.
On Sunday, he used a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup, scattered eight hits and fanned nine, the most since Eddie Carl struck out 10 against Dodge City on July 1.
"It looked like they were deceived by the slider a little bit, it felt pretty good in the warmups," Hauptman said. "We got a lot of strikeouts with sliders away and down. We got a few with fastballs on the outside corner, too. Just tried to fool them a little bit."
Hauptman (3-1) struck out the side in the fourth and ended El Dorado rallies in the third, fourth and fifth with strikeouts. He allowed just one hit in his final three innings.
"When Casey pitches down with good movement, he is going to get ground balls and is going to get strikeouts," Leo said.
The performance gave the Larks' starters a 2.40 ERA in the five game winning streak. That included three seven inning starts by Cooper, Jason Stacy and Hauptman.
"(Cooper) got it started in Nevada with that getaway game, we kind of continued it back here," Leo said. "Our starters are back on track."
So is the offense.
The Larks had more than twice as many strikeouts (26) than hits (12) in the losing streak. In the win against Nevada, they delivered six hits against five Ks.
"It carried into Friday night," Leo said. "Our guys are getting better."
They scored four runs in Friday's 10-inning victory and another 20 Saturday. Hennessey, the team's leader in homers (four) and RBIs (21), hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning that gave Hays a 2-1 lead Sunday.
Two innings later, Hennessey hopped a double off the left-center field wall for another RBI. Two batters later, he scored on Neda's first hit as Lark, a double down the left field line.
They tacked on three more in the seventh on a double, walk, sacrifice fly and three El Dorado errors for another win in the five-day turnaround.
"Hopefully it does carry into next weekend," Hauptman said.
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