By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

In early June, the Hays Legion baseball team won two games at the Manhattan tournament, lost a close contest and then finished with a pair of victories and a fifth-place showing. Nearly a month later, the tournament marks the only time Hays has picked up back-to-back victories and the lone consistent stretch for the team this summer.

"When we put everything together, we are a good ball club, but we just have to put everything together," pitcher-shortstop Kelton Rule said. "We need to start putting doubleheaders together and two run-rules, instead of just a run-rule and us getting run-ruled also. It almost takes us one game to realize that we are playing somebody else."

The Eagles, 9-12-1 overall after finishing in a tie for fifth at Class AAA state last year, will try to play consistent baseball this weekend when they play host to the Wild West tournament at Larks Park and the Hays High field. The eight-team tournament includes clubs from Colby, Great Bend, Wichita and teams from Colorado, Minnesota and Oklahoma City. Hays finished fourth in 2008 with a 2-3 record.

"It's always to win it," Rule said. "It's to go out there and win our home tournament. I know there are some pretty good teams in it and we need to show them that we are a good team ourselves and go out and win it. Right now, we are little off and on."

Hays is set to play at 11:30 a.m. on Friday against Minnesota-Excelsior and then will face the Colorado Garreston Bears at 7 p.m., with both games at Larks Park. On Saturday, Hays will play Colby at 4:30 p.m. at Larks Park, with two games set for Sunday based on record in pool play. Matt Malott, who is 2-2 with a 6.50 earned-run average, will start in Friday's first game, while Logan Downing (1-2, 7.18) will likely start in the second game of the day.

"We can do it," Hays coach Mike Jenner said. "It's just cleaning it up on the bases, cleaning it up on the field and hitting the ball."

At times this summer, Hays has played sparkling baseball, including five run-rule victories. However, after never being run-ruled in the regular season last year, the Eagles have been run-ruled five times this summer. In two doubleheaders against Colby and Dodge City, Hays has lost a game by run-rule and won a game by run-rule. On Monday, Hays, with a roster in constant flux, lost to Great Bend 7-6 and then run-ruled the Chiefs in Game 2. The Eagles have lost the first game of a doubleheader five straight times.

"So far this summer, we haven't gotten everything together too often," Jenner said. "But when we get everything going at the same time, we are hard to beat."

Hays has often had a roster with nine or 10 players and recently added and lost several others. Austin Unrein, a versatile player, recently left the team for personal reasons, though he has not officially notified Jenner. Unrein didn't play Monday versus Great Bend.

"As far as I know (he's gone)," Jenner said. "He has never told me, but I am assuming he is. I have heard it through the grapevine."

Jarrett Sanders (arm) and Brett Bieberle (elbow) will be out until the Zone 7 tournament later this month. Hays recently picked up Travis Budke and Justin Klaus, two college players who started on last year's club.

Budke and Klaus played third and second, respectively, in their first games on Monday, the same positions they started at last summer. The pair, seeing game action for the first time in nearly a year, hit eighth and ninth in the lineup and went a combined 1-for-9 with three walks.

"It's real big," Jenner said. "They are a little rusty at the plate, but I expected that. Fielding-wise, they are going to get better. I am real happy if they are back to full speed by Zone. Any time sooner is going to be a lot better for us."

Hays, similar to the spring season at Hays High School, is led by Rule, catcher Jay Sanders and Downing, all players that earned all-state honors in their Indian careers.

"Our hitting, it's a lot better," Downing said. "It's come a long way. All nine guys can hit when we put them out there. ... If we put on runs early and get comfortable in the game, we will be fine."

Rule, helped by a confident approach, paces the team in hitting (.508) and went 6-for-6 with a walk in Monday's doubleheader. Jenner was impressed when Rule aggravated a foot injury fielding a ground ball in the top of the first inning against Great Bend and then homered in the bottom of the first.

"He makes mistakes, but he doesn't let it get to him," Jenner said. "It bothers him, but it's 'OK, it's over with. Don't do it again and go on.' It's like whatever he did with his heel out here and he comes up his next at-bat and hits one out."

Sanders is batting .338, while Downing has a .438 average and paces the team in doubles (nine) and homers (three), after he didn't hit any homers in the spring. Riley Kaus carries a .385 average, while Matt Malott is also at .338.

"He has always been able to hit, but he has always been kind of a streaky hitter," Jenner said of Downing. "It's been the same this summer. He started off real strong and then he went in kind of a down streak and then he came back. He is one of those kids where he can go one game and strike out three times and then come back the next game and hit a couple of doubles. He is just real streaky. When he is swinging it good, he is keeping his hands up."

On the mound, Jesse Hart (2-3) leads the team by a wide margin in innings pitched (37) and ERA (3.40) and picked up the victory Monday. Malott, Downing and Rule (2-0) have also been solid.

"We need to play from out one just the whole game and not just little errors -- they have been killing us," Downing said. "We just need to play the whole game and minimize the little errors that we have each game. We just need to be perfect, especially ground balls, fly balls, got to have those."