Larks slide out of Nevada taking three of four

Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Hays catcher Keith Hernandez tries to avoid the tag of Nevada shortstop Eli Rumler during a stolen base attempt in the third inning of Sunday's Jayhawk League game at Lyons Stadium. Hays won 9-6, taking three out of four games from the Griffons, to stay in first place.

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

The Jayhawk League-leading Hays Larks won 9-6 at Lyons Stadium Sunday, giving the visitors three wins in four games over the suddenly reeling Nevada Griffons.

The Larks and Griffons also split a doubleheader Saturday, with Nevada (10-6 overall, 4-6 in the Jayhawk League) scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh inning of the first game to take a 6-5 decision before Hays (8-3, 6-1) rebounded in the night cap for a 13-8 win.

Nevada head coach John Hill III has had to deal with losing leading hitter Al Smith for the rest of the season and having two other Griffons out for extended periods of time.

The injuries combined with the losing home series left the Griffons slightly distraught.

"The most frustrating thing is that even with the injuries, we've been close to winning our games," Hill said. "That's why the team is frustrated right now."

Smith started experiencing sharp discomfort in his right knee Saturday, a knee that has already been operated on three times in the past. Unsure whether it was scar-tissue that was causing the pain or whether a small ligament tear was to blame, Smith has headed back to Omaha, Neb., and is not expected to return. If the knee needs another surgery, it is possible that Smith might not ever play baseball again.

"Al was very popular with this team," Hill said.

Smith was hitting .529 in 17 at bats with a 1.059 slugging percentage.

The Griffons have also been without Trent Thompson and Steve Billokur.

Thompson has been dealing with an ankle injury for more than a week, leaving the team without much depth in the infield and a key bat off the bench. Thompson is coincidentally the second-leading hitter on the team with a .455 average in only 11 at bats. He should be able to resume workouts this week with a heavy brace on the hurt ankle and could be available to at least hit soon.

Billokur has a strained groin muscle that he suffered in the third game of the season and his availability for the rest of the summer is up in the air.

Even with a depleted roster, the Griffons have been in just about every game and this weekend was no exception.

The Larks took a one-run decision Friday, 6-5.

In Saturday's first game, Nevada hung the first league loss of the season on the Larks.

Nevada and Hays went back and forth in the game as the Larks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a single by Byran Pullin, a double by Billy Sharp and an RBI groundout by Jared Goedert.

Nevada answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Eli Rumler walked to lead off, but was caught stealing on a failed hit-and-run attempt.

Chris Taylor followed with a walk and Mickey Nichol doubled.

After Tim Santiago struck out, Smith, in what turned out to be his last start of the season, singled to score Taylor and Nichol.

Hays tied the game in the third when Eric Lawson doubled on a routine fly ball that fell because of miscommunication in the outfield. After a wild pitch moved Lawson to third, Sharp brought him home with a sacrifice fly to right.

Nevada again answered in the third when Santiago hit a home run to right field for a 3-2 lead.

A walk, two wild pitches and an error gave Hays another run in the fourth.

Hays scored twice more in the sixth on four consecutive singles to take a 5-3 lead.

Smith struck again in the bottom of the inning with an opposite field solo home run to right.

Nevada won it in the seventh, taking advantage of a hit batter, a walk, an error and a wild pitch for the 6-5 win.

Rumler scored the winning run on a wild pitch that Santiago struck out on to end the game.

Nevada jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the second game Saturday, getting RBIs from Santiago, Tim Ryan, Matt Lawson and Hunter Johnson. Tony Lewis had the biggest game with three RBIs on two singles.

Hays stormed back with an eight-run fifth inning to take control of the game and the series.

Nevada fell 13-8 and never led in the series finale Sunday with the Larks taking a 9-6 decision.

"I don't know how many times we hit the ball hard and hit it right at them," Hill said. "It's going wrong for us right now."

It's going very wrong in the field for the Griffons. Nevada committed seven errors in the doubleheader Saturday, four in the second game.

That does not even include routine pop ups that have fallen on three occasions with simple miscommunication to blame.

The base paths have also been rough for the Griffons with four runners being thrown out while in scoring position on questionable decisions in the past four games.

"You can't make decisions for them," Hill said about players trying to take extra bases and being thrown out. "All we can do is point out that it was not a smart decision. There's times to be aggressive and times not to. We are not recognizing when the right time is to do it."

The Griffons also were victimized by questionable umpiring both Saturday and Sunday.

In Saturday's second game there was no consistent strike zone, and Sunday there could have been flaring tempers with the lack of control shown by the umpires.

In Sunday's game there were warnings issued to both benches after a pitch from Griffon hurler Josh Ruffin sailed over the head of Nate Hemm.

Hays' starter David Gruener then proceeded to hit Mickey Nichol twice, without consequence. Reliever Lee Taylor also plunked Lewis in the eighth inning.

Nevada's Luke Stahl finally retaliated with a hit batter in the ninth inning, but Hill said it could have been worse.

"(The umpire) is lucky it didn't get out of hand," Hill said.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: