Larks suffer first loss

By RANDY GONZALES

Hays Daily News

It was as if Mother Nature couldn’t bear to see another Larks’ loss.

Hays saw its nine-game-winning streak to start the season end with a 4-2 loss in Thursday’s first game of a scheduled Jayhawk League doubleheader against Liberal at Larks Park. The Larks were trailing 6-0 early in the second game, then the heavens let loose with a torrential downpour, and the game was called after a 21-minute rain delay.

The game will be made up when Hays makes its trip to Liberal next month, but Larks manager Frank Leo was unsure if the game would resume at the point it was stopped, or re-started from the beginning.

Hays took the first two games of the series, including Tuesday’s opener. In that game, the pivotal moment came when Hays got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with just one run scored.

Liberal did it one better Thursday, escaping a bases loaded, no-out jam in the fifth inning with no runs scoring. The Larks already had a run in during the inning and trailed 3-2 when they loaded the bases after Ricky Angel was hit by a pitch by Liberal starter Matt Patterson. The ball deflected off Angel’s batting helmet and hit home plate umpire Dave Hanslick in the head, dropping him to his knees. After a lengthy delay while the umpire was recovering from the blow, the Bee Jays changed pitchers.

Jordan McClintick faced Dusty Washburn with nobody out and the bases loaded, and got Washburn to hit a grounder to first baseman Drew Hedman, who threw the ball home to catcher Kyle Maxie for the first out. McClintick then induced Kyle Carney to hit into an inning-ending double play.

“He did the job,” Leo said of McClintick. “He did what we did the other night.”

Liberal (4-4 overall, 4-4 Jayhawk) added an insurance run on Ross Hubbard’s homer to right field in the sixth.

McClintick tossed three scoreless innings to earn his first save. Patterson (2-0) got the win, giving up two runs on six hits in four-plus innings.

Gary Pierpont (1-1) pitched a complete game in taking the loss. The Larks right-hander allowed four runs on six hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. One bad inning hurt Pierpont, who allowed three runs in the fourth.

Hays (9-1, 5-1) scored a run in the fourth on Ryan Lush’s RBI single and added another in the fifth on Mike Brownstein’s run-scoring double.

Left-hander Justin Randa was ineffective for the second time in three starts in Game 2, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks. He didn’t retire a batter in the second inning before being replaced by Steve Mazur, who got one out before the rain came.

“He just didn’t have his breaking pitch,” Leo said. “In Game 2 you’ve got to establish some momentum back. Just got us in a hole.”

Hays will play host to Derby in a 6 p.m. league doubleheader Saturday at Larks Park on Pack the Park Night. The Larks’ probable starters are right-hander Brock Nehls (1-0) and left-hander Eric Rose (1-0).

“Realistically, you’re not going to go undefeated in the course of the season,” Leo said. “We’ve got to stop it right now, get back on track.”

Sports editor Randy Gonzales can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 130, or by e-mail at rgonzales@dailynews.net.