Larks' streak reaches 13 games
June 30, 2003
By The Hays Daily News
The Hays Larks continued to have little difficulty with the Great Bend Cardinals.
Hays' summer-collegiate baseball team beat the Cardinals -- a first-year franchise -- for the third time this season Sunday night with an 8-2 victory at Larks Park in nonleague action.
In the two teams' three games this year, Hays has outscored Great Bend 30-5.
It was the Larks' 13th straight win and helped the team remain undefeated at home, as Hays completed a 10-game home stand without a loss. It is the longest winning streak in recent years. In 2001, the season that resulted in the first of back-to-back league crowns, Hays won 10 in a row.
"It's hard to imagine that you could get that many in a row," Hays manager Frank Leo said. "It seems like we're just getting started. We try to focus on them one at a time, but every now and then you look up and see something like that and it's pretty nice."
The Larks put up enough offense early in Sunday's game to coast to the win.
With the score tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the third inning, Hays (18-2) struck for two runs to build a 3-1 lead. Ben Tinius singled with two outs and advanced to second on Kade Boyer's single.
Jeff Bieker drove in Tinius with a single to right, and Boyer also scored on the play after a Cardinal error.
Great Bend pulled within 3-2 with a run in the fifth, but Pete Maropis hit a two-run homer, his second of the season, in the sixth. Hays added three runs in the eighth.
Mike Goettler (2-0) allowed two earned runs on six hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
The Larks finished with 14 hits. Cody Ehlers went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Seth Fortenberry went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs. Dan Schwartzbauer also added two hits and scored a run.
Hays begins a seven-game road trip with a 7 p.m. single game today at El Dorado in Jayhawk League action. The Larks have a league-best mark of 11-2 entering the game.
"We're anxious to see El Dorado and see what they have," Leo said. "They're right behind us in the league standings, so it should be interesting."
Right-hander Bryan Engle (1-0) is today's probable starter.
INJURY REPORT: Outfielder Cody Rizzo is listed as day-to-day with a bruise on the upper part of his foot. ... Left-hander Noah Booth is expected to be out two to three weeks with an elbow strain. ... Right-hander Jim Popp, who was nursing a sore shoulder earlier this season, pitched one inning Sunday night, allowing one hit and no runs while walking none and striking out two.