Larks' hope of another league crown still intact
July 23, 2004
By The Hays Daily News
ELKHART -- Some help from Mother Nature kept the Hays Larks alive in their quest for their fourth consecutive Jayhawk League title.
Rain halted an all-important league game between Hays and Elkhart Thursday night with the score tied 4-4 after nine complete innings, leaving Hays with a 16-11 league mark with four games remaining.
At the same time, Liberal was beating league leader El Dorado by an 11-6 score in Wichita. That was El Dorado's final league game, giving the Broncos a 20-12 overall record.
Because a tie does not count in the standings, Hays still can win the league championship by sweeping Nevada, Mo., this week.
The Larks will play host to Nevada Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with Wednesday's action being a 6 p.m. doubleheader.
First, though, Nevada must play Liberal at Liberal in a four-game series Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
" That's great news," Larks manager Frank Leo said when he heard that Liberal beat El Dorado. "Now, if we run the table, we win (the league). It's in our hands now."
It looked like it would be in someone else's hands late in Thursday's game.
The Dusters, who had snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Larks the night before, broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run seventh.
But the Larks wouldn't go away.
With one out, Seth Fortenberry singled in Aaron Batlle, who had reached base on an error, and Reimold, who had doubled, scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly to center field by Tyler Wasserman.
Elkhart went back up again with a run in the bottom of the eighth, setting up the exciting ninth inning.
Leo said it began raining lightly in the top of the ninth, when Hays tied it at 4-4 after a solo homer to right field by Hunter Mense.
Then, with rain falling through the bottom of the inning, the Larks put down the Dusters in order.
Righthander Stephen Marek came on in relief of righty Matt Rainey in the top of the ninth, and Marek recorded in all three outs.
Then rain fell hard, ending the game in a tie.
Wasserman went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Mense was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.
Because of Thursday's no decision, the Larks need just one victory this week to assure themselves of at least second place in the league standings.
Elkhart is in third place at 12-14 with five games remaining, while Liberal is 9-16 with seven games left on its schedule.
The top two teams in the Jayhawk League automatically qualify for the National Baseball Congress World Series, which begins later this month in Wichita.
But Leo would like more than second place.
" We put ourselves in a position to make a run," Leo said. "That will make this series exciting and give us a chance. We need to just take one game at a time and not think about winning four."
Hays 4, Elkhart 4
(Rain-halted game)
Hays (24-12, 16-11) 000 001 021 -- 4 8 3
Elkhart (12-14 league) 001 000 210 -- 4 6 2
    Ofat, Rainey (8), Marek (9) and Kirkpatrick; Cohn, Hearne (7) and Hastings. 2B -- Reimold, Hays; Chambers, Elkhart. HR -- Mense, Hays; Nease, Elkhart.