Larks open on Monday night

By NABIL SHAHEEN

Hays Daily News

When the Hays Larks failed to capture their fourth consecutive Jayhawk League title, the team earned a bid in the top half of the National Baseball Congress World Series bracket rather than the bottom half, which was reserved for the league champion, El Dorado.

On paper, the Larks' half of the bracket seems like an easier road, but Hays manager Frank Leo said at this point in the season, all team are starting over.

“Next week is a whole different scenario now,” Leo said. “The Jayhawk League gives us and opportunity to get into the World Series. We gave it a very good shot to try to come up with that fourth title. Now we're going to start another season and we're excited about the opportunity to play in that tournament.”

The Larks' World Series opener is Monday night at 7:30, when Hays (27-13) takes on Greenwood, Miss., at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita. Greenwood defeated the Wichita Dawgs on Saturday, 9-2.

“At this point in the season, you don't worry about your opponent, you take care of your own business,” Leo said. “When you have opportunities you have to cash in. We've got to be ready to capitalize and that's really the approach that we'll take at this point.”

Leo said while the rotation for the rest of the tournament will depend on the currently unknown opponents, he will send Bob Reifschneider (4-2) to the mound for Monday's opener.

“There's a little bit of an unknown commodity there,” Leo said. “Some of those things you have to figure out throughout the course of the ball game. It's hard to have a feel for what other teams you play and what they do best.”

The team practiced Saturday afternoon, just 48 hours after playing the first-ever tripleheader in Larks' history.

“It was a good upbeat practice,” Leo said. “You don't do a whole lot of things at this time of year. Just try to get the bodies moving around.”

Those bodies are led by Kevin Russo, who goes into the World Series with a team-leading .377 batting average.

“The guys are excited to see what's up ahead,” Leo said. “Only three of them have had World Series experience. So for most of them, they're excited to get down there and see what it's all about.”

Hays has had 10 top-10 finishes at the World Series, and has been runner-up three times.

Should Hays win Monday, the Larks would have a three-day break until Friday. Should the Larks lose, the team would play Tuesday night.

“We'll try to manage the game the best we can, but it's the players,” Leo said. “We try to get top notch kids that will give us a chance to win the World Series and that's what we're after.”

Sports writer Nabil Shaheen can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 127, or by e-mail at nshaheen@dailynews.net.