Hays High baseball not lacking experience in 2008

By NICK McQUEEN

Hays Daily News

Versatility is the name of the game this season for the Hays High School baseball team.

Under the direction of Frank Leo, the program's 28th-year head coach, the Indians won't boast a great deal of depth in 2008, but with the personnel they do have, there is no lack of experience.

Hays High gets it season underway with a 4 p.m. doubleheader at Salina South on Tuesday and pitching is on the mind of Leo and Co.

"We have a good core of arms coming back from last year that gained a lot of experience," Leo said.

Senior left-hander Nathan Meier, one of last season's best pitchers, broke his pitching hand mid-season and sat down after producing a 2-1 record in his first three appearances. That threw pitchers like then-sophomores Kelton Rule and Logan Downing into the mix a little early. The staff will be centered around those three this season.

"We should be stable on the mound with our starters," Leo said.

Meier and Rule will take the mound Tuesday with senior Matt Malott also available to pitch, and senior Sam Rohleder could pitch as well. Malott, Leo said, could be a starter in the early going also. In the early portion of the season, the Indians will play a couple of triangulars where they will need as many fresh arms as possible.

Rule and Downing each picked up four wins last season with just one loss each. Rule went 4-1 in nine appearances and seven starts as the Indians finished 16-6 on the year. He also had the best earned-run average among the starters (other than Meier) at 3.49 and pitched in 38 2/3 innings. Downing finished 4-1 with a 4.12 ERA in five starts. Rohleder also saw time on the mound, going 1-1 in nine appearances, but suffered an arm injury during the Legion's summer season.

"We hope we can get (Rohleder) built up and get him a little stronger," Leo said. "As the season progresses, he could even become a starter."

Rohleder should provide solid defense at third base. He also has been the Indians' best bat in the preseason. Rohleder found the gaps several times when the team scrimmaged with an alumni team Thursday and Friday last week. Rohleder was the second-most consistent hitter last season among Indians who played in all 22 games. He finished the season at .382 in 68 at-bats, the second most on the team behind since-graduated Kameron Parker. Rohleder had four doubles and one home run as a junior.

"We've been working hard for (the opener)," Leo said. "We're anxious to get it started and see what these guys can do."

Up the middle is where the Indians should be the most solid. It starts with junior Jay Sanders behind home plate.

"He's getting stronger and better every year," Leo said. "That's a spot you want to be strong at. Jay will give us good stability on defense."

Sanders is one of two Indians, along with Rule, who saw significant time at the varsity level as freshmen, and have played at that level for two seasons. Rule, when not pitching, will play second base, and senior Austin Klaus has moved from center field back to shortstop, where he originally played as a freshman.

"We feel really good about the guys we have up the middle," Leo said.

In center field, junior Thomas Rohleder can chase down the ball as well as anyone, Leo said.

Senior Taylor Pfannenstiel will make the move from the outfield to first base.

"This is going to be a senior-dominated club," Leo said. "They've been showing some great leadership and dedication to getting this club back to the state tournament.

"We're anxious to see these guys with another year behind them," he added.

Malott, an outfielder who hit .276 last season in 29 at-bats, will bat leadoff when the Indians take the field Tuesday. Left and right field will probably by committee, depending on the pitching rotation. "The players we do have are very versatile and can play other positions," Leo said. "We're just ready to put it all in place on the field Tuesday."

Hays High has four home dates this season, including the Western Plains Diamond Classic, scheduled for May 1-3. When the Indians take the field for the home opener April 15 against Great Bend, they will be doing so in a facility that saw more improvements during the offseason, including a brick back drop from dugout to dugout, netting instead of chain link, as well as a new retaining wall in center field which reads Hays High Indians.

BACK