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'Hound bats continue to produce
Now that Fort Scott Community College's bats have gotten going, they might be difficult to stop.
After scoring only six total runs in their three previous games, Fort Scott's bats have produced 19 in their last two outings. That includes Tuesday's 9-1 bashing of visiting Crowder (Mo.), which avenged a last-at-bat 3-2 loss to the Roughriders on Feb. 28.
"We've finally got a little offense," Fort Scott head coach Chris Moddelmog said. "We're finally figuring things out (such as) putting the ball in play with two strikes and being aggressive. We've played enough now that I think the guys are going to play the way we want them to play: fast and aggressive."
The Greyhounds (4-3) also used six pitchers. Starter Ryan Daniel allowed Crowder's only run in the first inning but finished strong, allowing only three hits, not walking anyone and striking out three.
Each subsequent pitcher -- Drew Beasley, Joel Ricketts, Taylor Hall, Adam Johnston and Eldon Little -- went one inning. They allowed a total of two hits and three walks while striking out five. Little struck out the side in the ninth after he got into a bit of a pinch, a two-one, one-out situation.
"We used a lot of pitchers today and, for the most part, they threw strikes and when they didn't, they were good enough to get ground balls."
Fort Scott took the lead for good when it scored three runs in the third inning. Catcher Corbin Reagan was hit by a pitch with one out. Travis Cruz hit safely to right-center with two out and Reagan advanced to third.
Cruz stole second and Jason Houston knocked Reagan in with another single. Cruz took third on the play and Houston stole second.
Andrew Minnich walked to load the bases and Trevor Geist doubled to left to plate Cruz and Houston.
Two more runs went up in the fifth. Houston drew a lead-off walk and stole second. Minnich doubled him home and Crowder responded by changing pitchers.
The new hurler didn't fare much better as he surrendered a single to Geist, which allowed Minnich to get to third, from where he scored on Evan Haezebrouck's sacrifice fly.
Three more went on the board in the sixth to make it 8-1. Cruz got on base via a fielder's choice and stole second. Houston snuck a base hit under the glove of the Crowder third baseman just before Geist cranked a three-run home run over the left-field wall.
The last run went up in the seventh. Jake Holle was hit by a pitch leading off the inning. He'd eventually score when Crowder's shortstop misplayed Brandt Barnes' grounder.
"They stole one from us last week, so it was good to come out and play hard today," Moddelmog said.
"We got a chance to put a lot of guys in. We're trying to find out who can (do things) and add to our depth. Fifty-six games is a long year and we'll have to have contributions from a lot of guys."
Geist went four for five at the plate, driving in five runs. Cruz went two for five while Houston was two for three.
Because of bad weather up at Highland, the Greyhounds and Scotties have agreed to swap their home dates. That not only means the Fort Scott will be at home against Highland Thursday for the first Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division doubleheader of the season but also that the first three conference twinbills will be at home.
After the Greyhounds host defending Region VI champion Cowley Saturday, they'll welcome Johnson County to town. After that, they'll go on their spring break trip to Arizona.
"It's a chance to, hopefully, get out of the gates strong early in conference," Moddelmog said.
Each of the home doubleheaders begins at 1 p.m.
NOTES -- The date swap with Highland now means that the Greyhounds will be on the road on April 10, when they originally slated to host the Scotties....
Crowder........ 100 000 000 -- 1 5 3
Fort Scott...... 003 023 10x -- 9 10 1
WP -- Daniel (1-0). LP -- Verweel.
HR -- Fort Scott: Geist (1, 6th inn., two on, two out).