By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Despite seeing four overwhelmingly positive defensive innings Wednesday, Washburn Rural would allow 18 runs in a two-inning span to Centennial League baeball power Manhattan in an 18-2 Game 1 loss at Rural before the nightcap was postponed due to weather.
Washburn Rural's Kyle Walker (right) had a pair of doubles and a run batted in against Manhattan Wednesday at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior pitcher Zach Sharshel pitched four innings of shutout baseball in Wednesday's Centennial League loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The contest was tight and competitive for most of Washburn Rural's Senior Night, with the game a 0-0 tie through four innings.
However, Manhattan would get the bats going in the top of the fifth with three runs and then blast the Junior Blues with 15 runs in the sixth inning.
Washburn Rural coach Jay Mastin knows that Manhattan is always a challenge, especially with the Junior Blues' recent struggles this year.
"I'm super proud of these guys," Mastin said. "They came out and battled and went toe to toe with Manhattan. We were right in there until that last inning. We had some bad luck with bringing the infield in. A bloop here, a drop there and an error here, a hard hit at third and a ball that just went through the infield. We missed a double play opportunity as well. It's just (how) the year has gone so far."
The first four innings were solid on defense for Washburn Rural. Senior Zach Sharshel racked up four strikeouts with no runs allowed and only walked one batter.
Offensively, Washburn Rural had its fair share of chances to score before its two-run inning in the bottom of the fifth.
Junior Kyle Walker led the Junior Blues offensively, going 2-3 at the plate with two doubles and a run batted in.
Kaleb Wellshear, Ty Weber, Aiden Rea and Branton DeWeese were the other Washburn Rural players with a hit.
Manhattan would get three runs in the top of the fifth before the 15-run sixth. Three errors and a few bloop shots became a well-functioning assembly line for the Indians.
"Obviously, we had a couple of good innings, and it was a great game before those last two innings," Manhattan coach Don Hess said. "Both teams had opportunities, and both pitchers had great pitchers on the mound. We were looking forward to playing Washburn Rural to see where we were against a quality opponent.
"If you take that one inning out, it's a totally different ball game. We had some guys do some nice things, but it's great because Washburn Rural is great every year. We used this as a barometer to determine if we've made progress throughout the year."
It's been a tough stretch for the Junior Blues, with most of Washburn Rural's losses decided by one or two runs. The cold stretch of baseball isn't what the Junior Blues expected before the season, but they remain optimistic.
"We've had a fair share of one-run losses this year," Mastin said. "It's just the little things with a hit here, a run there and a bad pitch here. We have a great group of kids that work hard here. But, unfortunately, sometimes things just don't work out in our favor. We have time to fix some things."
This squad has a lot of familiar faces on the team that finished third in the Class 6A state tournament a season ago, and Mastin believes that if the Blues keep up their high pace of play and tremendous energy, anything is possible.
"I really liked the energy that was in the dugout," Mastin said. "I was happy for those innings that we were in the game. We're going to take that from this game and move forward."
MANHATTAN 18, WASHBURN RURAL 2
Manhattan 000 03(15) – 18 14 0
Washburn Rural 000 020 – 2 6 4
WP – Horsman. LP – Sharshel. 2B – Manhattan: Schartz, Hoover, Aslin, Luce. Washburn Rural: Walker 2, DeWeese. 3B – Manhattan: Schartz. HR – Manhattan: Bowles, Burmeier.
