By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Sometimes success in non-conference play is fleeting, and once teams begin to face familiar opponents the results change.
That has not been the case for Washburn baseball after opening MIAA play with a three-game sweep over Fort Hays State.
“At the end of the day we came out and got a conference sweep,” said Ichabod coach Harley Douglas. “Our goal was to get a sweep and start conference on top so overall I thought we did a good job.”
Senior Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli had a big series as Washburn baseball took a three-game MIAA sweep over Fort Hays State. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
This is the second time in the two teams' last three series that the Ichabods have won all three games, this time outsourcing the Tigers, 25-15.
“I think our standard needs to be a little higher and a little cleaner with what we do but early on it’s the conference and we got some new guys,” Douglas said. “I think it was an overall good weekend but now we got to focus in on Emporia tomorrow.”
A 3-0 start in conference play moves Washburn to 11-4 on the year and 5-1 at Falley Field.
Game one of the series was the most dramatic but began slowly, with Fort Hays in front 1-0 through five innings.
On the mound senior Rane Pfeifer started slow, walking two batters and hitting one in the first inning to result in the one run. He settled in from that point, going three and two-thirds while allowing only the one run and striking out six.
In the sixth inning junior Cale Savage led off with a single and did not wait around long before senior Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli brought him home with a two-run left-field home run, putting the Ichabods up, 2-1.
“They were going first pitch fastball the first two at-bats of mine, so I was thinking he was going to try and blow one by me and I was going to turn on it,” Clark-Chiapparelli said.
On the mound senior Dalton Huggins replaced Pfeifer in the fourth. The Washburn Rural product continued the strong start to his season, pitching a career-high five and a third innings, striking out eight batters and allowing only one run.
“Huggy is that guy, and we know he can probably throw like a starter but he gives us so much more out of the bullpen when it comes to that,” Douglas said. “Sometimes it is hard to come out of the pen but he goes with that and embraces it.”
No more run support was provided so the one run, coming in the top of the ninth, was costly as it moved the game into extra innings after Washburn left two on base in the bottom of the ninth.
Seniors Joel Casillas and Zach Philbin allowed no runs the next three innings, with Casillas going two and Philbin one.
The strong pitching set up the Ichabods in the twelfth inning, beginning with a one-out walk from sophomore Otto Jones.
He was moved to third base after a bunt single and a walk, allowing Clark-Chiapparelli to drive a ball into deep center field for a walk-off sacrifice fly to give the Ichabods a 3-2 win.
“I was feeling good and I saw the ball well today (it was just) situational hitting,” Clark-Chiapparelli said. “Having our guys in the dugout staying behind our backs and keeping us going, that’s what we needed.”
In game two Washburn got some help early on with junior Cal Watkins scoring on a wild pitch in the first.
The Tigers scored the next three runs on home runs in the second and third inning to go ahead, 3-1. Both came off of Washburn sophomore Casey Steward, who finished with a final line of five innings, three earned runs and nine strikeouts.
Just after he exited, junior Shane Morrow sent a single into center field to cut the lead in half. In the sixth senior Parker Dunn tied the game with a solo home run over the right-field wall.
The Ichabods bullpen stayed strong, allowing no runs, first with senior Trevor Marreel in the sixth inning then junior John Cross in the seventh and eighth innings.
“As a whole unit we are doing really well, we are coming in in high-leverage situations, we are shutting them down. Once we get everything put together we are going to be a really good team,” Cross said.
Cross finished his two innings facing six batters and striking out all six, he would also pick up his first win of the season.
“Those guys have done everything that we have asked for them to do, and it’s been multiple guys it hasn't been the same guys over and over,” Douglas said.
In the eighth Washburn scored on back-to-back singles from senior Kros Bay and then from Jones to score two runs, making it a 6-3 game. Casillas worked for a second game in a row, with a scoreless ninth inning to pick up a save and secure a series win.
“We know that in certain situations it is key to go out and win the series but early on if you've got a chance to get a sweep that’s something important that you got to try to do,” Douglas said.
The final game of the series was a tale of two games. The Ichabods scored two in the first inning, with Dunn and sophomore Connor Scott each picking up RBI. Scott added another sacrifice fly RBI in the third inning as well.
On the mound sophomore Jack Brimacombe pitched a clean four innings, allowing no runs and striking out three batters. After him, sophomore Austin Gerety worked a scoreless top of the fifth inning.
“When Jack is throwing strikes he is really good,” Douglas said. “To be able to have him start out, especially in a game three and keep us where we are at … it was big for us.”
In the fifth Washburn had its highest-scoring inning of the season, with 10 runs. Three came from senior Quinn Waterbury who cleared the bases with a double into left field, making it a 7-0 game.
“I have been facing righties all day and I am a big lefty so I was expecting to actually get pulled from that game,” said a smiling Waterbury. “Coach talked about it after the game that if I had punched it wouldn’t have mattered … the next guy is going to do a job because everyone on this team can hit.”
Savage and Scott each singled to pick up an RBI and senior Brett Ingram added two more on one of his four hits in the game. After all the damage the Ichabods led, 13-0.
“Coach (Connor) Crimmins challenged them quite a bit today with it and I thought we responded well and got back to hitting flat and driving baseballs and I thought that showed early on,” Douglas said.
At that point Washburn took out some of its starters and worked deep into the bullpen, throwing five different arms to close out the final four innings.
Two errors in the final three innings helped Fort Hays pull within as few as five runs. The seven earned runs by the Ichabod bullpen was the first sign of struggle for the unit all weekend.
“We got a little sloppy there but overall, you put 24 innings in of the 27 innings that we played and you are pretty happy with it,” Douglas said.
Freshman Teagan Tamiya added run via a sacrifice fly in the eighth to provide more insurance. Finally, after one unearned run scored in the ninth sophomore Julian Zamora retired the Tigers, striking out two to end the series.
“The energy in the first five innings is what we are going to bring the rest of the year, that sweep there was kind of, that’s our statement. We are going to be a team this year,” Waterbury said.
After the sweep Washburn sits at 12-4 on the year with a four game winning streak.
Next up is a single-game matchup with Emporia State at Falley Field Tuesday that will not count towards conference standings.
WASHBURN 7, FORT HAYS STATE 3
Washburn (11-4) 2 0 1 0 10 0 0 1 X – 14 15 3
Northern State (1-14) 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 1 – 9 10 1
WP – Gerety (1-0). LP – Campbell (0-4). 2B – Fort Hays: Scott, Schmidt Washburn: Jones, Bowlin, Bay, Waterbury. HR – None.
