Web posted
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Tigers improve to .500, sweep Labette
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By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
sports@arkcity.net
Cowley assistant baseball coach Darren Burroughs believes his team is still a work in progress, but he has to be much happier about where they're at compared to earlier in the month.
After starting the season 2-8, the 10th-ranked Tigers have suddenly found their groove in conference play.
And for the first time all season, Cowley finds itself hovering at least the .500-mark following a sweep of Labette on Saturday in Parsons, in which the Tigers won both games 5-2. Cowley has now won seven of its last eight games.
Even better, the defending Region VI Tournament champion sit all alone atop the Jayhawk East at 7-1, 9-9 overall.
What's been the biggest reason for the turnaround? Defense.
"Defensively, we were disappointed...we're making so many errors because they weren't that hard of a play (to make)," Burroughs said. "We just hadn't been outside enough to work defensively. We're doing things in which we should've made plays, and (now) the guys are getting better at that. They're working harder in practice."
But Burroughs believes there's still room for improvement.
"We're still making adjustments," he said. "We're not where we want to be, but we are trying to get better at the plate and we're playing better defense than we were. Earlier on, our defense hurt us. We're swinging the bats okay. We're pitching okay, but not great. We've got better pitching and defense. If we can figure a way to put all three phases of the game together, we have a chance to be okay."
Cowley committed four errors in Saturday's doubleheader -- two in each game -- but they didn't come back to hurt the Tigers.
Chase Roten sparked Cowley in game one, going 4-for-4 with an RBI.
He scored on a wild pitch in the first inning for a 1-0 Tigers lead. Three Labette errors then led to two runs in the fourth for a 3-0 Cowley lead.
After Labette cut Cowley's lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers regained their three-run cushion in the sixth. Andy Petz recorded an RBI single, and then scored when Roten was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded later in the inning.
Stephen Kohlscheen had a strong outing for the Tigers, allowing two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in five innings to improve to 2-1. Alex Schell pitched two scoreless innings to earn the save.
Things didn't start off on the right foot for the Tigers in game two, as Labette jumped on Cowley starter Calvin Drinnen for a 2-0 first-inning lead.
Burroughs said that the height of the mound led to Drinnen's early struggles.
"The mound was different. It was a drop-off, and he was elevating the ball a little bit," Burroughs said. "He made a good adjustment and started getting the ball down."
Once Drinnen got acclimated with his surroundings, he overpowered Labette. Drinnen finished with 12 strikeouts, and allowed just two hits after the first inning to improve to 2-1. His final line: 6 1/3 innings, 12 strikeouts, five hits, two runs. Zack Potter threw the final 2/3 inning to earn his first save.
Cowley took advantage of timely hitting and aggressive base running in game two.
Heath Wall stole second base and then came around to score on a two-out hit by Luke Zeller to cap off a three-run fourth for a 3-2 Cowley lead.
The Tigers added two insurance runs in the fifth -- Petz scored on an RBI groundout and Frank Specht on a Brice Cole single for a 5-2 Tigers lead. Cole and Wall each went 2-for-3.
Cowley pounded out 15 hits in the doubleheader.
Labette fell to 1-5 Jayhawk East, 5-8 overall.
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