When fans think of baseball, they think of hot summer days. Manhattan High fans were thinking of cold spring days on Friday, as MHS (2-0) took on Topeka West (0-2) in the season opener. The Indians swept the doubleheader, winning 10-2 and 11-1 in six innings.

Though the weather was chilly, the team wasn’t impacted for very long.

“That first game when it’s cold, you’re like, ‘Gosh, I could be home watching TV or somewhere else,’” head coach Don Hess said. “I told the guys in between games that sometimes you got to get a little crazy, you got to get up and you got to be active, you got to be a yeller and a screamer and you got to force yourself to move, and then when you do, you’re into the flow of the game much better.”

Unlike the weather, MHS’ bats were hot, as Manhattan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Indians would not score again until the fifth inning. They were able to withstand the scoring drought through solid defense and pitching.

“I was struggling the first couple innings,” senior starting pitcher Nick Wohler said, “[but] I finally found it. I threw too many pitches, got in counts I didn’t really want to get in, but I battled and tried to keep it close and then we just took off there in the later innings.”

After trading runs with the Chargers in the fifth, the Indians exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning. Doubles from seniors Edward Scott and Jake Steinbring helped the inning get going.

“We got into their bullpen a little bit,” Wohler said. “[We] got away from the starter, that’s always good. We started seeing the ball well, started hitting the ball, getting runners on base and moving them around.”

Junior pitcher Carson Marsh would hold Topeka West scoreless for the rest of the game, as Manhattan won 10-2.

Heading into the games, defense was a question mark for MHS. As a result of the rain last week, the team was unable to practice defense on an actual field.

“Fielding wise, we were actually pretty good tonight,” Wohler said, “which was surprising because we hadn’t been getting outside. The throws were a little off [to] first base a little bit, but we managed.”

The Indians were more consistent in the second game, scoring runs in five of the six innings. Pitching was also key for MHS, holding the Chargers to only one run.

“It seemed like our pitchers, both Talon [Claussen, junior] and [Steinbring], just threw strikes,” Hess said. “The guys at the plate seemed to have a little bit more sense of understanding on what they needed to do to be successful. I was real pleased, I was proud of our effort tonight.”

For the team, this consistent approach was better.

“I feel like we scored more runs across the board,” Wohler said. “It was better to get on the board every single inning, just instead of a big seven-spot in one inning.”

The Indians used this consistency to take an 11-1 lead after six innings. Since KSHSAA rules state, “If the home team is ahead by 10 runs after 4 ½ innings or the visiting team ahead by 10 runs after five innings the game shall be called,” the game was over.

“[Winning by run-rule was good because], I think we had another pitcher warming up,” Wohler said, “so we’ll be able to save him for Tuesday. It’s just better for the team to get out of there early because everybody likes to run-rule somebody.”

Having an extra pitcher will be nice for the Indians, since Wohler will be unable to pitch on Tuesday. Thanks to a new rule implemented by KSHSAA this season, Wohler will have to sit out four days before pitching again.

“We’re going to have to get a little deeper into our pitching staff [on Tuesday] because we know we’re not going to have [Wohler] available,” Hess said, “so we’re going to have to go two or three more guys deeper into our pen, and we’re kind of anxious to see how that looks. That’s alright, because it’s going to force us to have to find other avenues on the mound.”
Manhattan returns to action Tuesday against Wichita East in Wichita.