Club baseball heads to Arizona

Friday, February 6, 2009

Mark Hays and his KU club baseball team would not usually even ponder hitting the diamond right now considering Kansas’ harsh weather conditions. But then they got a phone call back in October from Arizona State University.

Arizona State’s club team asked Hays, Overland Park senior, if Kansas’ team would be interested in playing a weekend series in early February. The Jayhawks had won their conference the previous season, and the Sun Devils told Hays they wanted to build a nonconference schedule filled with conference champions from around the nation. After talking it over at their next club meeting, the Jayhawks decided the series would be a tremendous opportunity to gain valuable experience and bond as a team.

Photo by Jerry Wang

Nolan Manfield, Voohees, N.J. sophomore, pitches a fastball during scrimmage Wednesday afternoon. The club baseball team is heading to Tempe on Thursday to compete against Arizona State.

“The most important thing about this trip is team bonding since we did not get many games during the fall semester.”

After signing on to play the series, the teams had a lot of work to do. Kansas and Arizona State spent for the next couple of months debating who would pay for rental vans and who would pay for hotel expenses.

But now all that work is out of the way and the team can focus on playing.

“This is a very exciting time for the team,” Hays said. “We only lost two seniors from last year, and with thirteen returning, it should not only be an incredible weekend, but an exhilarating 20-plus game season.”

After winning the Mid-America South Conference championship last season, the Jayhawks are the heavy favorite to be repeat champions this year and ultimately contend for a spot in the College World Series. High expectations to repeat this year means everyone in the conference will be gunning for Kansas, including teams such as Saint Louis University, Missouri State, Kansas State, and of course the Missouri Tigers.

Hays seems very excited about the season. “ With the majority of the team coming back we should be able to compete at a very high level and contend for another conference championship,” Hays said.

And with the upcoming weekend of games against the Sun Devils, they are sure to get a substantial jump on the competition, win or lose.

— — Edited by Liz Schubauer

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