Hays Post
HAYS – John Ceccoli and Damian Ruiz had three hits, Brady Evans hit a grand slam and drove in five runs and the Hays Larks opened their final series of the season with a 10-3 win over the North Platte Plainsmen Friday night at Larks Park.
The Larks (35-16) rallied from an early three-run deficit with single runs in the third and fourth then took the lead with a five-run fifth, highlighted by Evans grand slam which broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Larks the lead for good. Evans drove in his fifth run of the game with a groundout in the sixth.
Lenny Ashby added a solo homer in the sixth.
The Plainsmen (17-30) grabbed the early lead with a run in the top of the first and two in the second. Ruiz drove in the Larks’ first run with a single in the third. Garrett Gruell added an RBI single in the fourth and an RBI double in the sixth.
Kaleb Meredith (3-0) pitched three hitless innings of relief with six strikeouts and two walks and picked up the win.
Starter Jose Velasquez allowed two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and six walks.
NEW FACES
The Larks have added a couple of players to their roster for the upcoming NBC World Series. Lenny Junior Ashby is a native of Aruba. He played the last two seasons at New Mexico and is transferring to Kansas for his senior season. Ashby has played in three games.
Austen Jaslove joined the team for Friday night’s game. The Knoxville, Tennessee native led the Larks in hits last summer. Jaslove will be a junior at Tennessee.
UP NEXT
The Larks host the Plainsmen in game two of their three-game series Saturday night. First pitch has been pushed back a half-hour to 7:30 p.m. due to extreme heat. Sunday night’s regular season finale will start at 7:00 p.m.