STORY AND PHOTOS BY CAYDEN SANDERS
With the month of June beginning and the summer storms rolling through the Hays area, the boys of summer are back for another season of Larks baseball. The Larks are a summer league baseball team that has been a summer-long event for Hays residents to attend since 1946. This year is no different for the team as they started their 76th season this past weekend.
The team started the year off with a road loss against the Great Bend Batcats on Thursday before returning home against the Batcats for their season home opener Friday night. The Larks’ bats were hot early en route to an 8-0 win. Hays High alum Dylan Dreiling hit a three-run home run to help give the Larks the first win of the season.
“Dylan has been waiting for this moment,” Larks Head Coach Frank Leo said. “He has been a Lark forever, he has been traveling with the team for years but with him being out of high school, he has really been able to see all the hard work he has put in to be here. He is now able to compete going into his freshman year it will be good for him to see the collegiate level talent as he prepares for Tennesee.”
In their second home this past weekend the Larks welcomed a non-conference foe in the Boulder Collegians for a two-game series at Larks Park. The Larks used RBI walks along with a double gave the Larks a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning. The Larks got a late push offensively to win the first game 7-3.
The second game of the series was pushed up two hours due to the possibility of severe weather in the area, but that did not stop the Larks’ offense from putting on an offensive performance as they scored 22 runs.
The Larks were led by two former Hays High players in Palmer Hutchinson and Dreiling who played for Leo while in High School. Dreiling had himself a day with three doubles counting for multiple runs on the board along with a home run. Hutchinson had two doubles and a single that gave the Larks multiple runs on the board. The series finale ended in a 7th inning run-rule 22-7.
“Getting to have Palmer [Hutchinson] on this team means a whole lot to me and the fans,” Leo said. “Palmer has been with us for the past couple of years and he always gives you something. Whether it’s with hits bat or his defense, he is going to make the plays needed to help your team be successful.”
The Larks begin league play tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Larks Park against league foe Dodge City A’s.
“We love our fans, when we recruit these players we talk about what the games are like and the electricity they bring to the game and the boys have not stopped talking about the difference the Hays community makes on the players,” Leo said. “The atmosphere of what a Hays Larks game is, and we just hope to keep seeing our fans at our home games over this summer.”