Forget execution.
Right now, Emporia Gold coach Jerry Cook just wants to see some life out of his players.
“It’s boring to watch,” Cook said after his team’s 10-2 and 14-1 run-rule losses to the Manhattan 17ers on Tuesday. “We had a couple innings that guys were here and ready to be here. Other than that, nobody cared.”
After playing its best baseball of the year in its last doubleheader — a split with K.C. Ward on Saturday — the Emporia Gold team once again struggled on its home field.
Most of the problems came from concentration and effort.
Cook was left frustrated in the third-base coaching box as his team missed five different signs.
Even worse was the coach’s gut feeling that his team didn’t want to be there.
“We have great practices. They do what we ask them,” Cook said. “(Then) they come out here and show absolutely no emotion.”
Cook wasn’t the only one upset with the team’s play.
Shortstop Matt Weatherred also noticed a difference in his teammates’ demeanor.
“Everybody was jogging after balls when they missed (them) and pouting when they missed balls,” Weatherred said. “Nobody was trying to get after it when they were batting. It’s really frustrating.”
Part of Emporia’s struggles came because of strong Manhattan pitching, as Caesar Brown and Thomas Olson both contributed complete-game efforts.
The two hurlers combined to allow just three walks.
Emporia, meanwhile, also had problems putting the ball in play.
Sixteen of the Gold team’s 27 outs were strikeouts. That included the first inning of the second game, when all three batters struck out looking.
“It’s fun to be a hitter. When guys are throwing strikes, you’ve got to go out there and swing the bat,” Cook said. “You’re not going to get runs by taking strikes.”
In Game One, Emporia scored its two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Chase Speer led off with a double to left, and Brett McEvoy followed with a single up the middle.
Speer later scored on a wild pitch, and Weatherred brought the second run around with a two-out infield hit that scored McEvoy.
Emporia had five hits in the first game, led by a 2-for-2 performance from Speer.
The Gold team had just two hits in Game Two but still managed to scratch across a run in the third.
McEvoy led off the inning with a walk, and Jase Hubert followed with a single to right.
Weatherred chopped an infield single to load the bases before James Rodriguez’s groundout to short drove in a run.
The Emporia Gold team’s next action will be on Friday at the Wendy’s Tournament. The Gold team will play at 8 a.m. against Andover at Soden’s Grove.
Tuesday at Soden’s Grove
Game One
Manhattan 10, Emporia A-Gold 2
Manhattan 003 25X X — 10 12 1
Emporia Gold 000 02X X — 2 5 3
W — Caesar Brown. L — Chase Speer.
2B — Manhattan: B.J. Stewart, Max Bartlett; Emporia: Speer. 3B — Manhattan: Dillon Mack. Emporia highlights — Chase Speer 2-2, 2B, R; Matt Weatherred 1-3, RBI; Brett McEvoy 1-2, R; Justin Wilson 1-3.
Game Two
Manhattan 14, Emporia A-Gold 1
Manhattan 511 7XX X — 14 11 0
Emporia Gold 001 0XX X — 1 2 4
W — Thomas Olson. L — Jase Hubert.
2B — Manhattan: Daniel Preston, Ben Jung, Jordan Salava. SB — Manhattan: Preston, Jung 2, Dillon Mock; Emporia: Josh Lambert. Emporia highlights — Jase Hubert 1-1; Matt Weatherred 1-2; Brett McEvoy 0-0, BB, R; James Rodriguez 0-2, RBI.
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