At 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, Jeremy Francis isn’t the prototypical first baseman.
As is usually the case for the talented 10th-ranked Emporia State Hornets, replacement players might not look the part, but they play like starters. That was the case on Friday when, forced into the role for the fifth straight game, Francis provided the pop usually expected from big, burly first basemen.
Francis hit a home run and drove in two runs, and Calder Cody, who took over the third base job midseason, also hit a two-run homer to lead Emporia State to a 9-4 win over Pittsburg State.
“If you look at our lineup from top to bottom, a lot of us can start on any team in the MIAA,” Francis said. “We’re just that good. You’re a starter, but if you slip, it could easily be taken away. ... Just like Calder stepping up when he needs to. (Tyler) Herrig came in off the bench against Northwest and got a double. Everybody can step up; it’s just a matter of getting an opportunity.”
That talent and depth were too much for Pitt State, but it’s also what has left ESU coach Bob Fornelli frustrated as of late.
Emporia State has a nice record, 25-8 overall and 19-6 in the MIAA, but for a team that was ranked preseason No. 1, Fornelli expects more and was left feeling that way on Friday.
“We’ve got to play with more passion,” Fornelli said. “I think we just throw our stuff on the field and think people owe us stuff. Nobody owes us anything. We’ve got to play the right way, do the right things, and there’s days that I think we do that and there’s days that I’m not sure that we do.”
Another reason that Fornelli could be frustrated is the fact he’s had to play Francis at first base instead of in the outfield for the last five games. Starting first baseman Kenny Burkhead served a five-game suspension for undisclosed reasons, and he will be back in the lineup for today’s doubleheader.
Burkhead had started to hit better until his suspension, bumping his average 51 points in his last six games.
Consistency is what Fornelli wants to see. His goal is always for his team to score a run every single inning, and after the first inning, again, he was left wanting more.
The Hornets started the game with the first four hitters reaching base. David Albritton drove in two runs with a double, and Parker Amos followed with an RBI single to put the Hornets ahead 3-0.
They added two more runs in the fourth inning; however, they had the bases loaded and could not add any more.
“We scored the other innings because we hit a home run,” Fornelli said. “It wasn’t putting things together and doing little things. We strike out too much. Coming into tonight, we had 207 strikeouts and we can’t do that to be successful. We’ve got to make the defense work, put pressure on them to be a great offensive baseball team.”
The one area where Fornelli was pleased was his pitching. Starter Ben Graham (5-2) went seven innings and struck out 10, giving up three runs, two of which came on solo home runs.
“Ben did a great job.” Fornelli said. “He’s our No. 1. He’s been our No. 1 all year, and it was tough conditions with the wind blowing out today to pitch, and he had a great effort today.”
Francis and Albritton both had a team-best three hits. Albritton drove in three runs to add to his team-best 47 RBIs. Marc Albers went 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
The Hornets and Gorillas (13-17, 12-17 MIAA) play a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. and finish the series on Sunday with one game at noon. Last weekend, ESU fell one game short of a sweep against Northwest Missouri State, and the goal this weekend is to not let that happen again by playing the way Fornelli envisions this team playing.
“We’re doing good enough to be good, but to be great, we’ve got to do the right things each and every day,” Fornelli said. “That’s something I’m trying to pound into them. I don’t know if it’s getting anywhere right now, but we’re not looking for tomorrow, we’re not looking for the next day. We’re looking for the overall picture to have a chance to play in late May, but until we figure that out, I can’t tell you we’re going to have a chance to get there.”
Friday at Trusler
Pittsburg State 000 101 101 — 4 8 1
Emporia State 300 201 21X — 9 12 0
WP — Graham. LP — Brady.
E — PSU: Graves. DP — Gorillas 1. LOB — Gorillas 4, Hornets 7. 2B — PSU: Graves, Potter; ESU: Albers, Albritton. HR — PSU: Potter, Zeller 2; ESU: Francis, Cody. HBP — ESU: Whipple. SH — ESU: Cotton. SB — ESU: Whipple 3, Williams, Knight.
latenitereader (anonymous) says...
Way to go Francis and Cody. Francis has worked long and hard for his recognition. But seriously CJ when will somebody have the guts to tell the city of Emporia the real story? A five game suspension for "undisclosed" reasons....hmmm I believe it was reported in your own newspaper what happened to Mr. Burkhead. Just what does ESU Athletics do to an athlete who gets charged with something like that..sweep it under the rug? It just might impact donors for scholarships. Maybe the public would like to know about it. Who's going to report on that?
April 10, 2010 at 10:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )