MOUNT GILEAD – In the midst of the most difficult portion of the season, East Knox baseball coach Randy Baugher was looking for a change.
He took an outside-the-box idea by putting his best hitter, Weston Melick, in the leadoff spot.
It paid off. The Bulldogs have won four consecutive games and seven out of the last 10, including a 14-7 decision at Mount Gilead in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference play on Friday, April 30.
“He’s a guy that everybody knows about, so there’s no hiding him,” Baugher said of Melick. “We had him in the three-spot; he drives in lots of runs. Most people bat their best hitter in the three-spot, and he’s our best hitter. But we wanted to try to get him some fastballs.”
“I don’t have to think as much,” Melick said. “Just see ball, hit ball. If it’s not right where I want it, I see a lot of pitches. I guess that’s what a lead-off guy should do.”
Baugher put freshman Bryar Householder in the two-hole, hoping to jump-start the duo early in the game.
“Householder has done a real nice job behind him,” Baugher said. “Nobody wants to start off the game walking the first two guys.”
Baugher can point to Friday’s game as evidence that he made the right call.
Melick and Householder each walked to open the game. Melick added an RBI single to cap a seven-run first inning, and the Bulldogs (8-10, 6-6) rolled from there.
Householder also had a hit in his second plate appearance in the big first inning.
Melick added a solo home run later in the game — his second in as many games against MG (10-10, 3-9).
“He gets good pitches to hit now, and it’s tougher to pitch around him,” Baugher said.
Melick joked that he does lack in one attribute of a lead-off hitter.
“I’m not too fast,” he quipped. “So that’s the only part I don’t have.”
Melick did have two stolen bases in Friday’s game.
Householder has made a big impact for the Bulldogs, particularly on the mound. On Friday, he threw only 43 pitches in four innings of work after East Knox built its lead.
He ended up giving up two runs, one earned, on a hit and a walk with five strikeouts.
“For a freshman, it’s not too big for him,” Baugher said. “He’s a good hitter too. He’s pretty advanced for a freshman, so we’re really happy with the way he’s playing.”
With the league title out of reach, the Bulldogs have their eye on the Division IV district tournament.
“I think we can do well in the tournament,” Baugher said. “There’s some really good teams. So we’re looking forward to the tournament. We think we can make a pretty good run. I feel like we’ve built to that all season long — especially after the slow start.
Baugher and the Bulldogs have simplified things in the weeks since.
“We talked about the two-out approach,” he said. “Just simple things like picking up the signs at the right time and being aware of when the sign is coming. A lot of these kids haven’t played baseball in high school. It’s just a lot of little things that we’ve had to work on. It’s kind of starting from ground zero with baseball fundamentals.”
