McSpadden Preaches Three C’s

The Liberal Bee Jays have six wins in a row. There are a variety of reasons for the change of fortunes. The team changed their traveling pattern. After losing all five first days of road trips after long trips on the bus, the team went to Derby a day early to play the Twins July 18. The result was an 7-1 road win. They are getting timely hitting and playing much better defensively. But the overiding reason the Jays have jumped from 9-13 to 15-13 in the Jayhawk League is their pitching. Manager Mike Hargrove says his team is excelling on the mound. “We’re pitching better,” Hargrove said. “We’re getting good starting pitching. We’re pitching ahead in the count and we’re not wasting a lot of pitches to get the hitters out. Our middle relief and our short relief has come in and done the job.” Liberal’s pitching staff has allowed just 10 runs during the six game winning streak. Pitching coach and JUCO hall of famer Galen McSpadden says “C” is for more than cookie. “I’m trying to get them to buy into the three C’s which are compete, comand, and change speeds,” McSpadden said. “They’re all doing that. They’re pitching in a range with their fastball and not try to throw hard every time. We’re trying to teach them to pitch to contact instead of trying to strike everybody out.” The Bee Jays send Pepperdine’s Tyler Hess to the mound Thursday night for a non leage game at Junction City. Liberal is 23-16.