Rocky Helm has led his team to Kansas baseball success and into the Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings.
Photo by Dean Backes
Following last season's 11-3 loss to Blue Valley in the Kansas Class 6A state championship baseball game,
Conner Knight and his
Maize (Kan.) teammates discovered the value of just being themselves.
A 10-0 shutout win over the eventual champion Tigers, last May, proved to be a mirage of sorts as Blue Valley exacted revenge over the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail baseball power in the title game. Maize has since decided to get back to Eagle basics.
"We had seen them before," Knight said of the Tigers. "We hit real well against them and pitched right with them the first time we faced them last season, so we went into the (championship) game feeling pretty good. But we really didn't hit like we know we're capable of.
Maize pitchers like Gabe Cook haveprospered thanks to the potentoffense.
Photo by Dean Backes
"This year we've taken the mindset to play the best that we could, to play to our strengths. We're focusing on playing Maize baseball."
Loaded with plenty of pitching and a ton of hitting, the Eagles are off to a 15-0 start in Rocky Helm's 13th season at the helm of Maize baseball, and 20th overall with the 6A power. The Eagles recently knocked off the Tigers 11-5 and now find themselves resting comfortably in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings at No. 14 nationally as of Tuesday.
Last Saturday's triumph over Blue Valley as well as a 6-1 win over Salina Central in April and Tuesday's 5-2 victory over league foe Derby are the only Eagle wins of less than 10 runs in 2010-11. Through 15 games, Maize has outscored its opponents 189-18.
Staying within the boundaries of Eagle baseball has proven to be a success for Knight, Helm and company.
"We want to be seen as a team that's well-coached and fundamentally sound," Helm said of the reputation he and his coaching staff are seeking to build for their baseball team. "We want to be a team that doesn't make mistakes. I've been blessed to have such talented kids come through here. It's our job to teach those kids how to work hard and we hope that that's what we are throwing at them."
Carrying big sticks and walking tall, Maize is hitting a blistering .459 as a team this season. Leading the charge for Helm is Knight and his .636 batting average. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior has also produced a .702 on-base percentage and a .977 slugging percentage. Knight has contributed nine doubles and a pair of home runs in 2011.
Also hitting for a high average are
Thomas Clay (.558),
Ryan McBroom (.533) and
Tory Bell (.511).
Gabe Cook,
Gage Byers,
Tanner Johnson and
DJ McClure are all hitting better than .400.
"We're good both ways – hitting and pitching," Helm said of his ball club. "We are a nightmare for most of the teams that we play. It's a double-edged sword in favor of us and I hope that keeps going. I'll throw our guys out there against anybody we compete against."
Helm would like to take advantage of his team's speed on the base pads, but the Eagles have swatted 39 doubles, 16 triples and 11 home runs collectively in 2011, making stolen bases a rarity by Helm's standards.
Through 15 games this season, the Eagles have been good on 44 of 46 stolen bases. Clay leads the way, with a perfect 16-for-16 on base thefts, while Knight slides in at a spotless 9-for-9 on the season.
"Every year coach Helm's goal for us is to reach 100 steals by the state tournament," Knight said. "That was our goal again this year. But it's been hard to move runners with all of the extra-base hits that we've been producing."
Since taking over the Eagle head job in 1998-99, Helm has posted a shiny 244-55 record and guided Maize to Kansas 6A state titles in 2003 and 2005. The Eagles also earned runner-up trophies in 1993, 2000, 2006 and 2010.
Maize earned third-place finishes in 1996 and 2004 and took fourth in 2009. Through 2008-09, the Eagles were crowned district champions 10 times. Maize has put together a 13-9 record in the state tournament, including a 5-5 mark over the past five seasons. Helm guided the Eagles to four of the last five state tournaments.
"We've been fortunate to make it to state a lot lately," Helm said. "That's our No. 1 goal…to make it to state. We realize that it's not a lock. But once we get there we know that anything can happen.
"I really believe that we ran into a better team than what we were last year. This season all we're trying to do is play better. The guys are on a mission to get things taken care of because we came up a game short last year."
As Helm sees it, he has been the fortunate one to go along for the ride the past 13 seasons. As long as Eagle players live under his reigns, Helm said they would have plenty of freedom. Should they lose focus, however, Helm knows how to reel them in.
"My job is to try to keep them focused," Helm said. "We like to use some attention getters should they stray a little. All we have to do is throw a couple or three words out at them. If I tell them to ‘lock it back in,' they know what that means and they respond. We challenge them every day at practice to get better at one thing."
