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Griffons, Foust deliver in final home game
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
Making his first start of the season, Nevada Griffons pitcher Matt Foust allowed only one hit to the top team in the Jayhawk League, as the Griffons beat the El Dorado Broncos 2-0 at Lyons Stadium Tuesday.
Foust (1-0) threw a complete game shutout, needing only 100 pitches in nine innings of work, walking four and striking out six.
The 6-4, 220-pound right hander mixed a steady diet of fastballs and breaking balls to keep the Broncos from making solid contact.
Foust was so dominant that El Dorado (24-14 overall, 24-11 in the Jayhawk League) had only two balls leave the infield. Brandon Hall had a double in the third inning and Eric Farris flew out to shallow center field in the eighth.
"He was a machine," Nevada head coach John Hill III said about his spot-starter. "It's like a pitching machine. You put a quarter in and get an inning."
Hill only started Foust with hopes of getting six, or at the most seven, innings from the Overland Park, Kan., native.
But when Foust started cruising through batters like a simulated game, Hill was able to keep his bullpen from any work.
"Our bullpen is banged up," Hill said. "He put us in a great position for (Wednesday) night."
The Griffons (28-22, 15-20) have to play another midweek game tonight when they travel to Wichita for a make-up contest with the Twins. The two teams were supposed to play a game on June 11, but it was postponed due to rain.
Foust, who just completed his junior year at the University of Nebraska, had not thrown much during the spring.
In fact, his nine innings Tuesday were two more than he threw in five appearances this past season with the Cornhuskers.
Hill said his talent is really starting to show, after a slow start with the Griffons. In his first appearance of the summer on June 26, Foust gave up four earned runs in only one-third of an inning.
Gradually, Foust has improved, and Tuesday was his sixth appearance with the Griffons since arriving late because of a College World Series run by Nebraska.
"He's just gotten better and better," Hill said. "The ability and the potential is definitely there. The impressive thing is each time (on the mound) he's improved.
Hill joked that Foust's trend would lead to a special outing next time he takes the mound.
"The only thing left for him to do is throw a no-hitter," Hill said.
Foust said his improved confidence has made the biggest difference as the season progressed.
"It feels real good to come out and pitch. My confidence is definitely coming back," Foust said.
He admitted that not facing many live hitters this spring contributed to his slow start with Nevada.
"Just not being out there and not being confident," he said. "It feels good to be back and throwing strikes."
Foust did not know El Dorado was the best hitting team in the league. He said it wouldn't have changed his approach had he known the Broncos were hitting over .300 as a team.
"It doesn't matter who you face. That's how you've got to think. Just throw strikes and hopefully your stuff's better than theirs on that day," he said.
El Dorado starter Rusty Jones (3-2) was almost as good. He allowed only two hits in a complete game of his own. Jones was the beneficiary of shoddy defense though, as the Broncos committed five errors. Two of the miscues came in the third inning when Nevada scored both their runs. Neither of the runs were earned by Jones.
Tuesday's game was also the final home contest for the Griffons in 2005. Making his final home appearance in a Nevada uniform after three summers with the club, Mickey Nichol was a little nostalgic after the game.
"It's sweet when we can beat El Dorado," he said. "It's been fun, a fun ride. If it weren't for the McDonald's, I wouldn't have kept coming back. They're a great host family."
Nichol was lucky to be in Nevada, able to play in Tuesday's game after being involved in a traffic accident on Interstate 44 outside Tulsa, Okla., Monday.
Driving in a thunderstorm, Nichol lost control of his pickup when it started hydroplaning. He hit the median barrier twice and spun repeatedly before being hit by a semi-truck going about 60 mph. Luckily for Nichol and his girlfriend, who was a passenger in the pickup, the truck hit the bed of the pickup instead of the cab. Nichol and his girlfriend suffered minor injuries but were able to walk away from the wreck.
"We are lucky to be alive," a sore Nichol said Tuesday.