A look ahead

[1972Shocker]

Yes, Travis Wycoff was an outstanding 2-way player. Good pull on that one.

[DwShock]

It's Travis Wyckoff and he was from Ark City. He is in the Shocker Hall of Fame.

[pinstripers]

Yes, Travis Wycoff was an outstanding 2-way player. Good pull on that one.

I believe there was talk of him playing basketball for the Shox as well, but he never did.

[WSUwatcher]

Wyckoff (thanks for the correct spelling, dwbarcl) was one of the best all-around athletes ever to play baseball at WSU. Definitely a deserving Hall of Famer.

Happy birthday, Rip Van Rio.

[shock49]

He played left field

[Ricardo del Rio]

He played left field

Errrrr.

[1972Shocker]

Nice write-up on Redshirt Freshman Michael Burns:

Michael Burns went almost a year without playing in a game after redshirting at Wichita State. His summer with the Hays Larks shows he successfully fought off rust.

Burns, a center fielder from Littleton, Colo., entered the weekend hitting .394 to lead the team, with two home runs, nine doubles and 11 steals in 33 games. He hit .381 in Jayhawk League games to lead the league.

“Some guys adjust better than others (after a redshirt year),” Hays manager Frank Leo said. “They don’t get at-bats, and then they’ve got to pick up a wood bat. He hasn’t missed a beat. He’s a good defender, made some phenomenal catches.”

Burns doesn’t consider his redshirt season a lost year. He practiced and did as much extra work in the batting cages as possible. He also learned from WSU’s veterans, soaking up the mental side from players such as Dayne Parker, Micah Green and Garrett Bayliff. In high school, Burns said he would let a bad at-bat bother him for the rest of the game, perhaps affecting his defense. Watching WSU’s seniors taught him how to put it away quickly and evaluate problems after the game.

“It was hard not playing, but it was fun to watch those guys,” he said. “They took us eight freshmen in like we had been there for four years.”
Burns is refining his approach at the plate after being a free-swinger in high school. His job now is to get on base and let other players drive him in. He is widening his stance and choking up on the bat with two strikes.

“In high school I never really learned a role,” he said. “I just got up there and tried to hit the ball out of the park. Here, I want to get on base, steal a base and let the guys behind me hit me in.”

Hays will play in the National Baseball Congress World Series later this week at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Then Burns can switch his focus to fall practices at WSU. The feel will be much different in coach Todd Butler’s second season, with few returning players and 20 or more newcomers.

“When I left Wichita State, I knew I was going to have to be more of a leader than a redshirt freshman might be elsewhere,” Burns said.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/07/26/356...#storylink=cpy