Shockers Head South

As the Wichita State Shockers baseball team begins super regional play today in Tallahassee against national No. 4 seed Florida State, rest assured that local players have helped them get there. Leading among them of late have been Logan Hoch and Tyler Weber. Hoch a 6-2, 175-pound pitcher out of Wichita Southeast, spent time at Hutchinson Community College before arriving this year as a reliever. Hoch pitched the final outs against Oklahoma State in the regional final after Clinton McKeever's game-winning grand slam in the top of the tenth. Hoch as a two-time all-city outfielder at Southeast and was all-city as a pitcher one year. Weber's name is no stranger to Shocker fans. The Goddard High graduate is finishing up a solid Shocker career as a senior, as he has started since his sophomore year. The 6-3, 220-pound catcher was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation's top collegiate catcher, as a junior. At Goddard, he played in the state tournament three times and won it all on the 2004 state title team. Sophomore Ryan Jones, who starts in right field, could be on his way to becoming one of the Shocker greats. His acrobatic catches in right this spring have wowed fans, among whom he is a favorite on the hill at Eck Stadium. Jones, a Bishop Carroll graduate and the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior, won a state baseball title at Carroll in 2005. Andy Dirks of Haven High School has arguably been the most valuable Shocker of the season. A transfer from Hutchinson Community College, Dirks came in and started in the outfield right away. Entering the super regional, his hitting streak this season sits at 28 games and his on-base streak at 73, dating back to last season. He is the ultimate lead-off batter. The Shockers will need him and all the other local talents this weekend in Florida.