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Washburn will play final games this weekend for Tigers
5/1/2009
Hays native finishes career as one of FHSU's best
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Shortly after his final practice of his Fort Hays State University baseball career on Thursday afternoon, senior first baseman Dusty Washburn sat on a picnic table down the third-base line at Larks Park.
The practice ended a career that started nearly two decades ago when Washburn started playing baseball in the backyard with his grandfather, Irv Karlin.
The early work led to Washburn attending dozens of Hays Larks summer games as a youth, an all-state career at Thomas More Prep-Marian, four years as a player with the Larks and All-America honors at Fort Hays.
Midway through this season, Irv Karlin passed away from brain cancer, a memory that Washburn still holds close as he approaches his last games this weekend at Fort Hays.
"I wish he was here to watch the end of it," Washburn said, his eyes filling with tears. "That is the way life goes."
***
Washburn has encountered a tough spring this year with physical pain and his grandfather's death, but will complete his career as one of the most decorated players in Fort Hays and Larks history. For Fort Hays, Washburn was a three-year starter at first base.
Going into the weekend, he ranks 10th in at-bats (455), sixth in hits (197), tied for third in doubles (51) and fifth in homers (32).
In 2007, Washburn hit 19 homers and was the 12th player to earn All-American honors since Fort Hays became affiliated with the NCAA in 1992. Washburn, known for his constant smile, is the captain and vocal leader for a Tiger team that carries a 30-22 mark into this weekend's four-game series against University of Central Missouri.
"His on-the-field play speaks for itself," Tiger coach Rick Sabath said. "He is the guy that day in and day out brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the ballpark."
Washburn joined Dusty and Doug Dreher as the only players to play four years with the Larks. Washburn was the starting first baseman on the 2007 team that finished as national runner-up and last year's club that earned a top-10 finish.
Washburn hit in the middle of the lineup and was known for his strong defense at first base, especially on ground balls and scoops.
During the 2007 National Baseball Congress World Series, he made a critical defensive play on a ball hit to his right.
"He is just great to be around," Larks manager Frank Leo said. "He keeps the team loose. He has a nice positive attitude about things. He is a kid that I have a lot of respect for because he works at things, he understands the game. The good thing about him is he is a kid that doesn't press, at least outwardly."
The foundation for Washburn's play and attitude came from his grandfather. Karlin taught his grandson how to play the game and bring an upbeat approach to baseball and life.
"That's what everybody tells me is that I got my personality from him," Washburn said. "Baseball is one of those sports where it can make you feel like you are on top of the world one minute and feel like you are the worst person on earth the next. You have to find a happy medium.
"When you are struggling, you have to find a way to pick yourself back up and when you are doing well, you have to find a way to keep doing well. I just try to find a way to stay positive and pick other guys up when they are doing well and when they are not doing things well."
***
Washburn surrounded himself in baseball while growing up as the only child of Mark and Cindy Washburn, Irv's daughter. The family started to host a Larks player once Dusty reached sixth grade and the family would always travel to Wichita for the NBC World Series in August. Many players that Washburn met over the years he still follows.
Years later, Leo, the Larks' manager for nearly three decades, remembered Washburn cheering for the Larks -- and then wearing the uniform.
"When we played for the national title in 2005, when he was on the team, I said, 'Dusty, now you are on the other side of the bench. You actually get to play in one of these things. I can remember when you were behind the fence cheering for the Larks,' " Leo said. "I said, 'That's kind of cool.' He said, 'Yeah, it really is neat.' "
At TMP-Marian, Washburn had strong junior and senior seasons for Monarch teams that reached the state tournament. After the summer of his junior year, Washburn thought he could play college baseball and was signed by Sabath, then the Broncbusters' head coach at Garden City Community College. A catcher with TMP-Marian, Washburn moved to first base because Garden City had four catchers and no first basemen.
He redshirted a season at Garden City before he led the team in multiple hitting categories and signed with the Tigers under former coach Matt Ranson. When Sabath took the Fort Hays job, one of the first players he met with was Washburn. Sabath also stayed with the Washburn family when he came to Hays.
In 2007, Washburn played in every game with Fort Hays and then had a strong summer season with the Larks.
Last spring, Washburn earned unanimous first team all-conference honors and All-American recognition with Fort Hays when he hit 19 homers, drove in 59 runs and posted a .383 batting average.
"Seeing the higher velocity of pitches with the wood bat (with the Larks in 2007) really put his swing into a position that I had not seen," Sabath said. "I can remember telling how good his swing looked as we went into the season.
Quick, powerful, hitting the ball to all fields. That is exactly the swing that would have been here this year if not for the injuries."
Washburn became a leader on the field and a positive voice for children in the community. Several times a year, Washburn would go to his mom's kindergarten class and talk with the students. He, like the other Larks, signs autographs for children after summer games.
"It's been a lot of fun," he said. "It's one of those things that not a lot of people get to experience, and being a college athlete is only something that is cool for me as a player, but also as a person. I think, hopefully, I have made a difference in a lot of little kids' lives. A lot of little kids come to the ball park and talk to the players know me by name now after five years. I think that is kind of cool."
***
In Fort Hays' second series this spring against Angelo State (Texas) University, Washburn hurt his pinkie finger. It was, at the very least, a dislocation. Throughout the season, Washburn said "he could feel the socket loose" when he threw a baseball. Washburn, though, didn't miss any games and didn't go for X-rays. Next week, Washburn will fill out paperwork, take X-rays and possibly have surgery.
"It's my senior year and I didn't want to sit out for six weeks if it was broken and had to have it re-done," he said.
"He has had issues all year that he hasn't spoken about," Sabath said. "It just shows to the quality and character of the kid that Dusty is."
Washburn saw his consecutive games streak end at 153 when he missed two road contests on April 12 against Missouri Western State University and headed back to Hays after Karlin passed away.
Karlin was diagnosed with brain cancer over a year ago and had surgery. The cancer came back and Karlin started chemotherapy in March.
"It was one of those things that everybody knew was coming, but obviously no one wants it to happen," Washburn said. "It was always lingering in the back of my mind."
Washburn missed two contests before he broke his pinkie finger at Missouri Western and missed five games. Washburn didn't have the injury X-rayed and wanted to finish the season.
After practice Thursday, Washburn's pinkie finger jutted out from his hand at an awkward angle.
"It would have been real easy for him after all that he has gone through to kind of throw in the towel," Sabath said.
Washburn, though, remained a positive influence on the team and his replacement Kyle Stacken. Stacken, who leads the team in batting in a limited role, has hit .435 since Washburn suffered the injury.
"It's been great having him as a mentor," Stacken said. "He has taught me a lot defensively, too, because first base wasn't my position coming in and he has made it a lot easier to adjust. He is real easy to talk to and got me to where I needed to be."
Washburn, who carries a .323 average and 10 homers (third-best in the MIAA), plans to play all four games against Central Missouri.
After that, he will help coach the Larks this summer, start a job selling insurance with Farmers' Bureau, and will marry his longtime girlfriend and former Fort Hays and Hays High School softball player, Emily Herl, in October.
The wedding will feature two Larks players, including Billy Boockford, a player on last season's team that stays in close contact with Washburn.
It's the players that the fun-loving Washburn enjoyed more than anything -- players that helped him play a game that his grandfather taught him years ago.
"You can go into a great program and kind of be an outcast and not have any friends," Washburn said. "I think every team that I played on, everyone kind of gelled with each other. Everyone kind of hung out with everybody.
There was nobody out in left field all by themselves. It was always a good bunch of guys to play with and we hung out on and off the field."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |