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Martinsville Post 42 center fielder Ed Clark runs after a fly ball during a recent game at Danville. He is also dangerous running the bases. (Bulletin photo by Doug Kates) |
Thursday, July 12, 2007
By ADAM REGAN - Bulletin Sports Writer
When Ed Clark steps to the plate, there might as well be a sign over the basepaths that reads “Vacancies.”
As Martinsville Post 42’s lead-off hitter, Clark does not have a problem filling those vacancies.
Over the last two games, he has had to work overtime, leading off 10 of the last 17 innings Post 42 has batted.
“As Ed goes, we go,” Martinsville manager Barry Nelson said.
Clark’s presence on the basepaths have translated into wins for Post 42 (11-2), which sits atop the District 9 East standings with a 9-1 district record going into today’s non-district match-up with Salem Post 3 at Hooker Field.
The center fielder reached base eight times in the last two games, which were key wins over Danville on Sunday and Lynchburg on Wednesday.
Surprisingly, Clark believes he hasn’t been at his best.
“When I’m on my game, I feel like I set the tone for the rest of the team,” said Clark, who has four hits and four walks over the two-game stretch. “I’m kind of like the spark plug for our powerful offense.
“We are capable of scoring seven or eight runs on any given night.”
Post 42 has plated 81 runs in 13 games this season — good enough for third place in the district.
A successful at-bat at the top of an inning for Clark consists of seeing at least six or seven pitches to help teammates get a feel for a certain pitcher, and capping it off with a walk or a hit.
Of course Clark will take a hack early in the count if he sees a juicy fastball he can drive to the gap. But, for the most part, he is about helping his team, which has reeled off six straight wins.
“I’ve never been a real big RBI guy,” Clark joked. “My game is to set the table for the middle of the lineup.”
In the batting order Nelson has constructed, if Clark reaches base, he eventually finds himself touching home plate. By the time extra-base-hit-machine Greg Cassady and clean-up hitter D.J. Shelton step to the plate, Clark is already in scoring position.
“I can do so many things with the speed we have at the top of the lineup,” Nelson said. “It makes my job a lot easier and I look like a hero because we have such great athletes at the top of the order.”
When Clark enters the batter’s box in the bottom of the first inning today, it will be his 11th straight at-bat leading off an inning.
That act may be growing tired, but as long as his team adds another win, he’ll go along with it.
“It gets kind of old every once in a while because you want to swing away,” Clark said. “I don’t mind it, though, if it helps out the team.”
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