The RoundHouse | 2/14/2018 11:09:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop 
 
When a pitcher threw a breaking pitch, Wichita State's Dayton Dugas guessed, hoped and took a swing. The vision in his left eye – 20/200 – prohibited him from seeing the spin of the baseball that identified the pitch.
 
"I could always hit a fastball," he said. "I would always wave at sliders in the dirt - that weren't even reasonable."
 
Dugas, a junior outfielder, feels better about his eyesight and his swing entering the season. He said he underwent laser eye surgery over Thanksgiving break, a procedure that corrected the vision in his left eye to 20/15. Five or six vision training sessions also helped.
 
"I'm seeing the ball like I've never seen it before," he said. "It's made a world of difference. I thought I could see before. But until you can actually see, you didn't realize how you were playing."
 
Teammates notice the difference from Dugas' at-bats in the fall.
 
"He's finding good pitches to hit and it's paying off for him," Shocker first baseman Mason O'Brien said. "Everybody knows he has crazy power and just crazy ability with his speed. Everyone's been kind of waiting around for him to start hitting some sliders, and, man, he has."
 
Shocker coach Todd Butler expects Dugas to hit fifth when the season opens on Friday at McNeese State, located in Lake Charles, La., which both Butler and Dugas call their hometown.
 
"He seems to be seeing the ball a lot better," Butler said. "Hard contact. Has not struck out as much."
 
Dugas hit .304 as a freshman. Last season, he slumped to .206 with 56 strikeouts in 141 at-bats. Hitters can identify a slider by the red dot that the seams form as the ball leaves the hand of the pitcher. Dugas, who said he drives with an eyesight restriction on his license, couldn't see that clue.
 
"It was a mystery," Dugas said. "I never wanted to have excuses. That's not the type of person I am. But once the doctor told me 'You really couldn't see,' I realized that he's for real."
 
Dugas came to Wichita State after Detroit drafted him in the 29^th  round in 2015. He earned Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball after starting 46 games and hitting 11 doubles and four home runs. Last season, he started 40 games.
 
"It's hard not to be able to help your team every day," he said. "I can be more of a leader now, because I can let my game talk and I don't have to try to rah-rah. I don't have to say much. I can just play."
 
Pitching
 
Butler said junior Codi Heuer will start Friday's opener. Heuer moved from the bullpen to the rotation late last season and compiled a 4.42 earned run average in 23 appearances, three starts, with 35 strikeouts and 16 walks. In nine Missouri Valley Conference appearances, he struck out 18 and walked six, finishing with a 2.84 ERA over 19 innings.
 
"He's developed a slider and he's got a plus changeup," Butler said. "It's been hard for us to score off him during the entire fall and spring. I think he's a bona fide Friday night guy."
 
Freshman Liam Eddy will likely start Saturday's game. Sunday's started is undecided, although junior Connor Lungwitz (2-1, 4.00 ERA) is a likely option.
 
Lefties Alex Segal, who redshirted last season, and Cody Tyler (4-5, 6.24) are recovering from injury. Segal, Butler said, could throw in relief this weekend as he builds toward more innings. Tyler started his throwing program and his return is scheduled for later this spring.
 
"Segal was going to be a weekend rotation guy for us last year and he didn't get to pitch because he had a bone spur," Butler said. "Those are two important guys for us."

Senior Chandler Sanburn (5-3, 4.48), junior Clayton McGinnness (1-0, 8.49) and sophomore Tommy Barnhouse (2-3, 6.04) will handle most of the relief duties this weekend.
 
Sophomore Keylan Killgore (0-1, 6.08) is another lefty who could work into the rotation.
 
"He's stepped it up," Butler said. "He's picked up a better breaking ball."
 
Catcher
 
Sophomore Noah Croft (.248, three home runs) started 34 games at catcher last season. Senior Gunnar Troutwine (.224, three doubles) started 24 and has 119 starts and a career .273 batting average. Freshman Ross Cadena is also an option.
 
Infield
 
Senior shortstop Trey Vickers (.296, seven doubles, four home runs) will miss this weekend series due to a strained hamstring, Butler said. Vickers has started 140 games in his career, all at shortstop and earned honorable mention All-MVC honors as a junior.
 
"He's such as valuable leader for our entire team," Butler said.
 
O'Brien, nephew of Shocker great Charlie O'Brien, will play first base and hit cleanup. O'Brien, a lefty, spent last season at Cowley College, playing in seven games before a back injury ended his season. He played in 17 games at Oklahoma State in 2015 and redshirted in 2016.
 
Junior Luke Ritter (.272, eight doubles, three home runs) is expected to bat leadoff and play second base. He started 46 games last season, eight at second and 24 in the outfield. As a freshman, he started 28 games at second base.
 
Junior Alec Bohm (.305, .519 slugging percentage, 13 doubles, 11 home runs), coming off a strong summer in the Cape Cod League, returns at third base. Bohm is on the 55-man Golden Spikes Award watch list and four preseason All-American teams. He will hit third this weekend.
 
With Vickers out, junior Jordan Boyer (.295, three home runs, 42 RBI) will start at shortstop. He led the Shockers in RBIs last season, when he started 47 games at second base and usually batted ninth.
 
Outfield
 
Junior Greyson Jenista (.320, .509 slugging percentage, 14 doubles, nine home runs) joins Bohm on the Golden Spikes watch list. Both are expected to go early in the June professional draft and their bats are the key to the Shocker offense.
 
Jenista will start in center field, a spot he played last summer in the Cape Cod League. As a sophomore, he started 37 games at first and 21 in right field.
 
"He can run," Butler said. "He can really throw. He gets to show his athleticism out there."
 
Butler has several options to team with Jenista.
 
Dugas started 20 games in left and 14 in right last season. Junior lefty Josh DeBacker (.176), junior Travis Young (.231, two home runs) and sophomore Alex Jackson (.251, 10 doubles) all have outfield experience. Jackson, also a left-handed hitter, started 39 games in center as a freshman. Lefty sophomore Jacob Katzfey (.264) started 10 games in left last season.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.