By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

After two non-league games, the Joplin Slashers open Jayhawk League play tonight against the Nevada Griffons.

The first pitch is at 7 as the Slashers make their home debut at Joe Becker Stadium.

The Slashers opened their season with a 3-1 victory Sunday night over the Chillicothe Mudcats and defeated the Springfield Generals 13-6 on Wednesday night.

Six pitchers combined to limit Chillicothe to one single and one triple in the nine-inning contest. The Slashers were limited to four singles, half of them by Jared DeLong. DeLong also scored two runs.

“Pitching is going to be our strength,” Slashers head coach Denny Vilela said. “We have some great arms. Defensively we’re going to be solid. At this time of year, the guys are still getting used to using wood (bats), but offensively, I think we’ll be OK.”

The news wasn’t all good for the Slashers on Sunday. Starting catcher Brian Anderson, who played collegiately at C.W. Post, suffered a broken left hand when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning and has gone home.

“He was a pro-caliber type of kid,” Vilela said. “He fractured his ring finger and most likely the middle finger on his left hand. The umpire said it hit the bat first (resulting in a foul ball).

“I saw (Anderson) after he went to Freeman (Hospital), and he was almost in tears. He really wanted to play down here this summer.”defe