Some of Troy Wingert’s numbers are simply unimaginable in baseball.

Nobody hits .457. No one has a .564 on-base percentage. Not even Babe Ruth had a .767 slugging percentage.

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Oh, and would you believe the left-handed hitting Wingert, veteran catcher for the Lawrence Raiders, has three times as many walks as strikeouts?

“He’s an amazingly patient hitter,” Raiders coach Carl Brooks said. “I don’t worry about him getting two strikes. I know he’ll hit the ball.”

Wingert, who at 6-foot-0 and 215 pounds looks like a free-swinging slugger when he steps to the plate in the clean-up spot, has fanned only 11 times in 163 plate appearances while drawing a team-high 32 walks.

“I know my zone and where I can hit them,” Wingert said. “I don’t strike out very often. If I do, it’s because of my stupidity, or because the pitcher has me overmatched.”

Few pitchers overmatch Wingert. Not even Matt Faust, the flame-throwing right-hander for the Blue Valley West Jaguars, who tossed a two-hitter in blanking the Raiders, 1-0, two weeks ago. Wingert walked twice against Faust and was retired on a shot to the third baseman.

Now the Raiders will face Faust again today in the opening round of the Class AAA State American Legion tournament in Emporia. Game time is 1 p.m. at Soden Grove Park.

“I was told he was throwing around 90 (mph) the whole game,” Wingert said. “He’s pretty good. He’s got one of the best sliders I’ve seen.”

Lawrence's Troy Wingert, right, seen after hitting a home run for the Raiders this summer, has been tearing the cover off the ball. Wingert takes a .457 batting average into today's Class AAA State American Legion tournament in Emporia.

Brooks will counter with his best pitcher Aaron Madill, a right-hander who has a 10-1 record and a glossy 2.44 earned run average. Only one Raiders’ pitcher has a lower ERA. It’s Wingert. Although he has pitched just 162â3 innings, Wingert has a 1.71 ERA.

Still, it’s at the plate where Wingert excels. He has a team-high 16 doubles and shares the team lead in home runs with shortstop Matt Berner. Both have six.

Wingert also is the only player on the 13-man roster who is in his third summer with the Raiders. All the rest are first- or second-year players.

“Three years ago when he was 16,” Brooks said, “he hit 25 doubles. That was remarkable. Last year he didn’t hit as many doubles, but he was better overall. And this year he’s a whole lot better than last year.”

Although not a threat to steal, Wingert has clubbed three triples. Only speedy second baseman Andrew Pyle, a talented running back for Eudora High, has more among the Raiders with five.

Wingert, who graduated from Lawrence High in May, will be heading to Allen County Community College in Iola in a few weeks. He’s anxious to enhance his baseball skills during two years of juco competition.

“I don’t think I’m good enough for (NCAA) Division One yet,” Wingert said. “I need to work on my defense, my speed and agility. But I’d love to play at KU. That would be great.”

First things first, though. After playing on back-to-back Raiders’ teams that finished fourth in the State Legion tournament, Wingert’s immediate goal is obvious.

“I’m sick of this fourth-place stuff,” he said. “I won’t be satisfied with anything but first place.”

If the Raiders win today, they’ll play again at 6 p.m. on Friday. If they lose, they’ll have to play at 10 a.m. on Friday. They’re in the upper bracket with Chanute and Great Bend.