Busy day for Shayne

On Monday night, Shayne Busti was busy helping Mario's to a 3-0 victory over Bud Murphy's in a Fayette County Baseball League game in Republic.

Less than 18 hours later, Busti was pinch-running for the Wild Things' Chris Raniere in the third inning of a game against the Midwest Sliders.

It was a quite a Tuesday morning for Busti, a native of Crucible in Greene County. The former California University shortstop received a telephone call from Washington manager Mark Mason at 9:30 a.m. The call went something like this:

Mason: Shayne, would you like to play for the Wild Things?
Busti: Sure. When do I have to be in Washington?
Mason: We have a game in 2 1/2 hours at home. We leave for a road trip after the game. Pack for six days. And get here as quickly as possible.

Washington had been playing for a week without a backup infielder. The emergency infielder was Kris Rochelle, who would have been moved from catcher to first base.

Busti had an individual workout with the Wild Things an impressed them enough that he was put on the team's "emergency call" list.

Busti played this spring for California – his only season with the Vulcans – and led the team in batting average (.415) and RBI (55). He also hit eight home runs. Busti also played for IUP and Penn State. He led IUP in home runs (11) in 2008.

A Carmichaels High School graduate, Busti is the first Greene County native to play for the Wild Things. He arrived so late for his first game that his new teammates didn't even know his name. For laughs, they called him "Fred," "Bill" and a dozen other names during the game.

Busti's debut had some rough spots. After Raniere injured a hip flexor running out a double, Busti went in as a pinch-runner. In the top of the fourth inning, Busti hustled out to third base at sprinter's speed. He was at his position before all but two of his teammates had left the dugout. Later in the game, Midwest's Zach Pace faked a bunt, which drew Busti in. When Pace pulled the bat back, Busti backed up and slipped, falling on his backside.

Busti walked in his first first trip to the plate and finished the day 0-for-2.