The sun is out, the teams are ready to go to bat, and… is that Elizabethtown College?
That’s right. Elizabethtown College became the thirty-first team to attend MLB Spring Training, joining the Grapefruit League in multiple locations of Florida.
They are the sixteenth team in Florida, with the MLB splitting the league between Florida and Arizona. The Blue Jays joined the New York Mets with residence in Port St. Lucie.
The competitions started on March 1, with Etown going up against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Florida. The Blue Jays swept the Pirates 9-0 to secure their first win of this spring break trip. Junior pitcher Logan Burns went up against star pitcher Paul Skenes, but made Skenes look like an amateur. Burns only allowed five hits from the Pirates throughout the nine innings, while Skenes allowed 22.
Senior outfielder Mason Woolwine led the Blue Jays in three runs, with sophomore outfielder Sawyer Martin next with two. Since Etown was up by such a large margin by the eighth inning, relief pitcher Bubba Chandler replaced Skenes, but allowed two more runs—one per inning.
On March 4, Etown faced off against the Boston Red Sox at home, where it was a much closer game seeing Etown win 5-4 in extra innings. First-year pitcher Jackson Kelley and sophomore pitcher Paul Kvech split duties this game, facing off against star pitcher Garrett Crochet and relief pitcher Danny Coulombe.
The Red Sox led early with three runs in the first three innings, but Etown didn’t let up that easily. They came back to lead the game 4-3 in the fifth inning, led by a grand slam from senior infielder Alex Perrin. There would be more back and forth action before the teams ultimately tied 4-4 at the bottom of the ninth because of a run from Red Sox player Trevor Story. A run from Woolwine in the extra inning would secure another win for the Blue Jays, and even attract attention from the MLB Commissioner.
On March 6, Etown played their final game of the break against the Texas Rangers in Surprise, Arizona. Etown would fall short in this game, losing 7-2 against the Rangers. Left-handed pitcher Jacob DeGrom didn’t allow any runs from the Blue Jays during his six-inning stint. Relief pitcher Jalen Beeks took control of the final three innings, even with him allowing two runs from Etown.
The two runs came from first-year infielder Wyatt Sokol and senior outfielder Tyler Bohn. Rangers star shortstop Corey Seager led their team with three runs himself.
After this high-achieving spring break, Etown baseball head coach Darrin Lenhart received a call from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred congratulating their success in Florida. Lenhart asked about the probability of the Elizabethtown College Blue Jays becoming a landmark thirty-first team in the MLB, and Manfred said he would consider it.
While the Blue Jays will continue their regular season here in Lancaster County, could we see the squad move to a larger stadium and once again play the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers?
