n April 2, the Elizabethtown College baseball team beat Juniata College in a non-conference match 12-4 as sophomore Kristopher Davis pitched a perfect game. On April 5 and 6, the Blue Jays competed closely with Alvernia University during the first two games of the series, but lost all three games.
Although it was a non-conference game, the perfect pitching by Davis helped to continue the Blue Jays’ winning streak. This pitcher gave up four hits and one earned run, but struck out five Eagles players to bring his game record to 2-4.
After he pitched for seven innings, first-years Sean Jones, Zachary Karasek and Nick Gulla pitched the final two innings.
The game against Juniata is a great example of how hard work to improve their offense has really paid off for the Jays. The 12 points scored demonstrated what will happen when the team works together as cohesively as a well-oiled machine. Sophomore Tyler Weary scored a run off junior Kyle Gable’s RBI single, who then scored on senior Dillon Tagle’s RBI double. Tagle soon scored as the Blue Jays ended the first inning leading 3-0.
The team’s exemplary good chemistry continued to be illustrated through the rest of the game’s offense. Weary’s single allowed senior Kevin Berkheiser and first-year Aaron Rahn to score. Gable proceeded to hit him in with his second RBI single of the game. Gable then scored off sophomore Luke Gatti’s RBI double to left field. Sophomore Ryan Haggerty scored off a sacrifice fly from sophomore Frank Canuso. First-year Ryan Shirk’s RBI allowed Berkheiser to score. Yet again, Rahn scored and Gable scored off Gatti’s RBI. In the sixth inning, Canuso’s RBI double allowed senior Mike Stobbe to score who was running for Haggerty after being hit by a pitch.
The team has spent the season striving for playoffs. They have already played the three toughest teams in the conference, including the April 5-6 series against Alvernia.
First-year Dylan Manning said, “We knew it would be a tough task. But we were just hoping to take one or two wins from Alvernia. We were close.”
Pitching by senior Matt Ruth was giving Alvernia quite the challenge. With RBIs by Gable and Gatti and runs scored by Rahn and first-year Zack Tomasko, the Blue Jays held the lead until the final inning. A home run and an RBI by the Crusaders left the score at 4-2.
When the series continued the next day, the Blue Jays were expecting close competition; however they lost the games 3-1 and 19-0. The one point of the day was scored by Rahn off an RBI single from Weary.
In spite of the close conference loss, team captains Tagel and junior Kyle Gable continue to bring the team together. Shirk said, “Dylan and Gable represent the team really well. They are role models on the field, in the classroom and in their work habits.”
In a non-conference game against Rowan University April 9, Etown suffered a hard 12-1 loss. A grand slam in the second inning and a total of seven RBIs from Rowan’s Casey Grimes put the Owls out of reach of the Jays. Tagle registered the sole RBI for Etown.
The Blue Jays have learned that there is always room for improvement. While the offense has been coming around, it was challenged by Alvernia’s excellent pitching and can learn from it. The pitching has been steadily improving all year and defense is still working on cleaning up mistakes. The goal of getting into conference playoffs looks achievable.
For many of the players, baseball is more than just a sport one plays for three hours a day. It is a lifestyle. They have their own unique hats, pants and American tradition.
“Every day is a new day,” Manning said. “A lot of baseball can be applied to life. Since we play so many games, there are lots of chances to come back the next day and learn from mistakes.”
The Blue Jays have learned from playing Alvernia and Rowan and look to win the majority of games against Messiah, Widener and Lebanon Valley in order to qualify for conference playoffs.
