The Elm Student Newspaper
Florida trip prepares Shoremen
Stephanie Fowler
Junior Mike Scozzafava gets ready to bat
against Simpson College in Cocoa, Florida.
Courtesy of Robert Gartlan
For the Washington College baseball team, Spring Break 2001 was a good learning experience for their upcoming conference schedule. The squad went 2-3 on the week in Florida, playing tough against all of their opponents.
March 11, the team faced off with #26 Virginia Wesleyan. Senior Brandon Mallon stepped up to the plate for his team, going 2-3, with a double and two RBI. Junior pitcher Fred Chalmers delivers five strike outs in just three innings on the mound while freshman teammate Sean Foley assisted the team by striking out three in two innings. Unfortunately, these efforts could not sustain a WC win, as the team dropped the game, 8-5.
The following day, Washington came back onto the field ready to pick up their first win of the season. Facing the Oneonta State pitching staff, senior Jason Usilton had no fear; he hit a double and a triple, giving three runs to WC. The Shoremen pitching staff did all the intimidating as senior pitcher Ernest Wagner struck out seven batters and picked up the win. Washington easily defeated Oneonta State, 9-3.
On the third day of the tournament, sophomore pitcher Tom Palazzo delivered eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings pitched against Simpson College (IA).
Junior Scott Gartlan and sophomore Ryan Sweet both went 2-4 on the day and each earned 2 RBI while junior catcher Dan Evans hit his first homerun of the season. All of this firepower, unfortunately, was not enough as Simpson defeated the Shoremen 13-9.Washington earned its second win of the season against Utica with the help of Evans' bat and freshman Mike Dziecichowicz's arm. Evans did his job at the plate by going 3-3, including a double, a triple and an RBI.
Dziecichowicz got the win pitching 3+ innings of relief. The Shoremen won 6-5 in eight innings, extending their record to 2-3 on the season.Giving a repeat performance on the last day of the Spring Break games against Richard Stockton, Wagner again struck out seven batters on only three days rest. Adding to the offense for the Shoremen, Sweet knocked in three RBI and hit a double. In the last inning of the game, Stockton pulled ahead with two runs and eventually defeated the Shoremen 5-4.
When they returned home, Washington took on non-conference rival Lincoln University on March 19. Lincoln's squad was weak all around, and WC easily destroyed them in the back-to-back games.
Starting the game out with a bang, the Shoremen put up 11 runs in the first inning. Freshman Derek Smith led the Shoremen in runs with four in the first game against Lincoln while Evans earned four RBI and his second homerun of the season. Sophomore Eddie Mangold also went deep for the Shoremen.
Palazzo only had to work for three innings, and he earned seven strikeouts. The game was called early as the Shoremen crushed Lincoln, 27-3. WC had 27 runs, 13 hits, and no errors; Lincoln had three runs, five hits, and five errors.Mangold had four hits, while sophomore Matt Wolfe scored five runs in the second game against Lincoln. Smith threw four hitless innings with six strikeouts for the win. Washington College had 24 runs, 17 hits, and one error on the day compared to Lincoln's five runs, no hits, and two errors.
WC took the win 24-5.The baseball team now stands at an even record of 4-4 overall and has yet to play a Centennial Conference game. Though their double-header against Wesley College was rained out on Wednesday, March 21, the Shoremen return to action today when they host rival St. Mary's College at 2 p.m. They open up conference play next Tuesday when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins.
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