Tomorrow will mark the start of the 2002 Baseball season at Washington College. Returning 15 players, as well as adding eight freshmen and one transfer student, the Shoremen look to make a dent in the Centennial Conference, as well as earn a spot in the Division III NCAA tournament.
This year the Shoremen are led by fifth year Head Coach Al Streelman ('69), Assistant Head Coach Steve Sandebeck ('73), and assistant coaches Patrick Jones ('84), Hal McBee ('92) and Dan MacDuffie.
The team has four seniors, and all are team captains. The four captains play in the middle of the field, thus making this years Shoremen squad strong up the middle with pitcher Fred Chalmers, catcher Dan Evans, shortstop Scott Gartlan and centerfielder Mike Scozzafava. "With Dan behind the plate, Scottie at short, Mike in center and me on the mound, the senior captains are all trying to bring our team its first conference championship in a long time and lead by example," said Chalmers.
Last season, Washington had a winning record; they were 15-14 overall and 9-9 in conference play which placed them in fourth place. This season, the conference has injected a new playoff system, allowing the top four teams to continue their season in post-season action, with the winner of the mini-tournament receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Shoremen ended their 2001 season with a fielding percentage of .9729, which was the highest of any Division III team. They also tied for eighth among all collegiate baseball teams across America. "Our strength this year will again be our defense," said Streelman. "We led the nation last year in team defense, and most of those players are back and playing well so far this year." Washington posted totals of 633 putouts and 265 assists against only 25 errors in 29 games last season. Coach Streelman also commented that the team's pitching depth will be strong this season. "I also have 7 pitchers this year, which has made our pitching depth much deeper than last year."
"I think the team is capable of winning the Centennial Conference Tournament this year," said Gartlan. "The number of younger players this season allows the coaching staff a great deal of freedom and gives the team an element of depth at every position."
Come support the Shoremen as the host Delaware Valley College tomorrow, starting at noon on Athey Field. The teams will be playing a double-header, so you will have the chance of watching not just one, but two good games.
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