The Elm Student Newspaper
Baseball Bats Away Opponents
Volume 80, Issue 25
May 1, 2009
By James Bedrock
Elm Staff Writer
This past weekend was another a fantastic weekend for the Washington College Baseball team, going 3-1 in two doubleheaders against Muhlenberg on Saturday and St. Mary’s on Sunday.
The Shoremen split the doubleheader with Muhlenberg on Saturday losing the first game 13-4, but winning the second game 5-3.
Sunday was Senior Day for the Shoremen and what a day it was. The Shoremen won the first game 6-5 and the second game 11-8 in thrilling fashion. With the second game tied at eight in the bottom of the sixth, senior Joe Coveney hit a three run homer to break the deadlock and give the Shoremen the win. Seniors Jim Bannar and Joe Coveney recorded four hits on the day including the three run homer and an RBI double off the top of the fence from Bannar.
Senior Greg Perret scored twice in the first game picking up the win on the mound and had two hits in the second game. Freshman Ryan Normoyle hit his third homer of the season in game one while fellow freshman Ben Jardot had two RBIs. On the mound in game one, Chris Keiper got the win in relief.
Two weekends ago the Shoremen swore in their new home field, dedicating it to long-time head baseball coach and Athletic Director Ed Athey ’47. The Shoremen went three for four with two double headers facing Dickinson on Saturday and Ursinus on Sunday.
In game one, Dickinson scored first in the top of the second for the 1-0 lead. Freshman Catcher John Rolewicz hit a solo shot to tie it. Joe Coveney scored on a sacrifice fly along with freshman Ben Jardot to make it 3-1. The Shoremen put up three more in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-1. Senior Greg Perret and junior Matt Boucher scored on fielding errors for two of the runs while Jardot hit a double bringing home junior Brian Kramer. Dickinson put one on the board in the top of the sixth but the Shoremen answered back with seven runs to put the score to 13-2.
Boucher and Coveney both hit Allegany house with two run homers each to make it 10-2. Senior Doug Lutz had an RBI single and freshman Ryan Normoyle had a two run double to make it 13-2. Dickinson added two in the final inning of game one for a final score of 13-4.
Junior Chris Smith had a complete game to go to 3-4 on the season, and defensively the Shoremen were fantastic turning multiple double plays. Boucher ended game one going 3-4 with two runs and two RBIs, while Coveney, Normoyle and Rolewicz each had two hits, Coveney, Jardot and Rolewicz had two runs. Normoyle, Coveney and Rolewicz had two RBIs.
Game two was much closer, ending 12-11 on a walk-off two run homerun from freshman Ben Keaton to get the first conference double header sweep since 2007 against Muhlenberg. Dickinson got out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second. The Shoremen answered with one run in the bottom second. The third inning saw the Dickinson lead extended to 5-1, then cut to 5-4. A Greg Perret two run homer, the first of his career, put the Shoremen up 6-5 in the bottom fourth. John Rolewicz had his second solo shot of the day to put the Shoremen up to 7-5 in the fifth.
The top of the seventh saw the Red Devils going up 11-9, and then came the ninth inning. Freshman Tony Oktela got on base and scored off a wild pitch making it 11-10. Perret, the tying run got on first with a walk. Then came Ben Keaton. Keaton blasted a walk-off homer to left to end the game and the sweep for the Shoremen.
Perret ended the second game with four runs, two hits, and two RBIs. Normoyle had two hits and two runs. Coveney had two hits and a run scored while senior Tony Tozzolo had two RBIs on two hits. Doug Lutz had two hits for himself as well. Every Shoremen batter got at least one hit in the game. Defensively, Coveney got the win to go to 1-2, and again double plays were present including a one-man double play from third basemen Ben Kaplan.
The next day, the Shoremen split the double header with Ursinus to cap off the dedication weekend. The win came in game one where the Shoremen scored a quick five runs in the first inning to go up 5-0. Tozzolo brought home Normoyle on an infield single. Jardot brought home Tozzolo, and Keaton brought home two more runs while Normoyle got on base again to bring home another run. Tozzolo hit his team leading fifth homer to put the lead to 6-1 in the bottom fourth. The Shoremen scored three more runs courtesy of a Lutz run off a Perret single while Normoyle made it home from first on a fielding error. Tozzolo singled in Perret to make it 9-2. The Shoremen were able to hold off the Ursinus attack for the win in game one.
Off the field, senior Tony Tozzolo was named First Team All Centennial Conference for the first time in his career. Tozzolo led the team this season in batting average, .382, home runs, 5, and is tied for the lead in slugging percentage with .618. Defensively, Tozzolo made zero errors in 40 chances. This year Tozzolo set career highs in home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, runs, hits, RBIs, total bases, stolen bases, at-bats, and putouts, despite being sidelined the last two games due to injury. He also had an eight game hitting streak through the middle of April. Tozzolo is the first since 2006 to achieve first-team honors. Congratulations to Tony on a great season and career.
It has been a great season for the Shoremen and congratulations to all seniors on a great season and career as a Washington College Student Athlete.