Baseball falls in season opener
Senior captain Connor Tom delievered the only RBI for Gettysburg.
Photo credit: David Sinclair
By Charlie Williamson, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg College Baseball Team (0-1, 0-0 CC) lost 4-1 at non-conference opponent St. Mary’s last Sunday.
Only one run was scored in the first six innings against Gettysburg senior pitcher Eric Brown and St Mary’s Zach Thompson. The pitchers’ duel wound up going in favor of Thompson, as Brown surrendered three runs in the seventh.
Brown allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with no walks in seven innings of work.
Outfielders junior Chuck Probst and senior Connor Tom both went 2 for 4.
Connor Tom had the only RBI in the game for Gettysburg when Probst reached on an error in the sixth. Probst stole second and advanced to third on an error before Tom delivered the RBI single.
Another error in the inning allowed senior outfielder Johnathan Lucido to reach second safely. Taking advantage of the error, Lucido stole second to get into scoring position. However, Thompson struck out the next batter, keeping Lucido stranded at second.
Sophomore Will Wortmann pitched a perfect eight to keep the Bullets within striking distance for the top of the ninth.
After senior catcher Will Anderson singled at the top of the ninth, sophomore first baseman Brendan Wright took a walk and junior Jack Seibert singled to load the bags with one out. However, after a pitching change, Graham Haliskoe recorded the save for St. Mary’s, retiring the last two hitters.
The team has high hopes this year after making the playoffs last year and returning several key leaders, including newly named captains Will Anderson, Connor Tom, Johnathan Lucido, and Eric Brown.
Anderson praised the team saying that he feels the Bullets’ pitching is some of the best in the league and that “any guy who toes the rubber for us gives us a good chance at winning.”
Among the talented arms that Gettysburg possesses is senior Rich Power, who leads all current Bullets’ pitchers in career games (29), innings (154.1), wins (13), and strikeouts (131).
Eric Brown is another strong arm, who boasted a 3.31 ERA last season to lead the Bullets. Junior Brad DeMartino completes the trio of starting pitchers, who all had ERAs under 4.00 last year.
Anderson also commented on the depth of the pitching being very important to the Bullets’ success. An example would be seniors Chase Stopyra and Aaron Bezio, who will see steady bullpen exposure this year but also both started five games last year.
A big question is how productive the infield will be, where junior Logan Sneed is the lone-returning starter in the infield. He batted .406 last year.
Anderson commented on the team’s youth, “Defensively, we are young in spots but all the young guys are really talented, giving us a pretty solid defense all around.”
Anderson also says “As a senior captain, my goal is to be a role model for the younger guys and set a good example.”
“The best way to lead is by example,” fellow captain Connor Tom added. “I think the best way to gets guys going is to show them that I am 100% invested in this team and our outcome in each game.”
Gettysburg will be away for both of their non- conference games this week against Stevenson on Wednesday and a rescheduled game against Hood College on Thursday after Tuesday’s game was rained out.
Gettysburg is also getting ready for their Florida spring break trip in which they will travel to Fort Pierce and Vero Beach to play seven non-conference games.
