Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Baseball team remains optimistic

by Rebecca Jensen
STAFF WRITER

There’s a lot of excitement on the men’s baseball team this season. With a new crop of first-years, the attitude is optimistic. While the team is “playing with a chip on our shoulder, since we’re picked to finish to last,” said senior Patrick Johnston, spirits are still high to finish better this year. The team is shooting to “finish in the middle of the pack or better,” said Johnston.

Junior pitcher Sam Thompson noted that the team has “a lot more depth, more options and a solid core of freshman.” Johnston added that the first-years are “all going to contribute this year.” The first-years are definitely breaking into the line-up, as four of the first-years are position players and one of them is a starting pitcher.

Preseason results are also encouraging despite the losses. Returning from their annual non-conference tournament in Arizona, Johnston reported that “the team now is already better than the team at the end of last year.” Despite losing 2 games 13-9 and 14-11, Thompson was still “really impressed with how we played” since, as Johnston said, “that’s more than we averaged for any two games last year.”

The key to success this year will be minimizing errors. Johnston said, “In collegiate baseball, the team who makes the fewest mistakes wins.” Thompson added, “We’re a balanced team; we need everyone to contribute.”

The team will have to take advantage of this strength, since some of the strongest teams in the conference tend to be hitter- or pitcher-based, backing up star players. Johnston said, “We need to play defense and execute. We’re a small ball type of team.” The team might do just that this season. “The attitude on the team … there’s a lot of excitement,” said Thompson.

On Sunday the team played a double-header against Central Washington University, a non-conference team, and lost 14-5 and 10-2. The team will kick off the conference season at home on Mar. 4 and 5 against Lewis and Clark. On Saturday they play at noon and 3 p.m.; on Sunday they play at noon.

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