Baseball hurts PAC chances
Going into the weekend, the Waynesburg baseball team controlled its own fate to make the postseason.
But as the final out was recorded Sunday afternoon in Grove City, Pa., the Jackets found themselves in the opposite situation.
Things looked to be going as planned for Waynesburg on Saturday, as sophomore pitcher Brian Resnik recorded a complete-game shutout of Grove City in game one of a twin bill at home. Waynesburg’s ace recorded his seventh win of the season while giving up just four hits, walking one and striking out four. Waynesburg took the first game of the series 3-0.
In game two, sophomore pitcher Connor Furwa toed the rubber for the Jackets and aimed for the doubleheader sweep. Unfortunately for Waynesburg, Grove City was able to get to Furwa, and chased him out of the game after only one inning. In that inning, the Wolverines scored three times on five hits. Freshman Colton Lippencott was then able to hold Grove City there.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, three runs would be all Grove City needed, as its top pitcher Eric Locker matched what Resnik did in game one, throwing a complete-game shutout. In his seven innings, Locker gave up just five hits and struck out two. Pitching to contact worked for Locker all day; as he picked up his fourth win of the year.
Grove City was then able to ride that momentum into Sunday’s rubber match, and picked up a 7-4 win over the Jackets. The game went fluidly for the first three innings before Grove City got on the board in the fourth inning off Waynesburg’s starting pitcher Luke Carter.
Anthony Marnejon, who entered the day for the Wolverines 0-2 and with an ERA over eight, stymied the Jacket bats, as he carried a perfect game into the fifth.
Head coach Mike Humiston was discouraged by the offense Sunday and said that it was a matter of a lack of adjusting to what he thought was average pitching.
“It seemed as though our guys weren’t willing, or couldn’t make adjustments all weekend,” said Humiston. “When you don’t make adjustments, you don’t win very often. That’s what happened to us this weekend.”
After Grove City added a run in the fifth, Waynesburg’s bats woke up and it took a 3-1 lead, thanks to a leadoff homerun from senior catcher and captain Mark Timmons, and then RBI hits from freshmen Nathan Mori and Jonathan Kletzli. For Kletzli, it was his 30th RBI of the year, which leads the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
As of Tuesday, Timmons was hitting .304, and said he’s seen the ball a lot better; and that he is happy with his results at the dish so far.
“I’ve been working hard my whole time at Waynesburg, and it’s good to see everything finally coming together,” said Timmons.
Things then got shaky for Waynesburg in the home half of the seventh.
Carter started the inning with a walk, was able to get a flyout but then gave up a base hit to the nine hitter. It was after that hit that Waynesburg turned to last week’s PAC Pitcher of the Week and reliable closer Derrick Zavatsky. But Sunday wasn’t Zavatsky’s best day according to the stat line. Zavatsky came in with two inherited runners, who eventually scored. He then gave up two of his own, but it wasn’t all his fault, according to Humiston.
“We felt [Carter and Zavatsky] both pitched well and better than the stat line says they did,” said Humiston. “None of the four runs in the seventh were earned. We didn’t make the plays behind our pitchers. They did their jobs; others did not.”
Humiston said that there are expectations for different guys on the team, and they were not met Sunday.
“We expect hitters to make adjustments, fielders to make the routine plays and pitchers to do their part to keep us in the game,” said Humiston. “From here, we have to do the things we need to do to win and do the things we expect guys to do.”
Dropping two of three games to Grove City puts the Jackets in a rough position in their push for the PAC Tournament.
“We hurt ourselves with the results this weekend,” said Humiston. “We aren’t taking advantage of other teams losing. When you don’t take advantage of the situations teams put in front of you, you run the risk of being on the outside looking in come tournament time, like our program has been for too long now.”
Waynesburg’s baseball team hasn’t made the PAC Tournament since 2005. Even in the situation they are in now, the Jackets still have a chance to make the tournament.
“We still have a chance to make the tournament,” said Humiston. “We just have to take care of our end from here on out and hope the pieces fall into place.”
Waynesburg was scheduled to play a nine-inning game against W&J Wednesday, but that is not the only chance Waynesburg has to pick up some wins.
The Jackets will play a three-game set against Westminster this weekend in what will likely determine whether the Jackets make the postseason.
It truly is a dogfight in the standings, as spots two through four are still up for grabs between four teams: Bethany and Saint Vincent, whom Waynesburg holds the tie-breakers over, Thomas More, who took two of three from the Jackets earlier on in the year, and Westminster.
Bethany plays three games against Thomas More after scheduled to play Westminster yesterday, while Saint Vincent must play three games against the first-place Presidents of Washington & Jefferson after it was scheduled to play Thomas More Wednesday.
“It comes down to winning the series against Westminster,” said Humiston. “If we can do that and certain things happen, we will be in good shape. But we have to look at our seniors at this point and the captains to rally the troops and get the job done.”
Resnik points to the team getting on the same page in order to do what needs done.
“It’s, more or less, getting guys to realize what’s happened is done and that we’ve worked all year to get to this point,” said Resnik. “The whole season boils down to this, and we have to take what’s in front of us. By now, everyone realizes that we need to play for our seniors as well. We know it’s their last season, and we don’t want to send them out on a bad note.”
Humiston wrapped things up by stating that the team can either go out like a lion or like a lamb, and it falls on the seniors to motivate the team going forward.
“If we play like we have the past three games or so, that question will answer itself,” said Humiston. “We have confidence in what we can do, what we are capable of, and we’ll take things one game at a time. Lions or lambs, it’s that simple.”