Baseball team looks to pitching and defense as key assets this season
By Dannielle Lowe
The Pilot baseball team is preparing for a promising 2008 season.
"We're really excited about this year's team. We have a nice blend of veteran players, experienced college transfer players and new players that we think are pretty good," Head Coach Chris Sperry said.
According to Sperry, the Portland baseball team will focus on pitching and offense this season. The Pilots, who are ranked seventh among the eight teams in the West Coast Conference, will depend heavily upon returning left handers David Gruener and Ari Ronick. According to Sperry, both seniors have experience.
Last season, Gruner received All-WCC honorable mention honors after posting a 3-5 record and finishing with a 3.51 ERA. Ronick unfortunately spent a great deal of last season on the injured list, but was a 38th-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds in the June major league baseball draft. Ronick pitched 41 innings last season and finished with a 3.05 ERA.
The Pilots will also look to transfer Mark Triolo, an experienced right-handed pitcher from San Diego State. Triolo will see time as a starting pitcher in the weekend rotation. Slated to close for Portland is junior transfer Matt Lange, a right handed pitcher from Mt. Hood Community College.
According to Sperry, the team's pitching staff is perhaps one of the deepest Portland's ever had.
"We're going to be able to send three guys out on the weekends that are very experienced," Sperry said. "Our bullpen should be strong. We shouldn't miss a beat when we go to the bullpen."
Offensively, the Pilots line-up has some veterans, but also includes an assortment of new faces. Veterans Danny Maier and Chase Powell provided strong bats last season and are expected to do the same this year, according to Sperry. In addition to the veterans will be transfer student Cort Carpenter, a junior from Lower Columbia Community College.
Carpenter earned All-NWAACC and All-NWAACC Western Division honors last season. He hit .367 with 39 RBI's last spring and led the NWAACC with 10 home runs. The Pilots also expect senior outfielder Cory Wiltshire to deliver at the plate as well.
The middle of the line-up will mostly be composed of a variation of Maier, Powell, Carpenter and Wiltshire because of their ability to hit consistently with power.
Defensively, the Pilots look strong with a number of veterans returning. One familiar name is sophomore catcher, Rocky Gale. The athlete made 46 appearances last season and started 41 games as a freshman. As a rookie, Gale threw out 29 runners for a league high.
The team returns infielders senior Brandon Howard and sophomore C.J. Cullen. New faces such as Carpenter could also end up contributing.
According to Sperry, things still need to be solidified up the middle before the season conference play kicks off.
But the outfield looks strong with familiar faces Wiltshire, senior Billy Krause and Austin Pearce, a sophomore transfer.
"I think the defense will be fine," Sperry said. "We'd like to keep building on pitching and defense this year."
Last year, the Pilots won 21 games for the first time since 2002. The team returns a total of 19 veterans and welcomes 16 new players. The Pilots hope to continue to build upon the success of last season.
"We'd like to see more improvement this season," Sperry said. "We just need to be more aggressive, more consistent at the plate and more disciplined. And I think we're going to be fine."
The 2008 season kicks off with a three-game series against Brigham Young at Joe Etzel Field on Feb. 22 and 23. Portland will then travel to Arizona for four non-conference games, followed by a brief trip to California where the men will play in a tournament at Fresno State.
March will conclude with five-straight home games and the WCC opening series against LMU. During April, the Pilots will face the NCAA defending champs, the Oregon State Beavers, at PGE Park.
