Chloe Burdette
Sports Editor
It’s that time of year again for baseball fans! The College of Wooster Fighting Scots baseball team is in full-swing and ready to hit the field on their spring break trip to Florida on Monday, March 11. With his last season as the Scots’ leader, Coach Tim Pettorini is sure to make his last season memorable for the team. As for the players, this season will be the ultimate test to see how hard they are willing to work to beat their already impressive 40-10 record from last season.
The preseason is no easy feat for the Fighting Scots. The biggest area of improvement for the Scots is maintaining stamina and increasing their endurance. “Last year, we made the College World Series for the first time since our class has been here. We unfortunately had a 0-2 College World Series which was credited a lot to a burnout for our team,” Jake Stuursma ’19 explained. “Because of this, our offseason has been highly devoted towards getting in better condition and lifting more to allow for more energy and strength at the end of the year.”
Tyler Iversen ’20 agreed with his teammate, and explained that the players push each other in order to stay committed. “The biggest area for us in the offseason is getting into the gym and maintaining all of the strides we made in the fall. All the guys were really dedicated and we always had guys in the gym working to get better and stronger,” Iversen stated. “Our pitchers have been working out to increase velocity and hitters have been constantly in the cage working on their swing. Plus, we don’t have the coaches telling us we need to go hit or lift, but rather we know what needs to be done to be the best, and we as teammates are constantly pushing each other to give the best effort we can.”
As the season nears, excitement definitely increases for everyone involved in Scots Baseball. “I’m most excited for one last season with my teammates. We are so fortunate to get the chance to compete for a conference championship and go to the NCAA tournament,” Garrett Crum ’19 replied. “If the seniors can win a fourth conference championship in a row, I think that will be really special.”
Iversen said that spring break is one of his favorite aspects of the program. “I can definitely say I am most excited to travel to Florida for spring break and play for two weeks down there. All the guys on the team have been talking about how excited we are for Florida and playing Swarthmore College in our first game of the year, who is ranked number three in the nation,” he said.
This season is also significant to the players because it is their coach’s last season, and they hope to end his career by giving him a championship. “Knowing that this will be Coach P’s last season makes it even more meaningful and is going to help push us,” Crum added. From Stuursma’s end, he said, “It’s exciting being the last class to play for Coach Pettorini so this team has the goal of sending him out the right way.”
The burning question still rings for most Scots’ baseball fans: Will the 2019 team expect to be successful this year? The Scots think so, and are confident in their abilities as a team. “With all the returning talent we have this year, the expectations are even greater. The loss of guys like Michael Wielansky ’19, Nanak Saran ’18 and Jake Fling ’18 are all huge, but we have a really good group of guys stepping into those positions to take over,” Stuursma expressed. “Aaron Spidell ’20 has had an awesome offseason and will play a big role in the outfield. Harry Whitwer-Dukes ’20 and Gabe Sherman ’21 should have great years patching up the infield. Also, the veteran guys like Brian Murray ’19, Crum, Harry Walls ’19, Chandler Dippman ’19, Dan Harwood ’20 and Nick Strausbaugh ’20 are all stepping into bigger roles as leaders on this team.”
Crum was in agreement. “Even though we lost a couple key pieces from our team last year, with the guys we have on the team now, I personally think that we have the players to have just as good of a year as last year. Hopefully the younger guys can feed off the energy that the upperclassman will bring to the season and we will pick up right where we left off,” he said.
Iversen chimed in, stating that the team is ready to be even better than last year. “I expect us to be as successful as last season and more. We have a great group of guys on the team and the best coaching staff in America that work extremely hard each and every day,” stated Iversen. “After making it to the College World Series last year and not quite finishing the job, we are all extremely hungry to get back and finish what we started. We have outstanding talent and leadership on this team.”
The Scots begin their highly anticipated season on March 11 in Port Charlotte, Fl. against the Swarthmore College Garnet. Their first home game is slated for March 27 against the Marietta College Pioneers.
(Photo from Wooster Athletics)