Olivia Mittak
Sports Editor
After losing last year’s baseball season to COVID-19, the Fighting Scots baseball team came back in stride during a double-header against Ohio Wesleyan University this past Saturday, March 20. The first game of two seemed like an uphill battle, with both teams failing to score any points for the first seven innings. Evan Faxon ’21 struck out six of Ohio Wesleyan’s players, only allowing a single one of his opponents to reach third base. Tyler Chumita ’22 and Dane Camphausen ’23 rounded out the Scots’ impressive defense this game, assisting Faxon in his enormous efforts to stop the Battling Bishops in their tracks. The Scots’ offense struggled this game to match the feats of their defense, failing to make a single score until the end of the game. Just when it might have felt that the game would go on forever, the Fighting Scots were able to win on an error by the Bishop’s pitcher.
If anyone was led to believe during this first game that the Fighting Scots had been caught asleep, they certainly woke up by the second game. The team won their second game of the double header with an incredibly impressive score of 18-1. The Battling Bishops’ defense managed to hold the Scots back for the first few innings before the latter finally broke free, scoring 6 points in the 4th inning. Another two points in inning five and 10 points in inning six shot the Scots way beyond the reach of the Battling Bishops. The Scots’ defense was still on top of their game, allowing their opponent to score only once in the entire game.
Pitcher Steve Spidell ’21 was part of the Scots’ successful defense, assisting them in their efforts to secure the 18-1 win against Ohio Wesleyan. This will be Spidell’s final season playing for the Fighting Scots. When asked about the double header, Spidell commented, “It was a fantastic feeling to be able to play at Art Murray Field again and come away with two wins.” He also reflected on the process of playing baseball during a global pandemic; while admitting that there’s certainly been changes to the way things work, he proclaimed that the Fighting Scots’ baseball team is “willing to do whatever it takes to play a full season again.”
Pitcher Ian Leon ’23 also had some thoughts to share about the double header and baseball during COVID-19. He shared praise for the Fighting Scots’ defense during both games, although he felt that the team’s offense was lacking during game one. “In game two we got it together,” he remarked, a statement that certainly aligns with the final score for the Scots. Leon said that he felt it was “a little weird to have masks and social distancing during games,” but that playing baseball for the College of Wooster still feels “more or less the same” to him.
The Fighting Scots baseball team, despite their initial struggles, was able to successfully walk into this year’s season with a 2-0 record. They are certainly shaping up to be a formidable foe for many teams in their division this year, and we wish them the best of luck.
The Fighting Scots baseball team will be playing on March 27 at Denison University against the Big Red.
