Henry Schneiderman
Sports Editor
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. ––– The Fighting Scots baseball team traveled to northern Georgia to participate in a triple header weekend on Feb. 22 and 23 against Covenant College. Coming off an even series against Kentucky’s Centre College that granted the team a 1-1 record, Wooster hoped to conquer the Covenant Scots and prove themselves the definitive Scots. Following a weekend of three intense matchups, Wooster fell 0 for 3 in the series to place them at 1-4 for the season.
The series began with a narrow loss for the Fighting Scots as the team fell following 3 Covenant unearned runs in the first inning. Despite the result, the team delivered an impressive performance that yielded a number of highlight performances from the team. Bryn Langley ’25 sent a number of Wooster’s runners to home base with a consistently impressive showing at the plate.
Langley smashed a double in the fourth inning before finding the home plate once more off a single from Andrew Kerr ’27 to open the team’s scoring. Langley drilled a triple in the fifth inning to send Zack Barienbrock ’27 — who was on base from a single of his own — home and secured the team’s second run.
Langley then grabbed Wooster’s final run of the day off a wild pitch in the fifth that walked the team home. Michael Scarpelli ’27 led the team’s pitching efforts in a fourth inning that yielded an impressive 4 strikeouts before Thomas Gfell ’25 closed it out for the team, pitching 2 scoreless innings. The day ended 4-3 in Covenant’s favor after a final run in the fifth inning secured the home team’s victory.
Wooster’s second day in Georgia boasted a doubleheader between the Scots and promised much competition. The day’s opening game saw Wooster claim the lead with a run in the first inning to make the score 1-0 and land the Fighting Scots ahead for the first time in the series. This run was accomplished through the combined efforts of multiple Wooster players — Nick Pett ’25, Ryan Kramer ’26 and Barienbrock, who all landed hits to send Pett home.
Covenant responded with 2 runs of their own in the same inning — an effort followed up by 2 runs from Wooster to bring the score to 3-2. Undeterred, Covenant rallied together to score 3 in the third inning, 1 in the fourth and 1 in the fifth in a mostly unanswered effort that left the score 4-8 following a Wooster score in the ninth inning. Despite the loss, Wooster held their head high and delivered a number of strong performances such as when a Luke Rizzo ’28 double sent Colin Leslie ’26 home after he’d been walked to first.
Shortly after the first game’s conclusion, players from both sides took the field once more for a final matchup. The game’s beginning remained deadlocked until the third inning — Covenant’s Scots broke the tie with a single run to place the score 1-0. This effort was tied up in the fifth as Wooster crossed home plate themselves before the Covenant Scots laid siege to the Fighting Scots’ defense, putting 5 runs past them in the bottom of the fifth to place the score 6-1.
Wooster attempted a comeback against this streak with a run in the eighth; however, 3 subsequent Covenant runs that same inning laid to rest their effort as the team managed only 1 more run in the ninth inning, closing out the score at 9-3 in the home team’s favor.
“Our energy was very good throughout the games and in this sport, anything can happen at any time,” Gfell said. “We did a great job of picking each other up. We just were not able to execute in certain situations.”
Despite the results, Wooster’s players held their heads high, expressing optimism for the season’s future matchups.
“Obviously not the result we were looking and hoping for, but we have a great group of guys who are determined to stay hungry and not let this series dictate the rest of our season,” Barienbrock said. “I believe in our team and have no doubt in my mind that we will be able to flush this weekend and win some pretty big games coming up.”
This sentiment was echoed by Gfell: “We get better every day. We will learn from our shortcomings and grow physically and mentally. Last weekend is history and we are ready for another great week of practice and looking forward to this weekend’s games in Pennsylvania.”
The Fighting Scots will continue their campaign this weekend as they travel to Washington, Pennsylvania to compete in matches against Keystone College, Washington & Jefferson College, and the University of Mount Union. Go Scots!
