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Volume 40, Issue 13
April 22, 2003
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April 22, 2003
Sports
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Thunderbird
baseball apt for regionals
By Andrew
Fogoros
Mesa Legend
It is spring-time and that means the defending ACCAC champion Mesa
Thunderbird baseball team is back on the diamond to defend their crown.
The Thunderbirds are 26–26 with a conference record of 13–13,
which puts them tied for first in their league.
“We haven’t been hitting on all cylinders yet, which is
kind of nice considering we are still in first place,” head Coach
Tony Cirelli said.
The National Junior College Athletic Association switched to wood
bats this year, but that has not affected the Thunderbirds, who are
leading the state in batting with a .304 average, but are struggling
to put runs on the board.
“We lead the state in batting,” coach Cirelli said, “but
we haven’t been able to get that timely hitting to drive in the
runs.”
Some T-birds are tearing up opposing pitching this year, putting up
staggering numbers.
Leadoff batter, sophomore, Matt Castillo is hitting .333 and leads
the state in stolen bases with 30 swipes.
Sophomore Chris Cook is leading the Thunderbirds in home runs numbering
4, and RBIs with 37, while hitting .365.
Other top hitters for Mesa include sophomore Sean Iverson with a .339
average and freshmen John McCarthy and Pete Johnson both hitting .341.
Pitching has also been excellent for Cirelli’s Thunderbirds,
allowing a microscopic 3.35 earned runs a game.
Sophomore Ty Marotz leads Mesa in victories with five and earned run
average at 2.32, which would make Randy Johnson jealous.
Freshman Scott Welch has thrown well this season for the T-birds with
three wins and only one loss and sophomore Noah Russo has accounted
for two wins this season.
Freshman southpaw Mark Novak is three and one with two saves and a
2.38 ERA.
The Thunderbirds have been without the services of sophomore Eric
Wingate for quite some time now after a freak accident on the field
left him injured.
A batter was warming up in the on-deck circle and took a practice
swing and the bat slipped out of his hands and cracked Wingate on
the side of his head.
Cirelli doesn’t know if or when Wingate will return.
Mesa hasn’t been able to use all of the pitching they have this
season, due in large part to the change to wood bats.
“With aluminum bats you go through pitchers like crazy,”
Cirelli said, “But with wood bats, you get a lot more innings
out of your pitchers. That’s why we haven’t been able to
use all of our pitchers this season.”
Having players left from last season’s conference champion team
has benefited the Thunderbirds quite a bit this year.
Sophomore catcher Kenny Gram has been a great leader on the field
and coach Cirelli said, “He has been absolutely great defensively
behind the plate for us.”
The first-place Thunderbirds are coming in to the home stretch of
their season with all 12 games left on the schedule conference games.
“We don’t have to wait for someone to lose for us to move
up,” Cirelli said, “We control our own destiny.”
The top two teams in conference go to the Region 1 playoffs and play
a best of three series to move on from there, so go check out the
Thunderbirds in their quest to repeat. |
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