Joining the waves of spring breakers, the baseball team traveled down to Fort Myers, Fla. to embark on a spring training trip, playing a total of 10 games. The team’s intention going into the week was to use the warm weather to work out a few kinks and to get ready for upcoming conference play. The Jays surpassed their initial intentions and found themselves ranked amongst the best teams in the country. According to d3baseball.com, the Jays are 17th in the nation with a 14-2 record. This was brought on by the 9-1 record the Jays boasted in Florida, defeating some of the best teams from around the country. The 14-2 record is the best season start for the Hopkins since 2004.
The Jays opened up the trip against St. Joseph’s College (Long Island). Although St. Joseph’s took an early lead on the Jays, they were not able to sustain it for long against the Jay offense. Sophomore Craig Hoelzer put Hopkins on top with a two RBI single up the middle to plate fellow classmate Colin McCarthy and senior Kyle Neverman. With a 3-2 lead, the Jays looked to their bullpen to keep St. Joseph’s at bay. The pen held strong as Justin Dreschel came into relieve freshman Colin Friedman. Friedman threw well and yielded only two runs to put the Blue Jays in a position to win the game. Dreschel pitched out of a jam and then was collectively relieved by Thomas Harper, Ed Bryner and Zach Augustine. The pen shut the door and the Blue Jays won 3-2. This game got the bullpen on track and was the basis for the continual success throughout the trip.
Up next for Hopkins was Edgewood College. On the hill for the Jays was freshman Carter Burns. This was Burns’ first start and he was nothing short of spectacular as he hurled a complete game, scattering six hits and yielding just one run. RBIs from Colin McCarthy, Mike Delinger and Kyle Metzger gave the Hopkins their three runs and was ultimately enough to secure the victory behind Burns. Edgewood only plated one run against Burns and would not come close to notching another on the day. The Jays took their second win of the trip 3-1.
Following the Edgewood victory, the team faced Pitt-Bradford in a double-header matchup. Pitt-Bradford got the best of Hopkins in the first game by a score of 4-2. Despite falling in the first game, the Jays came out strong in the second behind the five RBI performance of senior Chris Wilhelm. Wilhelm belted two home runs in the second game and plated five of the nine Jays runs. Thomas Solomon came in relief to pitch four solid innings and pick up the win for the Jays.
Due to a rainout, the squad found themselves playing another double-header two days later, and this time they took both games. In the first game, the Jays squared off against Wooster College. Senior Jared Frydman was on the bump for Hopkins and his solid seven inning pitching performance left the Jays with an opportunity to win the game in the later innings.
After being quit through the first five frames, the offense came through for the Jays when Neverman got things started with a double down the left field line. McCarthy then singled to notch his first RBI of the day. Hopkins then scored two more runs to tie the game at three. Sophomore Michael Grewe relieved Frydman and pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th. In the 8th inning, McCarthy hit is 13th RBI to plate senior Ryan Zakszeski and gave the Jays a 4-3 advantage. With Grewe’s solid relief performance, the Blue Jays were able to hold on to their comeback victory.
The second game of the double feature was against Knox College. Freshman Trevor Williams earned his first career start and pitched a strong 5.2 innings for the squad. Knox played Hopkins tight throughout the game but things changed heading into the eighth. The Jays plated six runs in the innings and did not look back en route to the 10-4 victory. McCarthy went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and Hoelzer went 3-for-3 with two RBIs on the day.
Up next was Nichols College. Once again, a freshman, Colin Friedman, was on the hill for the Blue Jays and he was dominant. Friedman chucked 7.2 innings and did not yield a single earned run. His performance enabled the Jays to secure another victory behind a paramount pitching performance. The Jays tacked on six runs against Nichols and won the game by a score of 6-1.
The Jays then faced UW-Stout and sophomore Jacob Enterlin threw seven strong for his team, allowing just one run and six hits. Thomas Harper came into relieve Enterlin and picked up the save by tossing a scoreless 8th and 9th. Hopkins took the game 4-1 en route to their fifth consecutive win.
With two games in Fort Myers remaining, the Jays once again called on Burns to pitch and he threw well in five innings. However, this time it was the offense that led the Jays to victory. Senior Jeff Lynch went 3-for-3 with three RBIs to propel the offense. The Jays ultimately won a close match 6-5.
In the final game of the trip, Hopkins faced Wooster again and this time it was junior Tyler Goldstein on the hill. Goldstein hurled six innings and struck out four in the process. Despite facing a good pitcher from Wooster, the Jays struck first. Neverman blasted a triple and was brought home by classmate Lynch to post a 1-0 lead. The offense continued to plate four more runs on the day and the bullpen held Wooster to just two runs.
The Jays won nine out of ten in Florida and gained exposure as one of the best teams in the nation. The bullpen played a large role in the team’s Florida success, posting a collective .66 ERA and only allowing two earned runs in 27.1 innings. Sophomore Michael Grewe was named to the d3baseball.com team of the week for his outstanding relief appearances in Florida.
Hopkins will look to bring this momentum into the Centennial Conference games. The Jays will open conference play against fellow Top 25 team, Haverford College, on Saturday.
