The Hopkins baseball team is currently on a 16 game win streak after winning all seven games this past week. With two wins over Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, the Blue Jays improve to 22-2 on the season. The team’s success has been boosted by the offensive play from senior, Chris Wilhelm.
Thursday afternoon, Hopkins hosted Stevenson in a nearly four hour game. In the seventh inning, Wilhelm stepped up to the plate with two runners on and two outs. Hopkins was down two runs, until Wilhelm belted a three-run homerun to give the Blue Jays a 15-14 advantage. Hopkins ultimately defeated the Mustangs, as Wilhelm knocked in six runs by himself. This added to his team-leading 27 runs batted in on the season.
Wilhelm crushed another homerun in Saturday’s matchup against Franklin & Marshall, making it six homeruns on the season. Wilhelm has a cumulative .338 batting average on the season, along with a .610 slugging percentage. With the regular season halfway completed, the Blue Jays hope to see Wilhelm’s dominant numbers to continue.
Wilhelm took a moment to catch up with The News-Letter to discuss his team and personal accomplishments, along with Hopkins’ baseball future.
News-Letter (N-L):What was your mindset going into your at bat versus Stevenson when you hit the go-ahead homerun? Did you feel any pressure going into that at bat?
Chris Wilhelm (CW): My approach was the same as it has been all year long and will continue to be, “Hit the ball hard!” When I stepped to the plate, we were down by two runs, 14-12. I was just trying to get on base. Ultimately, my main focus was to simply hit the ball hard somewhere so that I could extend the inning. The fact that the ball went over the fence was “icing on the cake.” I didn’t really feel any pressure during this at-bat because I was doing something that I had done thousands of times in my life: stare into a pitcher’s eyes sixty feet six inches away from me.
N-L: How did it feel to hit a homerun at such a pivotal time in the game? Have you hit any other homeruns with as much of an impact in the game?
CW: It was so exciting. There’s no feeling like hitting a home run and the twenty or so seconds it takes to jog around the bases. But, when you are able to experience that feeling at such a meaningful and critical time in the game, it amounts to something that is so memorable and special. Last year, I also hit a home run that had a profound impact on the game. It was a non-conference game against Rutgers-Newark. I stepped up to the plate in the top of the tenth inning with runners on first and second base. The second pitch was a high and inside fastball that I put over the center field fence. Both of these home runs are etched in my memory because of the significance they had on the outcome of the game.
N-L: With the season going well so far, how was this year been different compared to the years in the past?
CW: I think the biggest aspect of this year’s success is the tremendous amount of team chemistry and unity we have. The only statistic we are worried about is the Win-Loss column, not a particular player’s batting average, home runs, or RBI’s. Another critical component of our success is the way we “pick each other up” in the face of adversity. It is clear to me that our success this year, more so than previous years, is due to our incredible team chemistry and the inner confidence of knowing that we have outworked every team in the country.
N-L: With such an impressive winning streak going, what has been the biggest contributor to so many consecutive wins?
CW: The main contributor to the winning streak has been our ability to play solid fundamental baseball. In many of the games, we were the first team to score, which immediately puts pressure on the opponent. At the same time, our pitching has been just as influential, if not more to our winning streak. With stellar performances by pitchers of all grade levels, we have been very successful at limiting the amount of runs we have given up. Ultimately, our ability to win in a variety of ways and play consistent, fundamental baseball, has been very instrumental in the success we have had.
