This past weekend, the Hopkins baseball team opened Centennial Conference play with a double-header against the Swarthmore Garnet. In two riveting games, the Jays were able to cinch two crucial victories; They shut out the Garnet in game one to win 5-0 and maintained their momentum to take game two in a close 5-4 matchup.
Hopkins had a number of notable plays: In game one, the Jays had two impressive RBI home runs from freshman Dillon Bowman and senior Jon Hayden; In game two, senior Conor Reynolds hit a walk-off RBI to secure the Jays with their second victory.
The Blue Jays’ secret to success lay not just in batting. With a career-best complete game shutout, junior pitcher Alex Ross is this week’s athlete of the week.
Ross began his Hopkins career primarily as a reliever, finishing off some key games for the Jays in 2015 and 2016. This spring season, however, Ross has emerged into a standout starter in the Centennial and was recognized as the Conference Pitcher of the Week this Monday.
“Alex has been a pivotal part of our rotation all year,” junior teammate Frank Clara said. “He is a competitor, and he showed it last Saturday, throwing all nine innings in our first Conference game. As we expect, there was nothing less than dominance on Saturday from our ace.”
Ross is the first Blue Jay to pitch a complete game shutout since March 2013. After recording 14 strikeouts this weekend, Ross becomes the first Hopkins pitcher ever to record at least 12 strikeouts in three games.
Following his standout performance, Ross sat down in Colwell’s Court to discuss the Conference opener and the future goals for the team.
The News-Letter:Coming off an 8-3 performance in the 2017 Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic tournament over spring break and a win against Catholic University just last Wednesday, what was the team morale like heading into this weekend’s double-header? Do Conference games bring any added pressure?
Alex Ross:For the most part, we were content with our play in the Gene Cusic tournament, although we were a little disappointed in a couple of games that we probably should have pulled out at the very end. It was big to get that win Wednesday, especially against a good Catholic team, ranked just outside the top 25.
Obviously Conference games are the most important games of the season, so there is some added pressure to make sure we start out the right way.
I think our strength of schedule in out-of-conference play has us more than prepared for what we are going to face in the Centennial. I think we will likely have a very successful in-conference record at the end of the season.
N-L: What did you do this offseason to transition from a reliever to a starter?
AR:The past offseason was very important for me. I have not been a starter since high school, so it took a while to make sure I was back in shape. Building up stamina was my focus since I would not be an effective starter if I could only get through four innings.
I was lucky enough to play in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League this past summer because it allowed me to get some starts under my belt against good competition.
N-L: How excited were you to record a career-high 14 strikeouts and a complete game shutout against Swarthmore?
AR: It was exciting being able to finish the game out against Swarthmore and to give our heavily-used bullpen some rest after the long Gene Cusic tournament.
The strikeout number was also great, but if I can get outs and keep them off the scoreboard, I would be just as happy without any strikeouts. We believe this year we have a legitimate shot at a trip to Appleton [Wis.] and a chance at the National Championship, so at the end of the day all that matters is getting the win.
N-L:What pitches have you been working on in practice?
AR:What I have mainly been focusing on this season is my fastball command; making sure we as a staff are throwing strikes early in the count and not walking guys is what our coaches stress the most in our pitching philosophy.
Giving up free bases is huge, as we know from our offense, who have taken advantage of such situations in big games this season.
N-L:What is your go-to pitch and why?
AR: Although I did not have great command of it this past weekend, my slider is probably my go-to pitch if I am looking for a big strikeout.
N-L:Any team or personal goals for the remainder of the season?
AR: The main goal for the team right now is making sure that we win the Conference and guarantee ourselves a good seed in the Regional. Once we are there, I think we have the talent and depth to make a serious run in the playoffs.
As for me, it’s just making sure every time I throw I am able to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win.
