April 7, 2008
B-W Baseball Team’s Home Opener Ends in Draw
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team opened its home schedule at Heritage Field last Thursday with a 6–6 tie against Case Western Reserve University that was called after the 12th inning because of darkness.
B-W broke a 3–3 deadlock to take a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Case tied the game in the top of the ninth before junior outfielder Mike Brisky threw out the go-ahead run from left field. Neither team scored again until the top of the 12th, when Case took a 6–4 lead. The Yellow Jackets came right back with a pair of runs in their half of the inning, and they almost beat the Spartans — and the encroaching darkness — but their winning run was thrown out at the plate to end the game.
On Saturday, the Jackets hosted their first Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader of the season, but their home field advantage still hadn’t arrived in Berea, and they were swept by Ohio Northern University.
After starting the week by splitting an OAC doubleheader at crosstown rival John Carroll University and then going back across town to finish the week with a split at Lake Erie College, the Jackets are now 10–10–1 overall and 2–4 in the OAC. They’ll play a pair of conference doubleheaders this week, hosting Otterbein College at Heritage Field on Wednesday and then hitting the road to visit Capital University on Saturday.
For all the details on last week’s games, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.
[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]
April 3, 2008
B-W Baseball Alumni Kick Off 2008 Home Runs for Heritage Campaign
The Baldwin-Wallace College alumni baseball players kicked off their 2008 “Home Runs for Heritage” fundraising campaign this week to help pay for the design and construction of a new press box at Heritage Field.
Heritage Field has one of the best playing fields in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the facilities around it have steadily improved, but its “press box” is nothing but a wooden shack with a beat-up scorer’s table that sits behind the backstop. It’s an eyesore, and it obstructs the view from our new bleachers.
For the last few years, the B-W baseball alumni have been raising money to build a new, modern press box facility with a team meeting room and training table, a recruiting office, and a concession stand and restrooms.
Last year’s inaugural Home Runs for Heritage campaign raised $3,752 by rallying dozens of B-W baseball alumni, parents and fans to pledge a donation for each of the 11 home runs the Yellow Jackets hit during the 2007 season.
You can make a pledge to this year’s campaign right now at the Home Runs for Heritage home page, or you can send your pledge by e-mail message to heritage@bwbaseball.com.
Thank you for supporting the Home Runs for Heritage campaign!
March 31, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Upsets Second-Ranked Wooster
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team upset the second-ranked College of Wooster 7–3 last Thursday at Art Murray Field in Wooster.
Sophomore pitcher Scott Luthman snuffed out a 15-game Wooster winning streak by throwing an eight-inning gem at the Fighting Scots’ high-powered lineup. He scattered eight hits and only walked one batter on the way to his first win of the season. His classmate, first baseman and relief pitcher Brian Boveington, closed the game by striking out the last two Scots batters.
Senior second baseman Nate Luken, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, and junior catcher Matt Bolte, who reached base in all five of his plate appearances and hit his first home run of the season, led the Yellow Jackets’ tenacious offense.
Earlier in the week, B-W split a doubleheader with Muskingum College, as junior pitcher Jim Jaskowak struck out nine Muskies in seven innings for a complete-game, 6–3 victory in the Jackets’ Ohio Athletic Conference opener.
Thanks to our typical early spring weather, the Jackets, now 8–6 overall and 1–1 in the OAC, will play seven games this week, including a pair of conference doubleheaders against John Carroll University and Ohio Northern University, and a crosstown match-up with Case Western Reserve University.
For all the details on last week’s games, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.
[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]
March 27, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Values Panther Trio
Today’s Euclid Sun Journal sports page features a trio of Euclid High School graduates who are excited about playing baseball at B-W.
Three Euclid High School graduates, sophomores Jim Palko and Jimmy Martin and freshman transfer Mike Palko, are excited about getting back on the baseball diamond this spring. All three are expected to do it at Baldwin-Wallace College.
Jim Palko was B-W’s Outstanding Freshman last year, and he’s off to a good start this season with a 2–0 record and a 2.61 earned run average. His brother Mike is returning to the mound after losing a season to Tommy John surgery and will start his rookie season with the Yellow Jackets on the junior varsity club.
Martin, who saw action in the Jackets’ middle infield as a freshman, started four games at second base on this year’s spring trip to Ft. Myers, Fla., and will provide depth at the keystone corner behind senior second baseman Nate Luken.
March 18, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Returns from Florida with 6–5 Record
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team returned from their spring break trip to Ft. Myers, Fla., on Sunday after going 6–5 in the 2008 Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a quick 3–0 start in the Classic, but an 11-inning loss to Haverford College and a doubleheader sweep by a tough Benedictine University club put a dent in their final record. Despite those setbacks, the Jackets showed the same ability to manufacture runs as they did last year, outscoring their opponents 103–40 while hitting just two home runs. They also developed a promising knack for scoring runs in the late innings.
Senior left fielder Shaun Slater and junior center fielder Cody Kidd led the Jackets’ offense by hitting over .400 on the trip, and last year’s Outstanding Freshman, Jim Palko, picked up where he left off by winning a pair of games on the mound. Senior outfielder and pitcher Kevin Shenker made the most of his opportunities with eight hits in 16 at bats and three innings of effective relief work.
For all the details on the spring trip, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.
[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]
March 9, 2008
Bob Fisher Opens 40th Season as B-W Baseball Coach
Baldwin-Wallace College head coach Bob Fisher opened his 40th season at the helm of the B-W baseball team today with an 18–8 win over Emerson College at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Coach Fisher graduated from B-W in 1963 and became the head baseball coach at his alma mater when Lars Wagner, who had rebuilt the program after it was suspended during World War II, retired in 1967.
In his first few years on the job, he put his stamp on the program by expanding the schedule, making the preseason southern trip an annual event, establishing a junior varsity team and upgrading the baseball field. He also introduced an aggressive style of play that attacked opponents on defense as well as on offense.
After an 8–10 rookie season in 1968, Fisher’s Yellow Jackets won the Ohio Athletic Conference Northern Division championship in 1969, and then won back-to-back division titles in 1972 and 1973.
When the OAC realigned to a single division in 1985, B-W won the regular season race and hosted the conference’s inaugural postseason championship tournament. The Jackets won the tournament with a tripleheader sweep on the final day that was capped by a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Marietta College in the championship game. They went on to host three of the first four championship tournaments.
The Jackets also made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs in 1985, finishing third in the Midwest Regional after being eliminated by the eventual national champion University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. They earned three more trips to the NCAA playoffs in the next five years.
Entering his fourth decade in the B-W dugout, Coach Fisher is the dean of OAC coaches with a 362–231–8 (.610) conference record, 17 postseason appearances and four coach of the year awards.
Overall, he has guided the Yellow Jackets through 1,243 games and posted a 651–580–12 (.529) career record. He has more wins at B-W than any other coach in school history and ranks 18th on the NCAA’s list of the all-time winningest coaches in Division III baseball.
[ B-W Baseball Coaches Roster ]
January 16, 2008
Curt Karpinski Inducted into Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame
Baldwin-Wallace College hall of fame pitcher Curt Karpinski will be inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Friday at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Columbus.
Curt was an outstanding pitcher for the Yellow Jackets from 1969 to 1972, compiling an 8–5 record and a 2.21 earned run average in 29 appearances and striking out 149 batters in 122 innings. He was the Ohio Athletic Conference strikeout champion in 1971 and topped the conference in 1972 with a 6–0 record and a 0.63 ERA — the lowest ever recorded by a B-W pitcher. He holds the school record for the lowest career ERA along with fellow hall of famer Bob Love ’68, and he allowed fewer hits per game than any other pitcher in B-W history.
After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Curt signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Indians and spent two years in their minor league system before injuries ended his career. In his rookie season, he struck out 70 batters in 66 innings and posted a 1.77 ERA, earning him a spot on the Gulf Coast League’s all-star team.
In 1988, after a successful stint as the head baseball coach at Oberlin College, he was hired for the top job at Elyria High School. Over the next 17 seasons, he guided the Pioneers to a 236–148 (.615) record and won six conference championships, five sectional titles, three district crowns and a trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Final Four in 1992.
Several of the ballplayers he mentored at Elyria went on to successful careers at his alma mater, including recent All-OAC outfielders Brian Johnson ’01 and Matt Green ’06, and All–Mideast Region catcher Joey Dallas ’93, who followed him into the B-W Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
Friday’s ceremony will mark Curt’s third induction into an athletic hall of fame. He was inducted into B-W’s hall of fame in 1992, and he was a member of the inaugural hall of fame class at his high school alma mater, Keystone High School, in 1997.
[ B-W Baseball Athletic Hall of Famers ]
January 14, 2008
Check Out the 2007 Holiday Skills Camp Photo Album
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team held its annual Holiday Skills Camp from December 27 to 29 at the Lou Higgins Recreation Center, and more than 50 young ballplayers from all over Northeast Ohio traveled to Berea to learn the fundamentals of baseball from B-W’s coaches and players.
You can check out photos of all the action in our Holiday Skills Camp Photo Album.
This year’s photos are hosted by the Flickr photo sharing website. Flickr lets us display larger photos than we were able to in the past, and its layout is easier to navigate than our old Slooze-powered albums. Best of all, moving our photo albums to Flickr means that you can now add comments to our photos and download the original image files to your own computer.
[ B-W Baseball Holiday Skills Camp Photo Album ]
December 1, 2007
Register Now for the 2007 Holiday Skills Camp
This year’s B-W Baseball Holiday Skills Camp will be held from Thursday, December 27, to Saturday, December 29, at the Lou Higgins Recreation Center.
The B-W Baseball Holiday Skills Camp is a three-day commuter camp where boys and girls ages 9–16 can learn the fundamentals of baseball in a fun, well-supervised environment. Our campers are coached in small groups and one-on-one by B-W coaches and players. They participate in a variety of action-packed drills and practice routines, and they get to pitch off of our indoor mounds and take live BP in our batting cages.
The Holiday Skills Camp is the main fundraising event for the baseball team’s annual spring trip to the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla.
If you know a young ballplayer who’s looking for something fun to do over Christmas break, we’d love to see them at this year’s camp! They can learn all about the camp, meet our coaching staff and download registration forms at the B-W Baseball Holiday Skills Camp website.
[ B-W Baseball Holiday Skills Camp ]
October 25, 2007
B-W Baseball Team Recognizes 2007 Award Winners at Alumni Game
The 2007 Baldwin-Wallace College baseball award winners were recognized between innings of the Yellow Jackets’ annual alumni baseball game at Heritage Field on Homecoming morning, October 13.
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Outstanding Freshman: Right-handed pitcher Jim Palko was the Yellow Jackets’ most consistent starter, finishing his first season with a 2–1 record and a 2.64 earned run average in eight appearances. He was named OAC Pitcher of the Week for throwing nine innings in two games without giving up a run.
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Gold Glove Award: Slugging first baseman Riley Kreisher hit .370 with ten doubles and three home runs, but he was even more impressive with his glove, committing just one error in 285 chances. It was the first error of his career, and he now holds the career record for infielders with .997 fielding average.
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Big Stick Award: Center fielder Cody Kidd proved that last year’s Outstanding Freshman award was no fluke. The speedy lead-off hitter got on and around the bases all season, batting .382, scoring 42 runs and stealing 16 bases in 17 attempts. He also set a season record by getting hit with a pitch 13 times.
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Outstanding Pitcher: Catcher and closer Bob Storesina was the most dominating pitcher on the Jackets’ staff. He tied the career saves record by saving four games this season. Three of them came in a single weekend, earning him an OAC Pitcher of the Week award. His team-leading 0.75 ERA was backed up by 12 strikeouts in 12 innings of work, and he gave up just one walk and one earned run.
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Yellow Jacket Award: Cody Kidd and Riley Kreisher were recognized as outstanding teammates by the coaching staff for their unselfish leadership, positive attitude and constant encouragement of their teammates, and for “a practice ethic and style of play that, if emulated by any of our guys, would make for a better player and teammate.”
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Guy Fisher Award for Academic Excellence: Sophomore pitcher Brandon Fredericks posted back-to-back semesters with straight As and has a 3.91 cumulative grade point average going into his junior year.
Several recent B-W baseball award winners were at the alumni game to see this year’s honorees receive their awards, including last year’s Gold Glove second baseman Kevin Brown and Big Stick right fielder Dan Melito. Their classmates Nick Quarando, the 2004 Outstanding Freshman, and Mike Farrell, the 2004 Yellow Jacket Award winner, were also at the game.
Joining them in the alumni dugout were John Mayles ’85, Rich Barberic ’87, Mark Massey ’92, Steve Conter ’02, Jim Leffler ’03, Ryan Petrusky ’03 and Pat Shannon ’03.
Southpaw Max Newill ’98 started for the alumni and struck out five batters in two innings of work. He was followed to the mound by his classmate Brian Rudloff, while Heath Baker ’03 and Kevin Seda ’83 rounded out the alums’ rotation.
Before the final inning of the game, the alumni presented head coach Bob Fisher with a check for $3,752 that was raised during this spring’s Home Runs for Heritage campaign. The money was donated by B-W baseball alums, parents and fans, and will help pay for the design and construction of a new press box at Heritage Field.
For most of the morning, it looked like the game would end in a tie, just like last year’s 3–3 game, but the varsity Yellow Jackets broke a 1–1 deadlock with a late-inning rally and beat their predecessors 7–1.
