With a fresh coating of snow on the ground in West Central Indiana, it is hard to believe baseball season is here. The Wabash diamond men are travelling to Greensboro, North Carolina for three games against Guilford College this weekend.
The Little Giants finished 14-25-1 with a 6-10 mark in the Western Division of the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2007. Wabash will try to earn a berth in the NCAC tournament for the first time since the team joined the league for the 2000 season.
The team left campus Thursday evening and will have two Friday practices before playing Guilford Saturday and Sunday. The teams will face off in two seven-inning games Saturday before a single nine-inning contest to wrap up the three-game series.
"I expect to see a great amount of enthusiasm from our players as we get outside for the first time," second-year head coach Cory Stevens said. "We are playing this series earlier than we have scheduled games in the past. We will be facing a Guilford squad that has already played seven games, so that will definitely be to their advantage and we will be tested immediately.
"I plan to play a number of different line-up combinations to begin to feel who can compete for us on a daily basis once we reach our NCAC schedule."
Two names to look for in that lineup are juniors Jake Thomas and Matt Dodaro (above left). Thomas batted .424 in 40 starts in right field, breaking the Wabash record for hits in a season with 59. Dodaro started all 40 games at shortstop, nearly matching Thomas hit for hit by finishing with 52 and a .356 batting average. Dodaro set the single-season record for total bases with 98 and was second in doubles for a season with 13. His 37 RBIs tied for second on the Wabash single-season list. Dodaro enters the 2008 season ninth in career doubles with 26 and tied for sixth in career home runs with 11.
Junior Joey Niezer (right) was 4-3 last year as the ace of the Wabash pitching staff. The junior’s biggest win came in a 3-2 victory at Wooster when the Scots were undefeated and ranked number one in the nation.
"A number of our young players have shown that they can compete at this level right now," Stevens added. "Brian Van Duyn, Tanner Coggins, PJ Tyson, Joel Bustamante, Joe Johnson, Adam Auter, and Nic Schrader are all likely to see time during our early trips. The foundation of our team will be our experienced players who have continued to work extremely hard since last spring. Dodaro, Thomas, Niezer, Bobby Ritz, Kyle Rush, Shaun Rico, Mike Korfhagen, Keegan Leckrone, Nathan Schrader, and Patrick McCarley will all play a large role as we begin the season."
Wabash will travel to Texas for its annual spring break trip March 2-8.