Hello Everyone,
Pitching, defense, and timely hitting. Those three aspects of the game of baseball are what lead the Rhody Rams to a three-game sweep of Winthrop this past weekend. I really can’t express to the readers how proud I am of our team for the way we battled this weekend. There is no doubt that we did not start the season the way we had planned, but this group of guys refuses to give up. Day after day, we keep plugging away and continue to try to improve the way we play baseball.
The starting pitching for the Rams this weekend was simply “fun to play behind” as former Winthrop Eagle Pat Fortunato put it after Mike Bradstreet’s complete-game shutout on Friday night. Street was followed up by a solid performance from senior Sean Furney on Saturday, who allowed just two runs over eight innings. Sophomore Timmy Caputo played outstanding on defense on Saturday, turning double plays in clutch moments to will our team to victory.
On Sunday, Coach Foster handed the ball to freshman Steve Moyers, giving him his first collegiate start. Steve went seven innings, surrendering just one hit – to the first batter of the game. After that, he retired 19 hitters in a row.
“I was pretty excited coming into it. I knew that I was going to need my best stuff to get deep into the game. The defense definitely made it easy for me. I knew that if I made good pitches that the defense would have my back,” said Moyers after Sunday’s win.
I can definitely speak for the rest of my teammates in saying that it was inspiring to see a freshman – in his first collegiate start – pitch with the confidence that Steve did on Sunday.
With all that being said, things did not get easier for the Rhody Rams as we hosted a 2012 College World Series team in Stony Brook in our home opener yesterday afternoon. We built up an early lead – thanks in part to senior Kevin Stenhouse’s big three-run double – and remained on top the rest of the way for our fifth win in a row. It feels good to finally be putting up these W’s after getting off to a slow start like we did.
We cap off our first homestand this weekend with at three-game set against Hofstra, which was one of the top offensive teams in the nation last year.
I would like to give a shout out to my former head coach from the North Adams Steeple Cats, Coach Bobby Segal. Coach Segal is a stand up guy and an outstanding baseball coach. I would like to wish him and Wabash Valley College the best of luck this season.
Until Next Time,
Mike Le Bel
