2008 Woodie Awards
Boys of summer are back in town
By: Jon Baird
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: Sports
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The Gorloks suffered an 11-4 loss in the first game, striking out 13 times and committing four errors.
Head Coach Bill Kurich said the loss didn’t bother him.
“I don’t put too much stock in it,” Kurich said. “We came out with good energy and played well for four innings, had a bad fifth inning and were never able to come back from that.”
The offseason cobwebs were shaken by the time the North Central College Cardinals came to GCS Ballpark, in Sauget Ill., for Webster’s home opener. Despite snow flurries and temperatures in the 20s, the Gorloks clobbered the Cardinals 14-4 in the March 3 game, and won both of the March 4 doubleheader games, 4-0 and 6-0.
Junior Wes Hilliard picked up the win in the March 3 game by pitching five innings and striking out five. The Cardinals touched Hilliard for four runs, but the Gorlok offense kept him out of trouble. Four Gorloks had at least two RBIs, with junior utility man Greg Steen leading the team with four.
Steen and senior designated hitter Ryan Hoffman were the standouts of opening weekend. Steen slugged five hits and seven RBIs in the four games, while Hoffman tallied eight hits and three RBIs.
Kurich praised the bats in the middle of his lineup, but hesitated to label it a hot streak.
“Greg and Ryan are hitting everything they throw up there now, but I don’t like to say that they’re hot,” Kurich said. “I think they’re just good hitters. To be ‘hot’ seems to mean you’ll cool off at some point, and I don’t want them to think hot or cold because they’re just good.”
In the first game of the March 4 doubleheader, the Gorloks leaned on the strong pitching performance of junior Ryan Driskill, a transfer from Lincoln College, who pitched a complete game, allowing only five hits and striking out five.
Driskill’s peformance was tough to follow, but senior Scott Aeschleman proved it to be easy enough. He started the second game, and took a no-hitter into the seventh and final inning before giving up a single to North Central’s Nick Robinson. Junior reliever Brett Mueller recorded the final two outs for the Gorloks, sweeping the weekend series and putting the team’s overall record at 3-1.
Kurich said it was the stellar pitching by the Gorloks that got the team winning and turned its momentum.
“We pitched very well all weekend,” Kurich said. “We gave ourselves a chance and played good defense. If we do that every time out, we’re in pretty good shape.”
The team will travel to Phoenix over spring break for the Greater Phoenix Invitational. Kurich said the tournament’s stiff competition should be just what the team needs to gear up for conference play, which starts March 31.
“We play some pretty good teams,” Kurich said. “We play nine teams that were over .500 last year, so we’re playing very good competition. It’s supposed to be 90 degrees and sunny every day, so it’s definitely better than 25 and snowing.”
Senior Adam York, outfielder-turned-shortstop, said getting into warm weather should do wonders for the team’s focus.
“We go down there and play in 90-degree weather and we don’t have to worry about being cold,” York said. “We won’t have to worry about school or anything; we’ll just go out there and play baseball.”
March 9 through 16 the Gorloks will be in Phoenix, before returning home to GCS to face Wartburg College in another non-conference weekend series.
The team will play a doubleheader at 2 p.m. March 17 at GCS Ballpark, with the final game at 11 a.m. March 18.
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