Monday, February 14, 2005

GREYHOUND BASEBALL SQUAD RANKED 4TH IN COMMONWEALTH PRESEASON POLL

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College baseball team has been selected to finish fourth in the Commonwealth Conference in the 2005 preseason poll of the conference’s coaches released Monday.

The Greyhounds, who return 17 letterwinners and six starters, received 28 points in the poll. Messiah College was selected as the top team in the preseason, garnering six first-place votes and 48 points. Defending Commonwealth Conference Champion Juniata College, which had one first-place vote, was ranked second followed by Elizabethtown College, which also had one first-place vote, Moravian, Albright College, Lebanon Valley College, Widener University, and Susquehanna University.

Leading the returnees at the plate is junior first baseman Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS), who contributed 36 hits, 24 runs, 23 RBIs, a double, a triple and seven home runs a year ago. Sophomore outfielder Pete Moore (Bogota, NJ/Bogota HS) had a .315 batting average, 35 hits, 20 runs, nine walks, four doubles, two triples, two home runs and 14 RBIs in his debut season while senior infielder/catcher Mike Trimble (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) added 21 hits to go along with 15 runs, a double and seven RBIs. Senior pitcher/outfielder Chris Clancy (Kendall Park, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) collected 18 hits, ten RBIs, 11 runs, three doubles and a triple.

Senior infielder/pitcher Chris Benigno (Howell, NJ/St. Rose HS) contributed 16 hits, ten runs, two doubles, a triple, six walks and six RBIs. Junior second baseman Andrew Wayne (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough HS) added 17 hits, 13 runs, ten walks, five doubles and 12 RBIs while junior catcher Adam White (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken HS) had seven hits, five runs, four RBIS and a double. Junior first baseman Bryan Wolf (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) contributed six hits with four runs and a triple before suffering a season-ending injury.

Senior outfielder/pitcher Steve Tomaszewski (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) contributed nine hits, 10 runs, two doubles and eight RBIs. Tomaszewski, who was on the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, had a 5-3 record with a 2.30 ERA, six complete games, two shutouts, 43 strikeouts and 22 walks allowed in 54 2/3 innings. Senior infielder/pitcher Adam Goetz (Dunellen, NJ/Rutgers Prep HS) added five runs, a hit and a double.

On the mound, senior Andrew Wach (Boonton, NJ/Boonton HS) was 2-1 with a save, a 0.93 ERA, a complete game and nine strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings of work while Clancy posted a 2-4 record, 34 strikeouts, five complete games and a 5.60 ERA in 45 innings. Junior pitcher/outfielder John Howarth (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) posted a 0-1 record and a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of relief, and Howarth added two hits, two RBIs, six runs and a double while Benigno had a 0-3 record and 12 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings of action.

Moravian, under the direction of head coach Ed Little, will open the 2005 season on Saturday, March 5th in Commonwealth Conference game versus Juniata College in Chandler, Arizona, where both teams will be playing during spring break.

2005 Commonwealth Conference Baseball Preseason Poll