Jennifer Hoffer – Sports Writer –
The Owls baseball season started off strong as they swept their double-header Saturday against Molloy College during their tournament in Morehead City, N.C.
Senior Michael Cleary said he was very impressed with how the pitching staff performed over the weekend.
“We have a very strong pitching staff,” Cleary said. “They went out and took care of business like they always do like we knew they were going to do.”
Not only did the pitching staff do well, the younger guys also stepped up, said senior pitcher Ryan Yerina.
“The guys really took some advantage of opportunities,” Cleary said.
The team went on to finish the weekend with two wins and one loss. The schedule was altered a bit, as the teams only played one game due to some inclement weather conditions.
“The fact that it was snowing in North Carolina was astounding to us, but we still managed to get at least three games in,” Yerina said.
Yerina pitched well, throwing a shutout through the first seven innings in game one, defeating Molloy 2-0.
“I went in and did my job,” Yerina said. “I got my team a victory to start the season.”
“I can improve my mechanics and some small tweaks with timing. But other than that I felt great and was very happy with how we played.”
The Owls are without their head coach Tim Shea because of a suspension, but Yerina said that would not take away from any success they have this season.
“Obviously it was a shock to us not having coach Shea this season,” Yerina said. “But we got out every day just trying to play the best baseball we can and play like he would want us to play.”
The Owls swept Molloy College, but fell to Felician College in last week’s tournament.
Yerina made it clear that he wants to work on his mechanics and timing skills, but Cleary said there are some overall team skills that they all could work on as the season progresses.
“Offensively, we need to do a better job cashing in with runners in scoring position,” Cleary said. “During Sunday’s game we had plenty of opportunities to drive runs in but we were not able to take advantage of our situations.”
Of course injuries come up as a point of concern during this time of the season, but Cleary nor Yerina said that they were worried about it.
“Whenever we go out and take the field it is important that we always give our best effort,” Cleary said. “Injuries are part of the game and it’s something we can’t control. The only thing we can control is how hard we play each and every game.”
Yerina said if you are worried about an injury, that’s when you’re most prone to getting hurt.
Overall, Yerina and Cleary said they were pleased and are excited for what the rest of the season holds. One of their goals this season is to host the conference tournament this season, which would be the first time in school history, Cleary said.
“I’m very excited to see how far this team could go,” Yerina said. “We have a lot of key players back and plenty of up and coming players who want to make a name for themselves.”
The next tournament will be held this weekend in Flemington, N.J. as the Owls will face off against Long Island University Post.
The Owls scored 10 runs collectively during the road trip.
