The Season pass

    I am addicted to baseball.
    This past week I have spent a good deal of time sitting at John Kurtz field watching the Bobcat baseball team mow down one opponent after another, and all I can say is: these guys are good.
    Over the past week the Bobcats have won five games, improving their winning streak to nine games. The only games they have lost this season were the two openers to No. 1 ranked Tampa.
    The team has rocketed up the national rankings to No. 8 with no sings of slowing down.
    GCSU has had young guys step up: for example freshman pitcher Eric Pettepher who threw an outstanding game Tuesday afternoon against No. 23 Montevallo.
    This was Pettepher’s first collegiate start and it came at a time when the team needed it.
    Pettepher said he was nervous at the start, but if you saw him you wouldn’t have been able to tell.
    He looked as confident as an freshman I’ve ever seen pitch over his seven innings of work. He surrendered only three hits and one run to a very strong lineup.
    Another young pitcher who has really stepped up is Brandon Owens.
    Owens has pitched 8.1 innings in four games and has yet to surrender an earned run. He has recorded two wins and a save.
    Guys like Pettepher and Owens have proven especially important with senior ace Sean Heimpel’s struggles with his command early in the season.
    Heimpel has pitched 12.2 innings this season and surrendered ten walks to his five strikeouts. Last season Heimpel walked only 18 batters in 64.1 innings and struck out 38 batters.
    Heimpel will come around, and when he does look out.
    The guys on the team are excited and I know head coach Tom Carty is excited.
    They do have a tough road ahead of them especially this weekend when they face a tough Armstrong Atlantic State University team. AASU is currently ranked No. 10 and undefeated, but if the Bobcats take care of business, AASU could easily have three losses on Monday morning.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 22 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry