By Kyle Melnick ‘14

The Warriors started the season wobbly, winning a nail-biter against Wootton by a score of 1-0, and then being shut out by Good Counsel 8-0. Despite the trouble hitting in the first two games, the Warriors more recently have won key games with their strong pitching.

Senior All-Met pitcher Matt Chanin did not play the first two games, which contributed to the Warriors scoring only a mere one run through the first two games. Chanin, who held a batting average of .446 last season and hit five home runs, is expected to return for the rest of the season to contribute in both batting and pitching. Chanin highlights the top of the batting rotation as well as the pitching rotation.

“Matt had a great offensive year last year and we are expecting big things from him.  Last year he was coming off of an arm injury and wasn’t able to log that many innings on the mound.  This year we are expecting him to have big impact in the pitching rotation,” said Coach Sean Davis.

The Warriors make sure to utilize their entire pitching staff late in games to prevent injury and keep players fresh, especially early in the season. Chanin is joined by senior Bryan Reich and freshman Brendan Collins at the top of the pitching rotation. Senior Daniel Ryczek and juniors Thomas St. Laurent, Parker Opar and Connor Bergman fill out the deep pitching rotation. The team will turn to its pitching down the stretch in close games.

“Pitching is definitely important to use.  We have guys that are very tough to beat when they are on,” said Davis.

Junior transfer Neven Sussman and junior Jake Paholski have been key additions at the plate for the Warriors, hitting .308 and .300 respectively this season. However, hitting has not been a strength for the team as the Warriors have struggled to get batters in scoring position.

“Defense will be the key. Pitching is our strong point and if we have guys that can make routine plays we will be very tough to beat,” said Davis.

Reich only allowed two hits in the team’s opening game against Wootton and Collins only allowed one hit in four innings against Good Counsel in the Warriors’ loss. The Warriors finally found success at the plate in their 11-0 victory against Einstein, as the team hit a .250 batting average and Ryczek allowed only one hit the entire game.

The talent of the team’s pitchers again were on full display in the Warriors’ 1-0 win against Whitman. Reich started the first five innings, striking out four and allowing only two hits. Chanin finished the game, striking out four and allowing no hits. This dominant pitching led the Warriors to stay in the game until senior Pat Dunn hit a game-winning RBI in the 6th inning.

The team hopes to find more success batting and putting players in scoring position moving forward. The Warriors had a great   outing at the plate in their 5-4 win against Springbrook. The team hit .286 for the game and had strong performances hitting from Chanin, Sussman and Paholski.