Back at the Ballpark; Tigers Prepare for the Upcoming Baseball Season
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Jan. 29, 2008) – After leading the Tigers to their best overall record in many years during the 2007 season, Head Coach Elliott Strankman brings back a wealth of talent coupled with a strong freshman class and a pair of key transfers who will all contribute to the continued success of the Occidental baseball program.
Returning to the diamond in 2008 are 18 players including eight starters and four pitchers who logged 20 or more innings, a year ago.
Leading the way for Oxy will be the trio of Matt Andersen, Glenn Gray and Matt Jones who all earned recognition from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as All-SCIAC selections in 2007.
Andersen, a three year starter for the Tigers, was named to the First Team All-SCIAC for the second time (2005-SS) after posting a .984 fielding percentage with 115 putouts and five assists in center field. Offensively he finished among the top-three players in batting average (.344), hits (44), doubles (11), triples (2), homeruns (2), RBIs (29) and total bases (65). Andersen produced a .508 slugging percentage and a .407 on base percentage. A threat on the base paths as well, Andersen stole 11 bases in 12 attempts.
Landing on the Second-Team All-SCIAC following his freshman season was Gray, whose .409 batting average was the sixth highest in the conference. Gray, who appeared in all 40 games in 2007, was ranked among the top players in the SCIAC in doubles (15) and triples (4). Additionally, his 56 hits, 85 total bases, 15 walks, .620 slugging percentage and .478 on base percentage put him at the top of all the Oxy statistical categories. In the outfield Gray finished with a .967 fielding percentage. Following the season Gray was also named to the Third Team All-West Region.
Finally, Jones, a junior righty, earned Second Team All-SCIAC after anchoring the Tigers pitching staff a year ago with 72.0 innings in 11 starts. He finished with a 3.62 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a .294 average. Jones (3-5) led the pitching staff with 26 strike outs. The highlight of the 2007 season for Jones was a complete game victory over nationally-ranked Ithaca College in which he allowed just two earned runs.
Representing the senior class on the field in 2008 will be Adam Frank (C/1B), Donald Baarns (2B), Jonathan Birch (1B), Geoff Cromwell (C), Seth Goss (2B) and Andersen.
Franks started 39 of the Tigers’ games, accumulating a team leading 148 at bats and 32 runs in 2007. With a .309 batting average, he was second on the team in hits (45), RBIs (29) and walks (14) and third on the team with 10 doubles and 61 total bases. Behind the plate Franks compiled a .984 fielding percentage.
Baarns drew 15 walks, stole eight bases in 11 attempts and scored 24 runs for the Tigers a year ago. Birch finished with a .314 batting average, Goss scored 22 times and was 5-for-6 on the base paths.
The junior class is compiled of Noel Banuelos (P), Marcus Stobier (P), Richard Viehl (3B/1B), Spencer Woolwine (P/UTL) and Jones.
Viehl played in 38 games, picking up 33 hits 36 total bases. Woolwine stole a pair of bases last season. Jones also added a .300 batting average with 11 walks and a .453 on base percentage.
Seven sophomores including Geoff Ball (P/OF), Anthony Ciardelli (P), Riley Hathaway (OF), Jason Jebbia (SS/2B), Patrick Sarkissian (C/1B) Aaron Stanton (OF) and Gray will don black and orange for their second season.
Ball was third on the team with a .327 batting average. Sarkissian and Stanton put up .317 and .316 batting averages, respectively, last season. Sarkissian hit three homeruns, scored 23 times, drove in 19 and was third on the Tigers with a .475 slugging percentage while Stanton stole a base in his lone attempt. In the field Sarkissian posted a .981 fielding percentage with 190 putouts and 16 assists. Hathaway and Jebbia got their first taste of collegiate baseball in 2007.
The Oxy pitching staff will feature Ciardelli (21.2 innings, 18 K, .235 opponent BA, 10 appearances), Banuelos (2-5, 46.2 innings, 16 K, 8 starts) and Stobier (4-1, 3.21 ERA, 28.0 innings, 1 save). Woolwine tossed 13.0 innings, holding opponents to a .235 average, recording a save in eight appearances. Ball also stepped on the hill in 2007, throwing 8.1 innings for the Tigers.
Gray, Andersen, Franks and Woolwine each hit two long balls last season. Andersen recorded seven sacrifices (five hits) and Baarnes has six (four hits) with two sac-fly’s apiece.
Adding depth to the Tigers is a very talented group of incoming players who will inevitably make this team and program better.
Joining the Tigers from Moorpark JC is 6-foot-6 sophomore transfer first baseman Ryan Falck who batted .318 for the Raiders last season. Kieran Doherty also joins the Oxy squad from LA Pierce College where the junior pitcher spent two seasons.
Rounding out the 2008 squad are a strong and talented freshman class composed of 14 players: Brooks Belter (6’1”, 175, RHP, Lakeville, CT), Alex Bukac (6’0”, 175, 1B/OF, Oil City, PA), John Clair (6’0”, 180, RHP, Los Angeles, CA), Dale Garrett (5’11”, 175, C, Burbank, CA), Casey Harms (6’1”, 185, OF, Fair Oaks, CA), Dwight Hobbs (6’1”, 170, OF, San Francisco, CA), William Ireton (5’10”, 170, 3B, Tokyo, Japan), Daniel Kelley (5’9”, 160, 2B, Kirkland, WA), Case Miyahira (5’10”, 160, SS, Honolulu, HI), Ross Pomerantz (5’11”, 165, LHP, Kentfield, CA), Miles Sherman (5’10”, 155, C, Bronx, NY), Nicholas Smallman (6’0”, 175, RHP, Carson City, NV), Kristopher Suzuki (6’1”, 150, LHP/OF), San Francisco, CA) and Michael Zugsmith (6’2”, 185, C, Studio City, CA).
“There is no doubt that our incoming group of players will contribute to this team right away,” Strankman said in an interview. “Our transfers will play key roles and some of our freshmen have the opportunity to make immediate impacts for us. The freshmen middle-infield duo of Miyahira, a switch-hitting shortstop and Kelley (2B) have already shown their talent on the field.”
Going out and playing hard every day, giving full effort all the time, will be key to the Tigers success. Adding a pair of southpaws, Pomerantz and Suzuki, to the rotation will help the pitching staff immensely. “Defensively, we need to make the routine plays. In the end the team in the SCIAC that can pick the ball up consistently will win.”
Occidental made significant strides in 2007, finishing with a 17-23 overall record, 7-14 in SCIAC play. They improved their team batting average to .293 from .263 in 2006 with the aim of continuing to grow and become more competitive within the SCIAC this year.
Veteran leadership and youthful, energetic newcomers will bind together with the common goal of working hard and playing harder in 2008.
In 2005 when members of the class of 2008 stepped on the field for the first time this was a struggling program. Over the past three years, these young men have worked hard and made a commitment to turning the program from nothing into something.
“I think one of our greatest strengths this year will be our leadership.” Strankman went on, “We have some older players with a remarkable work-ethic who want to succeed. They have been through thick and thin and are ready and willing to push each other to improve and achieve the common goal of winning.”
Playing consistent baseball is imperative to their success in 2008. Strankman believes that if these guys work hard as a team, the leadership and effort will speak for itself and everything else will fall into place. “Watching the players step up and take charge, seeing the kids learning to lead and win together enhances the experience for everyone and as a coach, it is exhilarating to watch.”
This year’s schedule features games against very competitive institutions from across the nation. Oxy will face local powerhouse Chapman University, as well as the University of Puget Sound (WA). A number of prestigious east coast schools such as Ithaca (NY), Rutgers-Camden (NJ) and Wesleyan (CT) will be travelling to Southern California for the California Classic in mid-March.
In what is expected to be a tight race in the conference, the Tigers are glad to get the season underway.
“I am excited to get back out on the field and I anticipate seeing significant growth and progress within our program.”
Strankman is looking forward to the SCIAC series against Redlands and La Verne noting that they have been close to beating these schools in the past and this could be the year.
"The number one goal of this program is to continue to grow and enjoy our time on the field as our student-athletes have an experience they can be proud of for the rest of their lives.”
Unquestionably, there will be lots of good baseball played this spring. So, as the Tigers pull on their Oxy black and orange and step out onto the field for another season of baseball, the future of this program looks bright.
