Baseball

BEREA, OHIO — The 2007 Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team will seek a spot in this spring’s Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament.  As most NCAA Division III baseball observers know, if you are good enough to qualify for the season-ending four-team tourney, you are good enough to win the 2007 NCAA Division III baseball title.  OAC rival Marietta College did it last year and B-W would like to duplicate that effort this spring.

The Yellow Jackets ended the 2005-2006 season with a 19-19 overall record. It marked the eighth time in the last nine years that the Yellow Jackets posted a .500 or better record, including nine consecutive years with 18 or more victories. It continued a tradition of excellent baseball at the College.

This spring, veteran B-W Head Coach Dr. Robert “Bob” Fisher, 635-560-12 in 38 years, returns a solid group of veterans on the mound but must fill a number of holes in the lineup due to the graduation of an outstanding senior class of 2006.

Gone are 2006 graduates Dan Melito,Matt Wilson, Matt Green, Mike Farrell and Kevin Brown.  All five played key roles on the varsity for four years.  Back to lead the 2007 version of Fisher’s attack are senior catcher and relief pitcher Bob Storesina (Canton/ GlenOak), junior outfielder Shaun Slater (Wooster/ Norwayne)  and sophomore center fielder Cody Kidd (Wellington) and sophomore first baseman/ designated hitter Riley Kreisher (Ashtabula/ Edgewood). Storesina batted .292 with three doubles, two homers and 15 RBI. Slater hit .325 with five doubles and 23 RBI. Kidd hit .319 in 47 at-bats with 15 runs scored and a team-leading 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts. Kreisher batted .300 with a triple, homer and 10 RBI in 50 at-bats.

In addition, look for junior third basemen Nick Radca (Amherst/ Steele) and Gerald Breedlove (Painesville/ Riverside) to both contribute.  Radca hit .222 with two doubles, a triple and six RBI in 45 at-bats and Breedlove hit .208 with a double in 24 at-bats.  Others who will move from the junior varsity to the varsity and hope to make an impact include sophomore outfielders Mike Brisky (Berea) and Andrew Middleman (Reisterstown, Md./ Franklin), junior second baseman Nate Luken (Dayton/ Chaminade-Julienne), junior catcher Dom Palmucci (Millersburg/ West Holmes) and junior pitcher/ infielder Kevin Shenker (Twinsburg).

On the mound, B-W will return its entire pitching staff in 2006-2007. It includes senior starters Clayton Kynkor (Auburn Township/ Kenston), Jim Wochele (Richmond Heights) and Brian Pille (Lorain/ Catholic), Shenker, senior relief ace J.D. Fullerton (Cuyahoga Falls), sophomore Alex Walker (Massillon/ Perry) and Storesina.  In addition, junior Steve Miller (Streetsboro/ Cuyahoga Valley Christian School) and sophomore Jim Jaskowak (Grove City, Pa./ Grove City) each saw varsity action a year ago.

Kynkor tied a school single-season record with 11 starts this spring and was 6-4 with a 4.34 earned run average and had five complete games and a team-leading 66 and one-third innings of work. He now has a 10-4 career mark.

Pille started 10 games this spring and was 3-3 overall. Wochele started eight games, was 3-4 overall and had a team-leading 31 strikeouts. Fredericks started four times and Shenker twice and both showed promise for the future.

In the bullpen, Fullerton made 16 appearances and now owns the B-W career-record with 28 in the past three years. He was 2-1 with one save in 23 and two-thirds innings of work. Walker had a 3-1 mark in nine appearances, including one start and had a team-leading 1.10 ERA in 16 and one-third innings pitched. Storesina came out of his catcher position to be the “stopper” and had three saves and a 4.00 ERA in eight appearances covering nine innings.  Miller pitched in four games, including two starts, and was 0-1 with a 7.45 ERA, and Jaskowak made seven relief appearances and tossed a total of 13 and two-thirds innings.

Overall, look for Fisher to have another strong squad in 2007 that will seek to have another 20-win season and advance to the four-team OAC Tournament and have a shot at a first-ever NCAA Division III baseball title.

The Yellow Jackets open the 2007 season on their annual spring break trip to Florida where they will play Hiram College on March 4.

FOR MORE B-W BASEBALL INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by facsimile machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. To contact Head Coach Bob Fisher, please call him at 440-826-2182, FAX him at 440-826-2192 or e-mail him at rfisher@bw.edu.