2014-15 Tryouts Status

To all incoming Penn students, or anyone else interested in playing club baseball during the 2014-2015 season, we’ll be hosting our tryouts sometime in September.  Unfortunately we do not have a date yet, but we anticipate it being the second or third weekend after classes start up.  We’ll post the date and time as soon as we know.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to one of the team’s co-presidents:

Ben Rogers – broge@sas.upenn.edu

Matt Gus – gusm@seas.upenn.edu

Also, be sure to stop by the Club Baseball table during the Fall Activities Club Fair (Thursday, 8/28, 5-8 PM) for more information and to sign up for tryouts.

New PCB Officers

It’s the beginning of a new era. For the first time in years, the PCB Co-President positions will be held by two seniors (pictured above). Penn Club Baseball would like to congratulate the new team officers for the 2014-15 season:

Co-Presidents: Matt Gus & Ben Rogers

Vice President: Doug Meyers

Treasurer: Matt Fink

Secretary: Andrew Becker

Social Chairs: Sam Rogers & Dan Smith

Gus will serve as Co-President for the second year running and will be joined by a staff that is more than capable of leading the team to glory days, both on and off the field. We did not get the results we wanted this year, but things are certainly looking up for PCB.

 

Game 3 vs TCNJ

With a chance at Regionals hanging in the balance, Penn Club Baseball played our third and final game against TCNJ. Unfortunately, the outcome would not be in our favor.

Things started poorly from the outset, as half of our team got lost on the way to the field and arrived mere minutes before start time. With no opportunity to warm up, starting pitcher, Doug “Slim Jim” Meyers, got off to a rough start, allowing four runs in the first inning. Already in a hole, things seemed grim for PCB. We remained persistent though, tying the game up after productive 2^nd and 3^rd innings. Another shaky start for Meyers in the 4^th called for a pitching change. After settling in, Andrew Becker moderately calmed the TCNJ bats; however, with two outs in the bottom of the 7^th, we were still down by two runs. Time to put on your rally caps, gentlemen.

Becker kept hope alive with a walk, and Matt Fink reached base on an error. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. With the tying run in scoring position, James Townsend came up big. Managing to work the count to 3-2, Townsend drove the ball down the right field line, scoring both runners. Suddenly, the game was tied (9-9), and it felt like PCB had all the momentum. It was not to be though. An error and some timely hits allowed TCNJ to take another two-run lead in extras, and the game would end with the score 11-9.

As always, we’d like to thank the families who came out to support us. Considering the extremely sloppy play from both sides, the loss was a tough one to swallow. PCB closes out its season this upcoming weekend with a 3-game series against Rider.

Conference Series vs Rowan

This past weekend, Penn Club Baseball played a three-game conference series against Rowan. After an extremely long two days, we left South Jersey with one victory and two losses.

Saturday’s Game 1 was a pitching duel. After a dormant start at the plate, we scored three runs in the 4^th behind James “Big Stick” Emerick’s big RBI single. Freshman pitcher, Andrew Becker, had his first start on the mound and did not disappoint. Allowing just one earned run and striking out twelve batters, Becker had Rowan’s line-up off balance all night. With a one-run lead in the 6^th inning, Matthew “Okie” Powery stole home on a wild pitch, giving us a two-run cushion. That extra run would prove crucial, as Rowan scored another in the top of the 7^th. Thankfully, Becker did not panic, and we walked away with the W (4-3).

Games 2 and 3 were contested Sunday afternoon/night. In the first game, Doug “Slim Jim” Meyers looked to continue his streak of dominance on the mound. In his typical fashion, Meyers found himself in and out of trouble throughout the first few innings. We traded runs with Rowan and took a one-run lead in the 6^th. It was not meant to be, however, as Rowan put up a 9-spot in the bottom half of the inning, effectively ending the game. This swing of momentum carried into the third game, as we could not get our bats going. James Townley pitched well but did not receive any run support, and we lost the rubber match 9-2.

From the mishandling of game times to the outcomes of the games themselves, there were a lot of lowlights this weekend. Mixed in were a few highlights that lightened the burden of losing just a bit…

Lowlights:

–          not starting Game 1 until 9PM (and not having any time to warm up)

–          spending a combined 12 hours at the field

–          the infield’s beach-like qualities

–          the obnoxious fan(s)

–          Quinn running into the fence in center…and then getting plunked in the head the following inning

–          waiting around for the field lights to turn on

Highlights:

–          Mr. Rogers being admonished by a tax-paying, proud mother

–          Gaer face planting during I/O

–          Taggart going 6 for 6 on stolen bases

–          Rittler taking a trip down memory lane

–          Bobby ruining the dugout experience for the entire team

–          Wawa subs and Townley’s mom’s famous cookies

–          Gus and Okie’s Legion night

We’d like to thank the families and girlfriends who came out to support us. The conditions were less than ideal, but you hung in there with us. Hopefully the results will be better in our next game (Friday, April 18^th, vs TCNJ).

Conference DH vs TCNJ Recap

Today marked the official start of PCB’s spring season. Meiklejohn Stadium played host as we got things rolling with a double header against TCNJ. It looked like we were determined to lose when we first took the field. TCNJ quickly scored two runs following a couple errors and walks. After the first inning, we settled down in the field, backing up Kirav Patel’s solid outing on the mound. In fact, the freshman pitcher did not give up any more runs for the rest of the game. From there, it was up to our bats to get it done. Led by Ben “Brogers” Rogers and Joseph “All-state” Strege, we finally took the lead in the bottom of the fifth and won the game 4 to 2.

The story of the second game was Doug “Slim Jim” Meyers’ standout performance on the mound. Usually offering to pitch the first game of a series, Meyers elected to switch things up. It turned out to be a great decision. Meyers was in the zone all day, striking out thirteen TCNJ batters and allowing just two runs in the final frame. He even struck out the side after loading the bases in the fourth inning. PCB waited until the fifth inning to really get the bats going, and things culminated in the sixth with Rogers’ bases-clearing double. We left Meiklejohn with a 6 to 2 victory and a two-game sweep for the day.

Despite stranding an unhealthy amount of runners, we walked away with two more in the win column (putting us at 3-2 on the season thus far). Here are some other highlights/lowlights from the day:

–          The recurring infield fly calls

–          Fink’s glove toss

–          Wolfen doing his best Bill Buckner impression… and Rogers astutely pointing out that “he used to be an outfielder”

–          Rawlin’s glove… still not broken in

–          Townsend trying to take the field with a hoodie under his jersey

–          Wags showing up to watch the game from the stands

–          Gus’ 2-hit day

–          Townley’s mom’s cookies

–          Norton’s incredibly illegible bookkeeping

Special thanks go out to the families who made the trip down and to our peers who cheered us (well, cheered Meyers) on today. We’ll finish up our series with TCNJ later in the semester, and our next games will be at Rowan in two weeks.

Conference Series vs St. Joe’s Recap

Penn Club Baseball’s series against St. Joe’s this weekend certainly saw its ups and downs. Our goal was to take 2 (or 3 or 4) out of 3 but we got off to an incredibly rocky start in Game 1. Doug “Slim Jim” Meyers zoned in and pitched a decent game but received no run support. In the worst hitting performance in team history, PCB was held to a no-hitter by St. Joe’s ace, and we wound up losing 10-0.

Game 2 was a slight improvement. LA’s own, Michael “Wags” Wagmeister took the mound and gave us 5 solid innings. Another freshman, JP Quinn, broke the team’s hitless streak with a triple in the 1st inning. Sam “Sogers” Rogers also had a good game at the plate, with a couple of hits. By the end of the game, PCB had 7 hits but only 2 runs and lost 11-2 in another blowout.

Joe Strege returned to his “All-state” ways and sparked a breakout at the plate for us during the final game. His RBI double in the 1^st inning set the tone for us and was just the first of his 3 hits for the day. Matthew “Okie” Powery, Sam Rogers, and Nich Rittler also had multiple-hit days. Riding Kirav Patel through 6 innings in his PCB pitching debut, we had an 11-8 lead heading into the last inning. Andrew Becker did his best Mariano Rivera impression and shut the door on St. Joe’s 2-3-4 hitters in the 7th.

Improving from 0 hits in the first game to 10 in the third was the most significant highlight of the weekend, and winning the final game was huge for our goal of making it to Regionals in the spring. Here are some other highlights from the weekend:

–Taggart playing the game at Puig-like speeds

–3B-2B head nods

–Townley’s outfield chatter

–Taggart physically moving the guy as he slapped the tag at 2^nd

–Meyers’ witty comments from the dugout

–Patel shutting down the kid who’s been “wrecking the ball”

–“There’s nothing to talk about.”… psyyccchhhh

–Townley thinking Luke was Meyers when he came to the game

–Ben Rogers’ acrobatic catches

–Gus crossing himself in relief

A special shout-out goes to Karina and Luke for helping out and keeping book for us. Also, many thanks to all the families that came out to support and those who provided the team with lunch on Saturday. We’ll see you all in the spring.

Scrimmage vs York Recap

Yesterday, Penn Club Baseball played a 9-inning scrimmage against York. Despite our slow start, PCB got the bats going and scored eight runs in the second and third innings. After nine, we had outscored our competition 15-11. Because it was just a scrimmage, the game will not count on our record, but it was a good way to start the year. Our young pitchers threw strikes, and we consistently put the ball in play. Not bad for our first time out on the field this season. Here are some other on-and off-field highlights (and low-lights) from yesterday:

— The Marucci

— Finding out the hard way that Okie’s face guard works

— Taggart’s errant throw to first

— Seinfeld quotes

— Dan Smith doing his best cricket impression

— Dan Smith getting hit by a ground ball while running from second to third (and Gus proudly taking a single in the book for it)

— Gus’ surprisingly good job at first base

— Sam Rogers’ 3-for-3 day

— Karina’s extremely neat book-keeping

— The excessively long ride home

 

2013-14 Tryouts

To all incoming Penn students interested in playing club baseball during the 2013-14 season, tryouts will be held September 15th from 12-3pm at the varsity field (Meiklejohn Stadium). If you have any questions regarding the tryouts, please feel free to contact one of the team’s Co-Presidents:

(Senior) Matt Powery–powerym@sas.upenn.edu

(Junior) Matt Gus–gusm@seas.upenn.edu

Also, be sure to stop by the Club Baseball table during the Fall Activities Club Fair (Monday, 9/2, 11a-3p) for more information and to sign up for tryouts.

Farewell to a Frustrating Season

Last Game of 2012-13

Today marked the end of one of PCB’s most disappointing seasons in recent memory. After beginning the season with a stellar Fall series vs. Rowan, the team tumbled down a steep slope in the Spring. Poor execution, lack of attendance, scheduling, and tough breaks plagued us the last ten games.

We began by losing a non-conference DH to a very strong Penn State team. Our next series brought conference rival Rider to Mieklejohn Stadium on a beautiful early April weekend. Unfortunately, PCB struggled on both the defensive and offensive side of ball and lost three games. However, the highlight of the season came when we rallied in the bottom of the 7th with 8 runs; we ultimately lost after three extra innings. After Rider, we faced TCNJ over two weekends, losing two of three. We faced the conference leaders St. Joes in our final series, and played poorly–losing all three. 4-8 in the conference and 0-2 outside wasn’t what we hoped for before the season began.

That being said, with many downs came a few ups:

–Masaru Nogami, Ben Chambers, and Stephen Chernekoff playing in every single game of the season. These three players lead the team throughout the season, putting the team over their physical health.

–Matt Powery rebounding from his broken jaw and tearing it up at the end of the season. As the senior Co-President next year, “Okie” will definitely lead PCB by example.

–Bobby Alexander retiring from the Club Hockey team and returning to Club Baseball this year.

–Joe Strege’s successful job filling in as one of the team’s best pitchers

–Frosh catcher Matt Fink catching doubleheaders despite sleepless nights

–James Emerick’s amazing chauffeuring of the team in the “Cooter Scooter.” Oh yeah, he also did well in the outfield and behind the plate

–Matt Gus’s coaching third base and surprisingly good offensive production.

–Ben Rogers ripping the ball and taking grounders of his chin.

–And finally, Luke Poethig’s return to actually playing after three years of infrequent play. Although his performance wasn’t always pretty, “The Coot” had his shining moments.

–Most importantly, PCB had one of the best years off the field in years hosting killer BBQs and mixers with some of the finest ladies the campus has to offer.

And with that, the 2012-2013 season and the Coot era comes to a close. Looking at past, present, and future, the Penn Club Baseball seems to be on the Winner’s Curve. The upswing begins next year:

The Winner’s Curve

–Always a big thank you to our families, friends, and Penn’s Recreation Department for supporting Penn Club Baseball throughout the season. There’s no doubt our fanbase will continue to grow in the coming years.

See you at baseball field next year!

Intersquad Game Recap

This past Saturday, 18 PCBers played in our first annual Intersquad Game. Co-President Luke Poethig led the Red team while his counterpart Matt Powery managed the Gray team. The Red team pulled out a big 9-0 win thanks to great pitching and big hits. Blessed with great weather, we had a fantastic day of baseball that helped prepare us for our upcoming games against Penn State and Rider. Here’s some highlights:

–Cherney and O’hare throwing the 2 hit shutout vs. the Gray’s

–Rogers mashing at the plate and Luke’s base-loaded triple

–Charlie Bradford showing up and promptly saying: “This is the most intense game of baseball I’ve played since high school”

–Rawlin talking again

–Meyers throwing pretty well considering he hasn’t practiced in two months

–Luke’s game ball aka “My proudest baseball moment since 4th grade”…which I can assure you is very true.

–AND last but certainly not least, PCB’s postgame celebration later that evening. As sophomore Joe “All State” Strege perfectly summarized, “Sweet Jesus, that was raunchy”

Thanks to all those that showed for the game and afterwards, and Germantown Friends School for allowing us to use their field.