Baseball remains unbeaten in Conference play

Led by outstanding performances by senior Yani Rosenberg, junior Jeremy Brown and sophomore Russ Berger, the Hopkins pitching staff sent a message to their teammates, as well as to the rest of the Centennial Conference.

The Blue Jays opened Conference play with a sweep of a home and home series against rival Western Maryland and then took both ends of a double header versus Haverford. Now 4-0 with the Conference, the Blue Jays improved their overall record to 16-4, thanks mostly to dominant starting pitching.

Though for much of the season, the dynamic offensive attack has been stealing the headlines (averaging over ten runs per game), the Blue Jays hurlers have been just as important to the 16-4 start.

"The pitchers have been coming up real big for us. Seniors through freshman have been contributing," said sophomore outfielder Craig Cetta.

After rain postponed the Blue Jays' opening game against Western Maryland originally set for Tues, March 26, the two teams finally faced off two days later.

Rosenberg, the Hopkins staff ace, set the tone early on, retiring the first nine batters he faced. Rosenberg struck out ten through seven innings while allowing only two hits. The offense, despite not managing a single extra base hit, provided Rosenberg with more than enough breathing room, en route to an easy 5-0 victory.

The very next day, the two teams were back at it, and once again a Hopkins upperclassman shut down the Western Maryland attack. Brown, repeated Rosenberg's performance, throwing seven shutout innings. Brown fanned nine batters and allowed just three hits to earn his second win of the season.

Junior outfielder Joe Urban, Cetta, and sophomore first baseman Sven Stafford all hit home runs as the Blue Jays cruised to a 6-0 blanking of Western Maryland.

Cetta described how Hopkins has managed to harness such a potent offensive attack.

"We have been hitting a lot of home runs this year. We're also putting the ball in play and getting runners on base," Cetta said.

Against Haverford, the Blue Jays pounded eight home runs and swept the season series. Sophomore pitcher Matt Righter threw a complete game to lead Hopkins to victory in the first game by a margin of 6-4.

Senior second baseman Karl Sineath and sophomore Carl Ippolito each hit solo blasts, and junior outfielder Jay Cieri hit a pair of round trippers to pace the Blue Jays.

Ippolito now leads the Blue Jays in home runs, RBIs and extra base hits and ranks third behind senior Ben Taylor and sophomore Sven Stafford in slugging percentage. Cieri meanwhile, leads the team in hits and on base percentage.

The second game featured another stellar outing by a Hopkins starter. Sophomore Russ Berger lowered his ERA to 1.90 for the season, keeping Haverford scoreless over six innings while striking out seven batters.

A seven-run first inning followed by two more in the second gave the Blue Jays a 9-0 lead before Haverford managed to get a base runner past first base.

Freshman outfielder Dave Montegari, sophomore catcher Bryan Eberle, senior Ben Taylor and sophomore Rob Morrison all hit home runs for the Blue Jays, as they won easily 12-1. For Eberle and Montegari the blasts were the firsts of their careers.

In their next game, Tuesday against Washington College, the team furthered the fact that they have a powerful offense along with a potent pitching staff.

The Jays took an early lead when Ciero tallied a two run home run. Washington managed to match Hopkins by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the first inning off of Rosenberg, but were held scoreless the rest of the game.

Cetta hit his third home run of the season driving in three runs in a five run third inning. The Jays would boost their run total to 17 with home runs by Taylor and freshman Mike Durgala. The Shoreman would make a run to cut the lead to 16-10, but the Jays would hold on for a 17-10 win.

The Jays now have 37 home runs in a mere 21 games, needing only nine in order to set a new school record. The old school record of 45 was set in 40 games.

Players are optimistic that their tremendous offensive production will continue. "There is not a weak spot anywhere in the lineup, batters one through nine are all powerful," said Cetta.

Blue Jays players also anticipate a strong finish to their already very impressive season.

"I expect us to go deep into the NCAA's and to win the regionals," said Cetta.

The Blue Jays will look to move one step closer to their goal this weekend as the Jays will face Washington College and Franklin & Marshall, both in home games.