Blue Jays off to 4-1 start in Centennial

The Blue Jays bested the McDaniel Green Terror this past Tuesday, achieving a 9-5 victory, the result of a combination of strong Hopkins play, as well as several McDaniel errors. The Blue Jays have moved to 13-8-2 on the season, and 4-1 in the Centennial as the Blue Jays enter their second week of Conference play. Contrasting Hopkins's strong start, scoring nine runs in the first four innings, McDaniel started the game very poorly, setting a tone that would be prevalent for almost the entire game This tone was reflected in a first-inning error, which allowed the Blue Jays to scoot ahead 2-0. In the second inning, a passed ball saw junior second baseman Adam Weiner reach scoring position, and he eventually scored to extend the lead to three runs. Two more runs were scored in the third inning off of sophomore Mike Denlinger's first career home run, giving Hopkins a comfortable lead before the Green Terror had even found solid ground. The rally culminated in a four-run fourth inning, which included two errors, one from both the McDaniel right fielder and shortstop. Senior starting pitcher Alex Eliopoulos, The News-Letter's Athlete of the Week, pitched well, allowing only two hits and two walks, while striking out three hitters. In the seventh inning,McDaniel scored five runs. Sophomore Ed Bryner replaced Kahn to end the inning at a much closer 9-5, where the score would stay for the remainder of the game. "I like what [Head Coach Bob] Babb established in Arizona, our motto of win[ning] one game every day," said junior shortstop Kyle Neverman in response to the win. "If we do that," he continued, "we'll be in great shape and good position going into the conference tournament. . .and we'll be where we want to be." Kahn summed up the team's mentality well, saying "Once we get running on full cylinders and start clicking in all aspects of the game, we're going to have the potential to do great things and we'll certainly be the team to beat." Junior Hank Sanders outlined the team's goals, saying that they "have to to beat McDaniel on Thursday and sweep Swarthmore in order to get closer to our goal of winning the conference and going to the playoffs." If the team is to realize these ambitious goals, though, they are going to have to cut out their weak spots, reflected for a large part in the seventh inning this Tuesday. Regardless, as their recent successes indicate, the Blue Jays can most definitely continue to win. These few weak spots are invariably surrounded by much more significant strengths, which will hopefully come to the forefront of their play before the postseason. The Jays will face Mc- Daniel again Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on the road.