Baseball squad races out to undefeated start

After a long offseason, the Hopkins baseball team was eager to get back into action and step onto the field for their first game. The Blue Jays looked solid in the season opener and ultimately came away with the victory against Messiah this past Friday.

Junior, right-handed pitcher Tyler Goldstein earned the opening day start for the Blue Jays and threw three controlled innings to pick up his first win of the season. Goldstein’s innings limit was pre-planned, as was the case for the subsequent starting pitchers in the first few games of the season.

Goldstein was excited to get back on the mound following last year’s tough loss in the Centennial Conference tournament.

“I was happy to get out there again after how last year ended and it was nice to get a win against a pretty good regional team.”

Messiah was able to get on the board first by manufacturing a run through a double steal. The Blue Jays came right back in the bottom of the second when senior Jeff Lynch ripped a double down the left field line and scored on the following play.

The bats came alive for the Blue Jays in the third inning as the squad tacked on five runs and gave themselves a nice lead heading into the later innings. Seniors Chris Vonderschmidt and Adam Weiner got things started with a couple of singles to start the innings. Fellow teammate Chris Wilhelm roped a single to bring home Vonderschmidt and gave the Blue Jays the lead. Lynch and senior Kyle Neverman followed suit with two more singles. Junior Mike Denlinger launched a single into deep right center and plated two runs for the Jays.

The Blue Jays went into the fourth up five runs and provided a cushion for freshman Carter Burns’ debut outing on the hill. Following Burns, fellow freshman Colin Friedman made his debut for the Blue Jays and pitched three strong innings. Both freshmen threw well in their collegiate debuts and will each play a key role for the pitching staff moving forward.

Messiah tacked on two more runs and the Blue Jays notched another to reach a final score of 7-3. Senior catcher Ryan Zakszeski and Lynch each tallied three hits in the game while junior Mike Denlinger went 2-3 with two RBIs.

The Blue Jays returned to the diamond on Sunday against Oneonta St. for a double header. The weather was freezing and blustery but faled to halt the Blue Jays’ route to sweeping both games.

Senior Jared Frydman was on the mound for the Blue Jays in the first game and looked strong in his first career start. Frydman went three innings, struck out three batters and yielded just one hit.

“It was great to get the first start under my belt,” said the Oyster Bay native. “I was happy to put my team in a position to win the game.”

The bats were quiet for the Jays in the early innings, posting only one hit through the first five innings, but were able to string some hits together in the sixth. The Blue Jays had five hits in the sixth; including a double from sophomore transfer Colin McCarthy. Denlinger and freshman Kyle Metzger each recorded a RBI in the inning.

After a series of unearned runs, the Blue Jays were down 8-6 heading into the bottom half of the inning and time was running out to manufacture some runs. With two outs and two runners on base, McCarthy came to the plate in his first big situation in a Blue Jay uniform. McCarthy laced a single up the middle to drive in two runs and tie the game at eight.

Junior Ed Bryner held Oneonta St. to a scoreless top of the ninth and put the Jays in good position going into the bottom half of the inning.

With one out in the ninth, junior Jon Hettleman got things started with a single up the middle. Hettleman advanced to second on a wild pitch and then senior Matt Ricci came into pinch run for him.

Freshman Kyle Metzger stepped to the plate with a runner on second and one out in the ninth. Metzger laced a single down the left field line and Ricci came around to score. Metzger’s walk-off hit gave the Blue Jays the victory in the ninth and took the first game from Oneonta St.

In the second game, sophomore Jake Enterlin got to start for his first collegiate appearance. Enterlin pitched three strong innings and shut the Red Dragons down and held them scoreless.

The Blue Jays got on the board with an RBI from Weiner. Weiner was later brought home by freshman Raul Shah, who recorded his first career RBI.

The Blue Jays tacked on two more runs with Weiner’s two RBI single in the fifth.

Following Enterlin, fellow classmate Thomas Solomon made his collegiate debut and threw three scoreless innings.

Due to darkness, the umpires called the game after six innings and the Blue Jays took the second game 4-0.

The Blue Jays are off to a 3-0 start and will look to carry this momentum going forward in their remaining games before the Florida spring training trip.

“It was really good to get out to a good start offensively for our young pitchers so they could have confidence on the mound" added senior first baseman Jeff Lynch.  "Those same pitchers came out and pitched great, which is what we will need to fulfill our goal of returning to the college World Series.”