c/o Ava Nederlander, Photo Editor

The University’s baseball team continued their season last weekend with a home-and-home against the Hamilton Continentals, winning only the second half of their Saturday doubleheader to fall to 2–4 on the year. 

The Cardinals started strong in their matinee performance, as Ryan Molinari ’22, Jack Nally ’24, and Adam Geibel ’22 began the day with three straight hits off Continentals pitcher Gavin Schaefer-Hood to get out to an early 2–0 lead in the bottom of the first. In the following half inning, however, Hamilton reciprocated with three hits of their own to tie the game, their scoring in part thanks in part to a balk from Wesleyan starter Pat Clare ’19. Clare finished the day with eight earned runs over 4.1 innings, and although he was relieved by scoreless outings from Everett Lee ’22 and Chris Coll ’22, Wesleyan could not overcome the deficit, losing 8–5.

Doubleheaders, however, only allow for about an hour between games to dwell on defeat. The spectators who remained on Foss Hill were treated to a terrific game to close the day, as Wesleyan won a 4–3 thriller. The Cardinals again jumped out to an early lead, as Nally, who remains Wesleyan’s hottest hitter, scored from first on a run batted in (RBI) single from Geibel en route to an early 2–0 lead. The offense was bolstered by a nine-strikeout performance from Coleton Reitan ’22, who earned the win through 5.0 innings of work. 

The Cardinals evidently have a flair for the dramatic, defending their lead against the spectre of late game heroics from Hamilton. Carrying a 4–3 lead into the final inning, pitcher Scott Shield ‘22 allowed a two-out double. He was relieved by Dylan Judd ’22, who was tasked with getting the final out of the game. He began by allowing a walk to the afternoon’s winning pitcher, Schaefer-Hood. Hamilton proceeded to move both runners into scoring position on stolen bases, meaning any contact had the potential to surrender Wesleyan’s lead. The Argus spoke to catcher Ricky Finkel ’23 about his mindset regarding the double steal as a genuine concern versus a distraction to draw an errant throw.

“In that spot, we’re focused on getting the batter out, the runner stealing second doesn’t change the scenario that much because batter is the most important,” Finkel said. “As a catcher at the end of the game like that my mindset is to make sure we’re all on the same page, and that the defense is set up.”

Finkel’s approach paid off, and Judd struck out Hamilton infielder Jackson Johns to leave the Continentals stranded, finishing off a nail-biting win. 

Wesleyan’s underclassmen have played starring roles in many of the Cardinals games this year. As mentioned previously, Nally has had a strong start to the season, batting .409/.458/.591 in 24 plate appearances. For Wesleyan’s first-years and sophomores, last year’s layoff means that many are beginning their first collegiate action. Finkel described the adjustment period from high school to college ball.

“Last year’s break definitely impacted the transition, while it did give us an extra year to adjust to the speed of the game in practices and scrimmages, it was hard not facing other teams or playing meaningful games really since high school.”

The prospect of no live pitching posed challenges for Wesleyan’s hitters over the pandemic year. However, some Cardinal pitchers were able to refine other parts of their game. Adam Bowler ’23, who started Sunday’s game in Clinton, noted this when speaking to The Argus.

“It was certainly a great learning experience for everyone on the staff,” Bowler said. “Everyone is extremely supportive of each other so all the pitchers are always working together to achieve small, individual goals as well as more importantly helping the team win as much as possible. I would say the year off gave us even more time to learn the small details of the game and our Coach does a great job of teaching us those things that we otherwise wouldn’t notice.”

The Cardinals once again jumped out to an early lead on Sunday, scoring in the top of the first and second innings on a bases-loaded walk from Kyle Sylvester and RBI single from Nally, respectively. Bowler ended his day without a decision, leaving in a tie game after four innings of work. Freshman Dylan Jann took the loss in relief, giving up two runs over two innings to close the weekend’s series on a down note.

The path towards individual and team edification continues as Wesleyan takes on Middlebury in a Saturday doubleheader.

Andrew Simard can be reached at asimard@wesleyan.edu