After coming off of a losing season in OAC play with a record of 8-10, the Cardinal baseball team prepares to make improvements in 2013.
Their season begins on Feb. 18 with a doubleheader against Ohio Christian University in Chillicothe.
The Cardinals started off the 2012 season with a record of 11-4 after their annual spring break trip to Fort Myers, Fla. in which they played nine games in eight days. After the trip, the team struggled, failing to win back-to-back conference games for almost a month and at one point losing seven in a row.
However, the Cardinals rallied at the end of the year, winning six of their last seven games to finish at 22-17 overall and 8-10 OAC.
The 2012 season marked the fourth time in head coach George Powell’s 15-year tenure that the Cardinals did not make the OAC tournament.
This year the Cardinals will be lead by preseason All-American catcher, senior Wes Meadows, who looks to help the team in any way possible.
“It means a lot to me to be named preseason All-American,” Meadows said. “It’s an honor that I’ve wanted to receive since the start of my career here. That being said, I’d rather be an All-American at the end of the season.”
Although Meadows had an offseason surgery last year, it did not hinder him as he led the Cardinals in almost every statistical category and was named first team All-OAC and All-Mideast Region for last season.
According to Meadows, his play last season and the past two summers in some of the country’s top summer leagues has drawn the attention of Major League Baseball scouts.
“I have some statistical goals for the season, but the major goal I have is to have a season worthy of a draft pick,” Meadows said. “Come June, I want to know I did everything I could to make my dream a reality.”
The sophomore class returning to the Cardinals made up seven of the nine starting spots on last year’s opening day lineup. Headlining the class are Billy Harkenrider, Sean Kettering, Jim Waterwash and Zach Thompson.
“We gained a lot of valuable experience last year which has most certainly contributed to where we are now,” Waterwash said. “This will be our second go at the OAC and we feel very prepared.”
The pitching staff for Otterbein will be led by the senior trio of David Cydrus, Dominic Porretta and Matt Frey. Last season Cydrus was named All-OAC for the second year in a row, the lefty Porretta was named Academic All-OAC, and Frey led the team in game appearances.
“The performance of the pitching staff has been consistently solid the past few years, and that is something that has come to be expected of us,” Porretta said. “We have quite a bit of experience on this year’s staff and that will carry some weight.”
Offensively, the Cardinals will be led again this year by Meadows, Thomas Linder, Harkenrider and Scott Staarmann, all of whom batted over .300 last year.
The team has been watching videos of MLB players such as Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez, who have major league mechanics and offensive skill sets.
“We are making some changes in our hitting philosophy while keeping some of the same principles from years past and we are very excited about it,” Waterwash said.
The Cardinals will be looking to keep pace in a challenging OAC this year, which includes back-to-back national champions, the Marietta College Pioneers. Marietta enters 2013 ranked as the number three team in the country.
However, Porretta said the Cardinals may prove to be the best team in the league. “The key will be how we come together as a team each and every game when it is time for the first pitch. But there is no doubt in my mind that we can beat any team on any given day,” he said.
The Cardinals will host their first games at Otterbein’s Fishbaugh Field on March 2 with a doubleheader against Ohio Christian.
