STEUBENVILLE – It was an afternoon of celebration for the
Franciscan University Barons baseball team as they hosted Ohio
State Newark Wednesday afternoon for their Senior Night. The
Barons won the single game 11-5, wrapping up the season with an
8-26 overall standing and 3-17 within the Allegheny Mountain
Collegiate Conference.
The Barons immediately stormed the Titans in the first inning
with five runs. Second baseman Jacob Machado started at bat
with a single and a stolen base. Ryan Marrow followed to
first with an error by Titan pitcher Kevin Shields. Anthony Pontarelli doubled to bring home Machado and Ryan Marrow, followed
by singles batted in by Kevin Marrow and Matt Liedel to complete
the inning.
“We definitely started out strong with our five runs in
the first inning” noted senior Baron Kevin Marrow.
“It gave us so much momentum to stay strong and
confident. Everything just clicked and each of us did our
part at bat and on defense. It was a really good game to end
our season with.”
The Barons went on a three-inning hiatus from runs, while
pitcher Dan Brink blanked the Titans until the fifth inning when
Titan second baseman Mike Kaufman came home on a single by Dalton
Adkins. The fifth inning proved fruitful for the Barons as
well with Liedel coming home on a passed ball and Tom Costello
following from Matthew Reinkemeyer being hit by a pitch.
“Dan Brink pitched a very strong game inning by inning,
keeping them off balance with his pitch selection” said Baron
head coach Dr. Robert Marrow. “We continued to stay
focused at bat and slowly we accumulated our runs.”
The sixth, seventh and eighth innings brought more of those runs
for the Barons by Pontarelli, Costello, Ryan Marrow and Andrew Radlicz. Most notably, Pontarelli finished the night 2-5 and
a pair of RBIs, while Pomeisl contributed three RBI and batted
2-2. Kevin Marrow also added to the success of the win with
two RBI and going 3-5 on the night.
This win marked not only the end of the season, but the end of
an era for some of the players. Pitcher and first baseman
Kevin Marrow has played for Franciscan University all four years he
was a student:
“I was here when we were not yet an NCAA Division III
school, and I have seen the baseball program grow in leaps and
bounds in talent and in our training. This season has really
shown the most talent I've seen since I started four years
ago. And it's going to continue – we will see the
strength and competition grow in the coming years as the freshmen
classes display more and more talent. This is a huge aspect
to building our team.”
Coach Marrow added to these sentiments by commenting on the
growth and improvement of the season. “One of our goals
this season was to improve in every area of the game. And we
did,” Coach Marrow said, “by improving our team E.R.A.,
batting average and fielding percentage. We moved up in the
standings in the AMCC and consistently played well – if not
winning games, putting pressure on our opponents.”
The Baron seniors honored were Kevin Marrow, designated hitter
Dustin Pagano, pitcher Doug Arlitt, first baseman and catcher Matt
Liedel and right fielder Andrew Danaher. Best of luck to them
all!
