April 1 is commonly known as April Fool’s Day, and the Beacons baseball team knows that all too well. The team feels like the joke has been on them in April, losing consecutive games on the first two days of the month to Salem State and Bridgewater State.
It has been said that the true measure of a team is how they respond to adversity. If that is the case, then now is the time to judge the Beacons as they look to rebound from consecutive mid-week blowout losses. The Beacons aren’t fooling themselves; after losing 15-3 and 19-4, they know that they are up against that dreaded adversity.
The pitching derailed the Beacons April 1, as the Salem State Vikings exploded for 25 hits off of four Beacon pitchers. The defense played well, committing no errors on a brand-new all-turf field on the Salem State campus. However, every ball hit seemed to find a gap or power alley, and the Beacons were unable to stop the bleeding.
There were a couple positives in the game, despite such a bleak outcome. Freshman Dave Green, Jr., got his first collegiate hit in his first at-bat, while centerfielder Jake Chastain collected three hits in a losing effort. The Beacons’ offense couldn’t come up with a big hit in any one inning, leaving 15 runners on base.
April 2 was no kinder to the Beacons, as they lost 19-4 to host Bridgewater State Bears. Again, the pitching wasn’t consistent enough for the Beacons. Left-handed reliever Mark Grant did a nice job, tossing two and a third innings while surrendering only 1 run. The feat was impressive, considering he pitched on consecutive days, and also because the Bears scored 18 runs with their first 20 outs.
“I knew that an important thing was throwing strikes, and getting into the driver’s seat with the count,” the freshman reliever said. “Coming out of the bullpen, my focus was on getting ahead of the hitters.”
Also, Tim Fontaine and Eric Salvador, the team’s 3-4 hitters, each went 3-4 on the afternoon, providing what little offense the Beacons could muster. The tandem has been very effective in 2008 for the Beacons. While both are catchers, neither has complained about time behind the dish, as they usually alternate between playing the field and seeing time as the designated hitter.
The pitching just couldn’t find the zone, and when they did, they were hit very hard. As a team, the Beacons walked 11 hitters and allowed 16 hits. The defense didn’t do the squad any favors, as they committed three costly errors, leading to big innings for the Bears.