By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
The Springfield College baseball team kicked off the 2024 season the way they wanted, defeating Brandeis by a final score of 7-4 at home on Archie Allen Field Friday afternoon.
As the Pride set out on what they hope will be a bounce-back season, getting in the win column right out of the gate provided the team with a jolt of confidence.
“It feels great, and we came out ready to play,” head coach Mark Simeone said. “We played hard, picked each other up. A lot of guys did some really solid things.”
One player who left an undeniable mark on the game was starting pitcher Connor Caverly. Tabbed as the opening day starter, Caverly did not disappoint, tossing five innings of one-hit ball with no earned runs to his name.
Simeone believes Caverly’s ability to stay ahead of hitters and fill the strike zone were the keys to his strong outing.
“Getting ahead early [in counts],” Simeone said. “[Throwing] first pitch strikes, quality strikes. They were swinging the bat. They’re an aggressive team offensively, but Caverly had really good command and was attacking the hitters. When you can pitch ahead in the count, you can use your secondary stuff.”
Springfield’s offense produced in spurts, with a pair of three-run innings. The first came in the fourth to give the team a 4-0 lead. However, when the Pride’s bats were most needed in the bottom of the seventh frame with the game knotted up at 4-4, they came through in a similar fashion.
Catcher Ryan Sorgi started the inning off with a solo home run to give Springfield a one-run lead. The Pride then played a little small ball, with consecutive hits by designated hitter Cole Zalegowski, first baseman Andrew Sweet and second baseman Jack Dunaisky to bring in another run. A wild pitch shortly thereafter brought Sweet home, giving Springfield a huge lift as the game entered the final two innings.
This string of hits that allowed the Pride to pull away left Simeone impressed with his team’s offensive approach.
“We came out [and the] leadoff hitter [Sorgi] hit a home run,” Simeone said. “And we had three good at bats after that. The guys that were up that inning really competed well. We took the momentum immediately back.”
However, to preserve that momentum the Pride needed a strong finishing performance from their bullpen, which let up three runs combined in the sixth and seventh innings. Thankfully for Springfield, they got just that from reliever Ryan Delaney.
Delaney, a first-year, received credit for the win on the heels of a shutdown performance where he recorded the game’s final seven outs, three of which were strikeouts, and didn’t allow a run. Simeone gave credit to Delaney for how he pitched in a stressful spot in his collegiate debut.
“How about the freshman picking up the win,” Simeone said. “Delaney, in some high leverage situations, really pitched well and competed very well.”
While the bullpen was inconsistent earlier on in the contest, Simeone believes the fact that his team’s pitchers minimized the damage against them shouldn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.
“I think we weren’t perfect in the bullpen, but we had guys that got in there and picked up other guys,” Simeone said.
The Pride will look to build on their successful start to the season on Saturday, with a doubleheader at home against Western New England set to begin at 11:30 a.m.