| PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT TEAM
Centenary College Gents
The Summit League |
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The fourth seeded Centenary Gents were down
9-0 to top seeded Oral Roberts in the final game of the 2007
Mid-Continent Conference Baseball Championship. As the Eagles
were preparing to claim their 10th straight league Mid-Con
championship, an hour and half rain delay temporarily suspended
the inevitable conclusion.  ORU
had the Gents’ number all season, outscoring them 57-8
their previous five matchups which included a humbling 20-0
pasting in the first game of the tournament. Had Disney writers
been able to pen the game’s finale, the boys from Shreveport
would have launched into a fervent rally and claimed the conference
crown (perhaps as an injured star player listened from his
hospital bed to the play by play from an old AM radio with
a wire hanger and piece of aluminum foil for an antenna…);
however that wasn’t the case. The Gents’ offense
was retired after plating only a single run and ORU continued
on to the NCAA Regionals while Centenary’s season came
to an end.
Despite the loss that day, spirits remained
high. Instead of throwing in the towel and sulking in the
dugout, the Centenary Gents took the opportunity to appreciate
how far they had come. Their 28 wins (28-31 overall) were
the most since 1991 and included victories over fellow rising
programs such as Penn State, Western Illinois and Kansas State.
Additionally the Gents went toe-to-toe with perennial powerhouses
Arkansas and LSU, losing a pair of games to the hardball titans
by a combined three runs. While the rain fell down in that
last game, a pair of Centenary pitchers, Johnny Noland and
Peter Stark, seized the opportunity for an impromptu game
of slip and slide and hurled themselves across the infield,
soaking themselves for the amusement of their teammates and
themselves. While the Gentlemen went home the Mid-Con Tournament
bridesmaid, they also returned to Louisiana with a sense of
accomplishment, higher goals and optimism for the next season.
As Centenary readies for their first season
in the new Summit League, the team prepares with confidence.
The Gents were recently picked third (of eight) in the first
Summit League coaches’ preseason poll and return a roster
thick with veteran talent. The strongest aspect of the Centenary
roster is its pitching staff which returns two of four starters
from last season in seniors Jeremy Sheehan and the before
mentioned Noland. Sheehan tied for the team lead in wins last
season, going 8-5 with three complete games. The righty amassed
88.1 innings, walked only 19 batters and finished with a 4.59
ERA.  Noland,
a southpaw, won a pair of games with a 5.82 ERA, complied
72.2 innings in 20 appearances and started a dozen games.
Another senior who will be back to help the Gents continue
their winning ways is Aaron Bronson. Bronson, who tossed a
no-hitter for the Green River Community College Gators as
a sophomore, made 24 appearances on the mound last season,
earning fives saves, three wins and a 4.68 ERA over 32.2 innings.
However the most impressive arm last season belonged to a
freshman, homegrown talent Dakota Robinson.
Robison impressed his first year of collegiate
baseball, winning two games and saving four more out of the
bullpen. He led the Gents in appearances, seeing action in
30 games, and tossed a total of 57.0 innings. His strikeout
to walk ratio was awe-inspiring, fanning 37 with only seven
walks. His efforts were rewarded with second team all-conference
designation and was named the Mid-Con Pitcher of the Week
on May 21 and was also named to the Ping!Baseball All Freshman
Team. While Robinson’s bread and butter pitch last year
was his 90’s fastball which he threw with filthy accuracy,
he spent the summer developing his change up which should
make him even more effective in his first season as the Friday
starter.
Yet Robinson shouldn’t be the only
young Gentleman earning accolades this season. Both Robinson
and Head Coach Ed McCann are energized about a pair of young
freshman pitchers who could have the same out of the gate
success Robinson had last season. Justin Kraft, from Yakima,
Washington and Boone Whiting from Oakdale, California have
impressed in the fall and preseason and should help continue
to close the gap between the Gents and the top of the league.
Kraft is slated to be the number three starter and Whiting
went 10-0 in high school with a 0.74 ERA his senior season.
Offensively the Gents are nearly equally
as solid with a stable foundation of returning players to
help Coach McCann compete for his first conference title.
Senior third baseman Teddy Saenz was named second team all-conference
last season in his first year with the Gents. Saenz batted
.309 with 18 extra base hits and also added 10 stolen bases
after making the transition from West Valley Junior College
in California.  Fellow
co-captain and California transplant Alex Maldonado will be
back behind the plate for the Gents and will be looking to
regain his 2006 stroke in which he batted .318. Last season
his average slipped to .272, but he did however earn a national
rank in sacrifice hits per game with 12 in 57 contests to
place 70th in the country while providing solid defense and
leadership being the dish. Another senior, infielder Cameron
Penny led Centenary in batting last season, hitting .312 with
10 doubles and a triple. Penny also swiped 12 bases and was
one of the hardest batters to strike out in the country, fanning
only once every 14.5 at-bats to place 34th in the nation.
He was named to the 2007 All-Louisiana College Baseball Team
second team for his effort. The versatile senior outfielder
Calvin Sanchez had the third best batting average (.302) on
the Gents last season. A perfect fit in Coach McCann’s
base-to-base offense, Sanchez has the ability to steal a base
(12) or move a runner (35th in the nation in sacrifice hits
per game at 0.25).
Centenary’s home of Shehee Stadium
is spacious and doesn’t allow many balls to get over
the fence. In fact, last year the Gents only hit 12 homeruns
and eight of them were by seniors no longer with the team.
This season three junior college transfers have joined the
Gents and have warning track plus power that could have them
trotting around the bases. Outfielders Steele Lewis and Joey
Fandel, along with first baseman/DH Ryan Bersen could provide
pop to an talented offense which McCann declares, “May
be the best I have had in along time.” Additionally,
the freaky fast and athletic Jomar Tabor, a transfer from
Kellogg Community College, gives McCann another outfielder
who can cover ground defensively in the vast Shehee outfield
while also contributing at the plate (batted .355 for the
Bruins and was named all-conference as a leadoff hitter).
The Gents will begin the season on Friday,
Feb. 22, hosting the Missouri Valley Conference’s Northern
Iowa Panthers in Shehee Stadium at 6 p.m.
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