By John Niswander
Elm Staff Writer
Washington College baseball and softball have enjoyed strong starts to their spring seasons, and are preparing for conference play as our calendars turn to April. Currently, baseball has a record of 9-3, and 0-2 in Centennial Conference play. Senior captain and pitcher, Billy Griffin, leads the Shoremen in starts on the season with five. Griffin has compiled a record of 3-1, and an ERA of 2.30 in his five appearances on the season.
“For us, our biggest obstacle in non-conference play has been connecting all of the pieces together. It seems like we have struggled to play solid baseball for all nine innings in all aspects of the game. We have shown flashes of how we should be playing with our team’s talent level, but it is just a matter of stringing it all together,” Griffin said.
WC baseball narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Centennial Conference tournament for the last two years, and hope to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
“The key for us down the stretch of conference ball will be staying healthy. We play a lot of games, and guys’ bodies can wear down by the end of the long season. If we can take care of our bodies appropriately and rest when we can, we should be golden,” Griffin said.
WC softball is aiming to make it back to the Centennial Conference Championship game after last season which saw the team come up just short of capturing the crown. At the time of this issue printing, softball has a record of 14-12, and 4-2 in Centennial Conference play.
Sophomore Maddie Bennett leads the team currently in total at bats with 78, home runs with two, doubles with 10, runs batted in with 16, and is second on the team in hits with 25. On the mound, Bennett has appeared in 14 games for the Shorewomen, has an ERA of 3.48, and has pitched three complete games.
“The team has a positive attitude, and we are really supportive of each other,” Bennett said. “There are a lot of strong, versatile, hitters on our roster, as well as having four talented pitchers.”
The Shorewomen are hoping to finish out the season strong, and to make it back to the title game.
“We want to win both of our conference games every day we have a double header. That requires focusing on the small parts of the game, instead of worrying about the big picture goals,” Bennett said.