After a long winter, time to play ball

Although the weather outside may not yet feel like it, it's March -- and that means it's time for baseball.

The Penn baseball team comes into the year after a disastrous 10-27 finish last season with a new crop of freshmen, a plethora of senior leaders and high hopes.

"We expect to win our half of the Ivy League and hopefully win the Ivy League championship," Penn senior captain and shortstop Evan Sobel said.

"Everybody has the attitude that we're going to win every game, and everyone has a positive attitude, and everybody just expects to win."

But high hopes can quickly be dashed in a tough Ivy League schedule.

"We're playing in a very strong conference," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "Teams that can beat teams at the national level."

At the end of the season, Seddon will step down after 34 years at Penn's helm.

"It doesn't really change anything," the veteran coach said. "I don't tend to think about the past or daydream, I just tend to think about this team and getting ready to play the next game."

Penn will not only have to regroup after last year's debacle, but will have to do so with an infield that has been decimated by graduation. The Quakers lost their starters at first and second bases as well as standout third baseman Mike Goldblatt.

The inexperience in the infield, however, is the exception -- not the rule. On a whole, the team returns many players from last year.

"We have more experience, we have a lot of seniors; fortunately for the new guy next year he's got a lot of freshmen behind him," Seddon said.

Penn returns unanimous all-Ivy selection Nate Moffie in center field. Moffie, who led the team last year with a .362 average and eight home runs, will anchor a strong and experienced core of outfielders.

In right field, Penn will start fifth-year senior Bryan Graves and in left, another senior, Alex Blagojevich. Seddon and his staff also recruited a number of freshman outfielders. Although they will sit behind the seniors this year, their athletic ability will prove to be important in the future.

The Quakers also feature seniors at shortstop, with Sobel, and at catcher with Matt Horn.

"The main reason why we're gonna have success this year is because of our senior leadership," Sobel said.

Penn also returns three starting pitchers from last year's squad -- Josh Appell, Bill Kirk, and Brian Cirri.

Along with them will be one of three freshmen, Andy Console, Nick Francona -- son of World Series-winning manager Terry Francona -- and Steven Schwartz.

At closer, Penn has Brian Winings, who was drafted 1,420th by the Indians in this year's draft.

"The pitching is certainly stronger, particularly the starters," Seddon said. "We have a player who was drafted last year, Brian Winings, so hopefully we can get him to close cause I think he will shut people down given the opportunity."

To give him the opportunity, the team has to hit.

"We don't have a lot of power," Seddon said. "You're not gonna see guys hit the ball out a lot. We're gonna have to manufacture runs, do a lot of running, a lot of hit-and-running, we want to be a team that scores on two instead of three hits."

Penn's chief concern is a young infield, where first, second and third base starting spots are still up in the air. The backup catching spot, which is important because of the number of doubleheaders the team plays, is also tenuous.

Penn has a tough road ahead of them. Winning their division would mean dethroning perennial champion Princeton, who has won every title since 1998.

The Quakers open with a tough road trip to Fresno, Calif., which should help the team get ready for what promises to be an arduous Ivy League season.

"It's a short season; Penn's calendar is very short in the spring," Seddon explained. "It's hot, games are concentrated, so you have to get on a roll."

The team is just ready to get out. The cold weather at Penn has already delayed their season long enough and limited the squad to practicing inside.

"We're dying to get out, we can't wait to go, we need to play," Seddon said. "Even though we haven't been on grass, and everybody else has played 15 games, we need to play regardless; we need to get out."

They will, on Saturday, as they travel to much warmer California to open their season and take on Southern Utah.

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