Posted: Mar 14, 2014
I trust that 2014 is off to a great start for you. With our season gearing up and getting ready for "Alumni Weekend" in April, I want to give you an update of how our fall season concluded and about our schedule this spring.
Recap of Last Season
The Roanoke College baseball program ended the 2013 campaign with a number of school-record milestones. We finished the season with a school-record 18 wins. We also tallied a program-best 10 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victories. In our last 11 conference games, we played to an 8-3 record. Our conference success allowed us to compete in the ODAC Tournament for the first time since 2004. With all of our success in 2013, we are looking forward to what we can accomplish in the 2014 year.
Baseball Alumni Game this Fall
It was truly a great experience getting a chance to meet and talk with all the alumni who made it out this past September for the event. It was also special for me to feel the alums' excitement for the next chapter of RC Baseball as you guys were the players who laid the ground work in rebuilding the program since it was reinstated back in 2002. I hope we continue to make this an annual event and keep adding to the number of participants each year.
It was the first time in program-history that the alumni could play against each other in the Maroon-White game as we had nearly 40 alums come back for the event. It was a hard-fought contest as both teams showcased their skills to the fans in attendance. The Maroon Team defeated the White team, 11-10 in a seven-inning contest. Players got to keep the hats courtesy of the Maroon Club .
A special thanks goes out to Dave Sampson for announcing the event, former coaches Larry Wood and Larry Long for coming back to coach, and for Asst. AD of External Relations Brad Moore who was the mastermind behind the event who made it all possible.
About our Returners
Four of our top seven batters are retuning this year. Senior Cam Cassady returns to the squad this year, having batted .303 in 38 games last year, all of which he started. He had the second highest batting average for our team in 2013. He scored 20 runs with 16 runs batted in. Cassady also ranked second on the team in total hits with 43, and third in doubles with six. Sophomore Clark Crutchfield also returns in 2014. He had a batting average of .301 last year. In 31 games, he tallied 34 hits which earned nine runs and 13 RBIs.
Seniors Bradley Mattox and Jacob Clifton are also returning position players. Mattox played and started in all 39 games we had, posting a batting average of .273. He also led the team in stolen bases, swiping 17 along the way. Mattox had 30 hits, the second highest on the team, along with 16 RBIs. Clifton finished the season with a batting average of .262, tallying 20 hits and 14 RBI. He hit three home runs, including a 10th inning walk-off in a win over Lynchburg on April 18th.
Coming back on the mound for us in 2013 is All-ODAC Second Team selection, Austin Gregory. Gregory, a junior this year, finished 2013 with 21 appearances and a record of 3-1. He won two of the games during our 6-1 stretch to close the regular season. In the final week of the season last year, he was named ODAC Pitcher of the Week. He tallied 39 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.96 at the end of 2013.
Jacob McMillan will also be pitching for us again this year. Jacob had an ERA of 3.20 in 2013, with 45 innings pitched on the mound. He struck out 29 batters over the course of play. Cameron Holshouser, our strikeout leader from last year will be pitching again as well. He struck out 50 batters with an ERA of 4.50.
About our Schedule
We open our season on Saturday, February 8th as we travel to face Methodist University in a double header. Our home opener will take place on Wednesday, February 12th as we play host to Southern Virginia University. Our ODAC season begins on March 1st, as we travel to play against Shenandoah University. Shenandoah finished the 2013 season with a record of 27-12, 13-7 in ODAC play. In 2013, we handed Bridgewater it's only ODAC loss of the season, and will get to play them on the road this year, on April 12th. Our schedule is full of Division III opponents and will be one of the toughest schedules in the South Region.
Alumni Weekend
During Alumni Weekend, we will be out of town as we play at Bridgewater College at 12 PM in an ODAC doubleheader. For those that are Maroon Club members and plan to come to Salem for the weekend, the Maroon Club reception will be held during the men's lacrosse game from 2-5 PM.
The reception is for Maroon Club members only so if you are interested in joining, please contact Brad Moore at (540) 375-2344 or by email at moore@roanoke.edu. If you would like to pay online to become a member, click HERE. For more information about the Maroon Club, please visit our website by clicking HERE. Your gift can go to support the baseball program!
Attention Maroon Club members!
For our alumni who are Maroon Club members, be on the lookout for the Maroon Club newsletter which will be coming out in early March. It will highlight the winter season along with each of our nine spring sports and talk about the events coming up, including the Maroon Club golf outing April 11 at Roanoke Country Club. For more information about the golf outing, please click HERE.
2004 ODAC Tournament Team Reunion!
We would like to set a date to recognize the baseball alumni in the programs' first ODAC Tournament appearance on Saturday, April 5 at Kiwanis Field before our doubleheader vs. Virginia Wesleyan. For those who can make it back, please contact Brad Moore at (540) 375-2344 or at moore@roanoke.edu by March 28.
Thank You
I want to conclude by saying THANK YOU to our supporters of the Maroon Club to the baseball program. The equipment we received, the spring break trip, the team meals on the road, and the new locker room could not be possible without the help of our parents, alumni and friends of the program. We also fundraised nearly $8,000 through a letter writing campaign that will tremendously help our program and future needs moving forward. Our guys now enjoy brand new wardrobe lockers, stools, windows, shoe racks, personalized name plates, and team photos that truly make our locker room one of the best, if not the best baseball locker room in the conference. Please visit our Facebook page for updated photos.
Our conference is growing in success in men's baseball. It is evident with the school-record in overall and conference wins, the late surge we had en route to the programs' second ODAC Tournament appearance and the returners we have coming back eager, we have the program on the rise! While we have enjoyed recent success, other teams are getting better and we want to continue our ascent to the top of our league. We need your support to continue our rise as one of the top baseball programs in the ODAC!
Thank you for your continued support of the Roanoke College Baseball program!
