Thunderbird baseball getting used to success
Matt Wilhalme
Five more wins. That’s what baseball coach Tony Cirelli thinks his team should have but they don’t.”We’ve blown four or five conference game leads in the ninth,” Cirelli said.
With that being said, MCC is currently ranked second in their conference tied with Paradise Valley Community College and only one game behind Scottsdale Community College, who is first.
The team has held together this season, and under the starting pitching of Coltin White, 7-2, the Thunderbirds have the third winningest pitcher in the division.
“Ryan Guy has been holding up really good for us lately pitching well. He’s got a good change-up and were going to be going to him down the stretch to close games,” Cirelli said.
Leading the team, and nearly the entire conference, in hitting Jeff Harkensee has a batting average of .423 with 39 RBIs, which places him second in the league for RBIs.
The team does not have a significant amount of power hitters. However, they are able to get on base and with Harkensee providing more than 39 RBI’s this season already, scoring has not been a problem, Sports Information Director Todd Bolser said.
“I have just been patient staying within myself not trying to do too much,” said Harkensee describing his success with the bat this season.
“He just doesn’t leave players on base. I don’t think he has left a runner on third all season. With two outs he’s something like 8-8 in that situation,” Cirelli said.
Coming up with big hits and a solid pitching rotation places MCC in a good position for the postseason, but they still have 17 games left in the season and anything can happen with that many games left.
Another player turning in good performances for MCC is Jerry Pajak.
Injured early in the season, Pajak has been playing catcher for the Thunderbirds, but has recently emerged as an excellent starting pitcher, Cirelli said.
Pajak has pitched two complete games earning wins and had a good outing against Yavapai, who have a 34-6 record, where he left the game after seven innings with a score of 1-1.
“Frank Abbl has also taken a share of the pitching and been a real horse for us this year,” Bolser said.
Freshman Brian Walsh started the season as a quiet player who was not getting any playing time but after being given the chance to play has proven himself worthy of starting for the Thunderbirds.
“He wasn’t playing at first then boom base hit, play him again, boom three base hits, so I guess now we have to start him,” Cirelli said.
“Other players may run faster and throw better but he gets good at bats against good pitchers and he’s a gamer,” Cirelli said.
The team is practicing hard everyday and is confident that as long as they play hard, good things are going to happen for the team.
They just need to worry about what they do and not anybody else and they will finish the season strong, Harkensee said.
It’s nice being in a situation where the team can come out and take care of business though, Cirelli added.
MCC will face conference opponents Glendale Community College and Phoenix College at home on April 8 and 10.
