Thunderbirds riding high
Ryan Garner
MCC Baseball dismantled the Utah Utes in a four game series, after an eight game winning streak to open their season.
Judging by the crowd size, fewer than 30 were present, it’s obvious that watching baseball is akin to watching paint dry, except for the minor fact that MCC’s paint is undefeated.
The team entered the series with high hopes of continuing their eight-game streak. “I feel like we have a serious chance at the championship if we just play the game,” said third basemen and team NJCAA Team All-American, Michael Wesolowski.
MCC started the series off with a 5-0 shutout which set the tone from then on. The T-Birds kept the Utes to fewer than five runs during the rest of the series; 14-3 and 12-1 until finally finishing them off with one last shutout, 10-0.
By the time the T-Birds had finished the two-day quadruple header, the team’s grand total of runs; for and against, was a face melting 41-4.
Just a walk in the park, literally, as Chaz Contreras, sophomore infielder, knocked in the team’s first homerun of the season. “I didn’t think it was gonna make it, cause I don’t usually hit homers. I told myself not to look,” said Contreras. The deep left field homer also brought in two runs with it, more than solidifying the T-birds fourth and final win in the series.
Michael Desabrais, sophomore pitcher, also surprised his team when he scored his first double in college baseball. A double which could have easily been a triple had he not tripped rounding a base: “I was coming around second, and decided I wanted to pull a superman. It was my first at bat. I don’t hit, and I don’t run bases… I’m a pitcher.”
“The ‘double and a half’ was easily the highlight of the (fourth) game,” Pitching Coach, Tom Novak, said jokingly. Novak, also has a deep talent pool to draw from in the bullpen as well, with 15 pitchers currently on the active roster.
Despite Desabrais’ trip, which had the crowd chuckling for a few minutes, the team displayed excellent mechanics, as is the standard with Coach Cirelli. “He instills a family ethic in our team, and that’s where we draw our camaraderie from,” said Wesolowski, after he had finished running their mandatory post game wind sprints.
Cirelli also dispelled concerns over the relatively lax early season schedule, “We are just getting the work in. It’s good to open up and get everyone their at bats.”
The pressure is now mounting as the team enters into the heart of their schedule; conference play. “We are confident and we never think loss, but we are preparing for our game against Central,” said Contreras.
