This home plate was used at Mud Hollow Field during the tenure of Head Baseball Coach Tom Flynn (2001-2006).  Flynn compiled 101 victories while coaching the Little Giants, ranking him second in career wins for a Wabash baseball coach.  Flynn won his final game at Mud Hollow in dramatic fashion by defeating Denison University 5-4 in the bottom of the 7^th inning on April 23^rd, 2006.

Posted by Cory Stevens at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday and Sunday the Little Giants opened up Mud Hollow Field with games against Tri-State and University of Wisconsin-Platteville.  To involve more members of the Wabash community with the baseball program, we have asked a number of different people who are associated with the program to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to begin each of our home dates.

On Saturday, Steve Hoffman '85 threw out the first pitch to kick-off the 2007 home schedule. Hoffman was a four-year letterman in baseball and a two-year letterman in football during his time at Wabash.  He currently serves as major gifts officer in the advancement office on campus.

On Sunday, Mike Warren '93 threw out the first pitch prior to our single game with UW-Platteville. Warren was a four-year letterman in baseball and a three-year letterman in football during his time at Wabash.  He currently serves as assistant director of alumni and parent relations on campus.

Both Steve and Mike brought the heat, throwing strikes in their pitching debuts.

Wabash tennis coach Jason Hutchison is scheduled to throw out the first pitch prior to our Tuesday home game with Anderson University.  Hutch has done an outstanding job of rebuilding the tennis program, and his team currently holds a 9-6 record.  He has assured me that he pitched in Little League and plans to throw a knuckler on Tuesday.

Posted by Cory Stevens at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://www.journalreview.com/sports/

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I apologize for my delay in updating the On Deck Circle.  Once the season hits, there aren't enough hours in the day.  In my opinion, Arizona was a great opening trip.  Despite coming home with less wins than we wanted, our players were tested against some great teams and placed in many high pressure situations.  The one thing I learned over the course of 10 games, is that we are young...talented, but young.  The transition from the gym to a game field is never an easy thing, but a transition to college baseball from high school (which was the case for many of our guys) is a whole different story.  With one senior on the roster and 4-5 freshmen in the starting line-up, along with 3-4 sophomores and 2 juniors, growing pains are inevitable.  Despite our youth, the guys did a tremendous job of improving every game.  The evidence could be seen in 4 out of our last 5 games, which were all decided in the final inning. I couldn't have asked for a better learning environment for our guys early in the season.

Off the field, our players enjoyed a great barbecue at the Rico home on our final day, in addition to a fantastic practice venue (Desert Vista High School) on our off day.  With temperatures in the 80s the entire week and barely a cloud in the sky, Phoenix was a perfect setting.  We also had excellent fan support, with many parents and families joining us on the trip.  The Siple, Metz, Norman, Lee, Hamilton, Thomas, Humphreys, Dodaro, Stirling, and Ritz families made their way to Arizona.  We were joined for the games on Monday by Wabash alum John Birdzell '61 who brought us a pair of wins.  Special thanks to the Rico family and Nick Rico for all of their hospitality and generosity.  Also, a big thanks to my coaching staff (Ryan Flynn, Jared Bogan, Nick Pompeo, Tom Perkins, Mark Colston, Brent Harris) for their part in a great trip.

Tomorrow we travel to Greencastle to take on an always tough Depauw squad for a single nine inning game.  Matt Walker and Jake Martin do a great job down there and I'm sure we will have our work cut out for us.  I hope to see all of you at the ballpark soon!

Posted by Cory Stevens at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)