2014 Season-In-Review: Baseball

By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The up and down season for the Juniata College baseball team was not everything the team had hoped, but the Eagles came away with a number of dramatic wins and a lot of hope for the team going forward.

"The first word that comes to mind is tough," said head coach Jesse Leonard when asked to describe the 2014 season. "We had about eight or nine one-run games. Those are always tough losses. I give the guys a lot of credit through a bad winter, a lot of rescheduling, a lot of tough games, in a lot of games, losing some games late, they really persevered and continued to work hard. That spoke a lot to their character."

Juniata opened the season with two losses before picking up the most impressive win of season over nationally ranked Bridgewater College. All told, the Eagles had eight one-run games on the year with a 2-6 record. Four of the one-run games were Landmark contests with Drew earning the three-game-sweep over the Eagles by just seven total runs and two of the games by one run each.

"There were times when someone needed to get a big hit or the pitcher needed to go out and get the key outs and we needed to make the big play. Sometimes that's just baseball – it doesn't always fall your way. Sometimes to that's just someone that needs to step up and do it," said Leonard. "It's nice to look at eight one run games, but then you also look at it and say 'well we could have gotten the job done.' The guys know that they were close. There's improvement that we need to make to be able to play a full game and never let up."

In the final week of the season, Juniata produced two monstrous games proving their offensive prowess in the home stretch. After splitting a doubleheader with Penn. St.-Altoona in Altoona, Juniata hosted the Lions in Huntingdon. The first game easily went the way of Altoona 13-6, but the Eagles came roaring back for a season-high 25 runs and the 25-3 victory to square the 2014 series at 2-2. Eight different Juniata players had multiple-hit performances with senior Brad Medellin (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) driving in five runs and sophomore Chris Sinisi (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) crossing the plate six times.

"The positive going forward – we're going to miss the seniors, they were big contributors to the program – the younger guys that are returning pushed through some adversity. That speaks well for the seasons going forward. Knowing that there is a good core group of guys that know how to work and have battled through some things is a positive outlook going forward for us," said Leonard.

"It was important that we finished strong. Maybe all of the outcomes weren't what we wanted, but we were getting those big hits and making those big plays and playing fundamentally sound throughout the game," said Leonard. "We played a complete game of baseball at the level that we needed to at the end of the season when we were winning some games just like we did at the beginning of the season when we were winning some games. It's positive going forward that at the end of the season we were playing the brand of baseball and the game of baseball that we could have played all year."

Three Juniata players earned post-season honors with junior Cody Krepps (Tyron, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) named First-Team All-Landmark and seniors Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) and Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) both named second-team members. Both Sforza and Gray were all-league selections as juniors the year before and Krepps earned his first post-season accolade.

Top Moments
February 23: Juniata upsets No. 24/25 Bridgewater
Juniata earned its first win of the 2014 season by upsetting No. 24/25 Bridgewater College on Bridgewater's home field. Juniata trailed by four entering the top of the eighth where they scored one run before taking the lead with four runs in the top of the ninth. The Juniata defense held Bridgewater scoreless in the bottom of the final frame to earn the dramatic win over a nationally ranked opponent.

"To come out on top of the 24th team in the country – we played great defense that game and got good pitching, big hits from everybody… What a high. That was a great win for the team and for the program," said Leonard.

March 10: Juniata sweeps doubleheader vs. Waynesburg in Florida
On the third day of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, the Eagles pounded out 18 hits for 14 runs to earn two wins, 8-4 and 6-1, over Waynesburg College. Sforza went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI in game one and also earned the win on the mound. Medellin went 5-for-7 over both games and scored five runs.

"Those were both good games with some outstanding individual performances. As a team we played well there," said Leonard.

April 9: DeFreest blasts game-tying grand slam against Mount Aloysius
The Eagles hosted Mount Aloysius in a midweek doubleheader on Langdon-Goodale Field and came away with the most dramatic spit of the season. After battling to a come-from-behind 9-6 win in game one, Juniata found itself down four in the bottom of the sixth of game two. With the bases loaded, sophomore left fielder David DeFreest (Duxburry, Vt./Harwood Union) drove the first pitch of the at bat over the left center fence for the grand slam, tying the game at 7-7.

"That was a big hit for him and just so much emotion for the whole team. That's a feeling you don't forget," said Leonard.

April 25: Juniata earns series win over Scranton with 15-7 victory
The Juniata vs. Scranton series was the most rescheduled contests of the season for the Eagles. The final game of the matchup took place nearly a month after the original schedule date and the day before the final league series of the year. Juniata had earned the 1-1 split of the double header and traveled to Scranton for the rubber match with a limited roster. Everything working against the Eagles did nothing to deter Juniata and laced 17 hits on the day, scoring 15 runs, to clinch the series 2-1.

"The bus broke down on the way up. We were an hour and half late. We got off the buss and just got loose and got ready. Then we put six runs up in the first inning. The mental preparation that it takes to get off the bus and play and then to execute was a real highlight," said Leonard.

Juniata baseball said goodbye to eight members of the class of 2014 at the end of the year. Seniors Gray, Medellin, Derek Heath (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon), David Smyers (Pittsburg, Pa./Central Catholic), Nathan Strom (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria), Mario DeYulis (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria), Sforza, and Ryan Morrison (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon Catholic) were regular contributors throughout their careers.

"Thank you to the seniors… they were contributors to the program over their four years. They played a lot as underclassmen and played a significant amount as upper classmen. They've left their mark on the program and just thank you for the time and effort and work that they put in," said Leonard. "Joe and Dan and the innings that came out of the bullpen from Mario and Strom and Morrison and Brad and Derek consistently on the field… They've always done what we asked and worked hard and kept a good attitude about it."

With eight seniors departing, the Eagles will return a significant portion of young and now experienced players for the 2015 season.

"I'm excited to get back out on the recruiting trail and about the underclassmen returning and the freshman class going forward. It's a long season, but it doesn't take long after it's over to want it back," said Leonard. "[The returners] all have some great places to play in the summer so they all have places to get at bats and get better so it should be good in the fall."

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