The Baseball team, last weekend, took one of three games against LaVerne in its final series of the season. Although the Hens were thoroughly abused by Leopard hitters in the first game, the double-header at LaVerne saw the Hens fight back and split their final two games of the season.

Photo by Joe Koch Tyren Silanpaa PI ’02 dominated from the mound in a 13-4 Sagehen win on Saturday.

Friday afternoon, the Hens were hammered 16-4 in a contest that looked more like a homerun derby for the Leopards than a game. The Leos one-upped the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday (who hit three at Dodger Stadium) with four homers in one inning (no one hit two grand slams, but still). Three of those bombs were hit back-to-back-to-back.

"We actually played pretty well defensively that game, they just hit everything that we threw at ‘em," said right-fielder Ollie Morrison ’02.

The top three of the Leopards’ order all had at least three hits and four players finished with three or more RBIs. The team compiled 18 hits, six of which were homeruns.

As well as LaVerne hit on Friday, the Hens’ highlight video was not completely empty. Shortstop Ryan Gould ’00 pulled off a play Coach Paul Svagdis called "one of the best I’ve ever seen" when he laid out for a grounder up the middle and flipped the ball to second baseman David Sawhill ’01. Sawhill completed the 6-4-3 double play by rocketing the ball to first baseman Luke Smude ’02 for the out.

Saturday morning the Hens responded to Friday’s loss, bouncing back to beat the host Leos by a score of 13-4. The highlight of the game was a grand slam by catcher Nick Bulaich ’01 (who some say called his shot). He finished the game with a season-high five RBIs. Mike Witzansky ’99 also had a great performance at the plate with a line of 4 for 5, 2 runs, and 3 RBIs. This offense, combined with a great start by pitcher Tyren Silanpaa PI ’02, dominated the Leopards in game two.

The final game was a competitive match through the first five innings until LaVerne turned it up a notch and "started crushing the ball", according to Morrison. The Hens lost 16-4.

Center fielder Charles "Spike" Einsiedler ’02 performed the Hens’ second spectacular play of the series in this match-up. He tracked down a blast to right center and made a leaping catch against the wall saving a sure double.

Svagdis commented, "it was a big league catch."

The Hens’ season record (19-17-2) was the program’s first winning season since Svagdis took over the coaching position. He was very pleased.

"We’re undergoing constant improvement. This season was great for the seniors. We had a lot of firsts," he said.

The outlook for next year looks promising. The team’s confidence seems to be at an all-time high.

Svagdis reported, "We played the second have of the season with a lot of confidence. That was the difference, we lost a lot of close games we could’ve won at the start of the season if we had had that confidence." Coach credits this to a focus on the process rather than the result. "The team stopped focusing on the outcome and started focusing on the process. That was the difference."

Although the team will start next season with only one senior, Gould, they look to improve on their record with a wealth of returning youth and a solid recruiting class. "In the past two years we have gotten a lot of great players," said Svagdis. "These younger guys have worked hard to play a part on the team, and they’ve succeeded."