Author: Jack Ridneour
The Chatham men’s baseball season has officially started, and it has gotten off to quite a start. Over spring break the team traveled down south to play a number of games against other colleges around the country. The team faced College of Staten Island, University of Valley Forge, Clarks Summit University and Dean College. The Cougars entered the six game stretch with a chip on their shoulder, as they felt they had something to prove to the other established programs.
The first two games were a double header, where they faced the College of Staten Island. With it being their first ever game in program history, the Cougars started the game off slow and were unable to mount a comeback as they would lose 8-0. Through four innings of play, the Cougars trailed the Dolphins by only one run. Heading into the fifth inning, the Dolphins caught fire and would go one to score 7 more runs, as Chatham was unable to get their bats going. Freshman outfielder Austin Ferris had Chatham’s first ever hit in program history, and sophomore catcher Tyler Peyman would record the program’s first ever double.
In the second game of the double header, the Cougars put up a fight, trailing to the Dolphins 8-6 heading into the 7th inning. Both teams would score one more run, but it wasn’t enough for the team, as they would lose to the Dolphins 9-7. Junior first baseman Carmen Jansante and freshman third baseman Justin Silvious both led the cougars, going 3-4 from the plate each.
The team would then face the University of Valley Forge, in what would be another double header for the Cougars. The score was tied at 4-4 heading into the third, but the Cougars bats would start to get hot in the fourth. They would go on to score seven runs in the fourth inning, and two in the sixth, to beat Valley Forge 13-6. This would mark the first ever win in program history for the baseball team. Freshman outfielder Hunter Steele would lead the cougars, going a perfect 5-5 from the plate and added two runs and two RBIs.
The second game of the double header would be another easy one for Chatham. Junior infielder/pitcher Nick Ramsey pitched two scoreless innings for the cougars, as they would defeat Valley Forge by a score of 6-1. Freshman third baseman/shortstop Cameron Moeller and Austin Ferris would lead the cougars going 2-3 from the plate a piece.
Chatham would next face Clarks Summit, for their fifth game of the six game stretch. The Cougars were firing on all cylinders, as they would collect 14 hits as a team, and defeat Clarks Summit 12-1. Sophomore second baseman Paul Nussbaum would go a perfect 3-3 from the plate, with three runs and two RBIs. In their final game, the Cougars would face Dean College. The Cougars would hold a 8-5 lead heading into the 7th. Dean college would score three runs in the top of the seventh, to tie it up at 8-8. The Cougars were unable to pull out a victory and ultimately lost 10-8. Paul Nussbaum would record Chatham’s first ever home run, as he went 2-3 from the plate with two runs and two RBIs. Nick Ramsey would also record Chatham’s first ever triple in program history, as he went 2-5 with two RBIs.
“I believe our 6 games over break went really well. We got the jitters out of the way and finished the trip ,500, although we all probably say we should have been 5-1 on the trip,” said junior second baseman and business management major Landon Faraoni. “The high point was definitely getting our first win and when Paul [Nussbaum] hit his homerun,” Faraoni went on to say.
“One positive thing I see in our team is the fact that everyone is a team player. They will do what it takes to win as a team rather than trying to benefit themselves,” said sophomore catcher and sustainability major Tyler Peyman. “One thing we need to work on as a team is playing all 9 innings 100%. We tend to take some plays off and that costs us errors and potentially ball games,” Peyman went on to say. Being able to finish games will be key for their success this season. “We have a tough conference and having such a young team will make it more difficult to compete with these other teams but we still have a great group of guys and I think we’ll do well considering how young our team is,” said Nick Ramsey. The Cougars will be tested this year in the PAC, but with the ability to play well together and continuing to improve on finishing games, the team has a chance to win a lot of games this year.