A glimpse of sunshine around the Saint Anselm campus in late February can only mean one thing, baseball season is on the horizon. The Hawks are about to embark on one of the more interesting campaigns in recent memory. After a disappointing 11-35 finish to last season, the future looks bright.
A new crop of impactful freshmen step onto the Saint Anselm dirt for the first time, so it is important to keep your eyes peeled for the young guns. While a new class of players is exciting in itself, the program will have a different face at the helm this time around.
Harry Oringer was hired in the offseason and will be the 12th head coach of the Saint Anselm baseball program. Formerly the head coach of the Endicott Gulls, Oringer takes the leap from division three baseball to division two.
Last season, the Hawks finished 4-21 away from home which was ultimately their downfall. With a coaching change, the Hawks may be able to get back to winning ways on the road. One thing the Hawks can leave untouched is their base stealing skill. Richie Williams led the hawks with 16 successful stolen bases out of 17 attempts. When you pair that with a .348 on base percentage only good things are to come.
The Hawks pitching was suspect last season with Dallas Vaughan eating 70 innings for his team with the next highest being Adam Betty at 44 innings pitched. Clearly, the hawks need to disperse the workload on the mound a bit more efficiently. Efficiency will come with the emergence of younger players on the team. Expect to see more sophomore and junior pitchers make an impact this season. If the Hawks have enough trust in their staff to disperse the workload more than the top half of their rotation will thrive.
The Hawks will face early adversity as they lost their top three bats in the lineup in Mike Borrelli, Brady Doran and Will Panarelo. All of them had a slugging percentage of over .450. With the heart of the Saint Anselm lineup now gone, more bats will have to wake up this upcoming season. In what feels like a “retooling” year for the Hawks there will be ups and downs of course. Player development will be especially crucial this season to try and encourage sustained success in the NE10 for years to come.
We can expect a new structure under a new coaching regime which will also be interesting to keep an eye on. Who will be the first guy getting warm after 5 innings? Who is the 8th inning man? What will the starting rotation look like?
These are all valid questions that we will get answers to over the course of another season of baseball. While nobody can rule the hawks out of making a title run, there is definitely a feeling of uncertainty from the outside with the loss of key components, and the arrival of new ones.
Another bright characteristic of this Hawks team is their defense. Assuming they carry that over to this upcoming season it will make life on their pitching staff a lot easier. Making routine plays and especially the plays that are not aren’t provides momentum. If the Hawks can maintain steadiness behind their pitchers they are destined for success.
It is a new era on the diamond at Saint Anselm. A new head coach and some new talent to be on display. Spring is the season of growing and we will certainly see growth this season from the Hawks. Nothing is guaranteed come spring except Hawks baseball and warmer days.