OWINGS MILLS, Md. - When head coach Dave Gage took over control of the Stevenson baseball team last season, he inherited a team that didn’t seem to possess a solid identity. Coach Gage knew coming in that he had a team that could hit, and was returning some quality pitching. The Mustangs showed signs of progress, finishing 20-20, their first season at .500 or better since 2013, but missing the MAC Commonwealth tournament.
Looking ahead to the 2019 season the head coach is feeling quite optimistic about his team's chances in making a return to postseason action. "You have to come prepared and ready every single day" he continued on by saying "while conference tournament is the goal the ultimate team goal is win the last game that you play."
Now in his second year Coach Gage talked about how he is looking to put his own mark and structure on the team by shifting the main focus from offense to defense.
Helping that more defensive minded approach will be the returning MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year in senior James Wiercinski who posted a 6-4 record with three complete games. His 74.1 innings pitched and 79 strikeouts both led the conference.
"I think he is one of the best pitchers in the country at this level [DIII]" said Gage. He continued on "he has an electric fastball and when he has command in the zone he is hard to hit."
Also, returning to the mound for the Mustangs are a pair of juniors Tyler Graham and Zach Kaye. Graham who was 4-2 last season in nine starts totaled 19 strikeouts over 37.0 innings of work, while Kaye went 3-4 on 32 K's through 53.1 innings. There are also some new additions that will contribute to the 2019 staff.
Speaking of the group as a whole Gage stated "we do have some returning arms who we can lean on, but we also have new talent that can help us right away while developing as college players themselves."
With the shift in program philosophy the defensive side of the field is going to be paramount if the Mustangs expect to have success in 2019. The team returns a majority of the field players that saw significant time last year with the exception of losing corner infielders in John D'Aquanno and Billy Small whose production both defensively and offensively will need to be replaced by both returners and new comers. Stevenson will look to improve on their 81 errors from the 2018 campaign.
After recognizing that the team let some games slip away last year because of the defensive side of the ball coach Gage spoke to the defensive unit as a whole saying "it is now a priority in our program" he continued on "the guys that are coming back have worked extremely hard to shore up that side of their game and recruiting has answered some of those questions as well".
While the defense and the pitching is the focus you cannot win the games without scoring some runs and the Mustangs will rely on four players who posted .290-plus batting averages last year to serve as a catalyst for the offense in 2019. Senior Matthew Kerber and juniors Kevin Murray Jr., Alex Kidwiler, and Mark Terrell will be expected to lead a Stevenson attack that finished second in the conference last year in slugging percentage .432 and third in team batting average with a .307 and runs scored 317.
Kerber posted a .329 average with 29 stolen bases, 26 walks, and 24 RBIs. Murray with his .353 batting average and 48 runs scored leads the returning players. Kidwiler finished with a .304 average, while Terrell was at .290 but supplied power with three home runs and had a .471 slugging percentage.
The returning veterans will be expected to lead the way for the Mustangs, but coach Gage talked about the competition that the incoming freshmen and transfers will provide for the established starters so that no one gets overly comfortable in assuming that since they had a certain role last year it will be the same way in 2019.
"Competition is the number one thing that the new guys will bring to the table," said Gage. "We told them from the start they are college baseball players we expect them to come out and compete right away and if they earn playing time or a starting role to continue to compete at a high level".
With all the talent that Stevenson has returning they expect to compete in the conference and plan on playing into early May and the MAC Commonwealth tournament as they were on the cusp of getting there in 2018, but let nine games of three runs or fewer slip away.
When looking back at how their postseason aspiration evaded them last year the coach broke it down into very simple things. "It is doing the little things well" he said "not hitting someone with two strikes and two outs in a tie game, not letting a ball trickle through your legs, it is all about battling and competing every single play".
The Mustangs will open up tomorrow, Friday, February 15 with a doubleheader at Saint Mary's College (Md.) beginning at 1pm with the second game slated for a 4pm first pitch.
With the shift in philosophy and putting more emphasis on improving the defense and relying on a quality pitching staff only time will tell if Stevenson headed back to the postseason in 2019.
Story by David Adamovage, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant