The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports May 13, 2005

Yeo-batters get no-hit, then win
Squatrito pitches complete game to end his career

Oberlin baseball finished its season last Sunday, May 8 in a doubleheader against Thiel. The Yeomen split the doubleheader, losing the first game 8-1 and winning the second 5-3. The Yeomen performed well down the final stretch of their season, winning six of their last eight games.

On the recent success of the Yeomen, sophomore Jonah Teitlebaum said, “Out-of-conference teams are always a little below the level of the conference teams and we have been playing a lot of them lately. It seemed before when we pitched we didn’t hit, and when we hit we didn’t pitch, but towards the end we started to do both well.”

The first game was an offensive disaster for the Yeomen as they plated only one run and were held hitless. Senior Ryan Drews started the game for the Yeomen and had a rare bad start. Although Drews pitched the entire seven innings, he gave up nine runs, eight of which were earned on nine hits and four walks. Thiel struck hard in the third inning, plating four. Unfortunately, for Drews, he ended his stellar baseball career at Oberlin by picking up the loss.

The only offense for the Yeomen in game one came from sophomore designated hitter Rick Betzel, whose sacrifice fly scored junior Landon Lerner. Lerner initially reached base on an error, and then advanced to third on another error.

Thiel pitcher Keith Jackson had a stellar outing, throwing a no-hitter, surrendering only one walk with no earned runs. “I have never seen a no-hitter thrown in the college level...I don’t know what happened, [Jackson] was definitely not the best pitcher we faced this season,” said Teitlebaum.

In game two, the Yeomen were determined and it showed as they took the game 5-3, ending their season with a win. Senior Ryan Squatrito pitched the entire game for the Yeomen, going a full seven innings and giving up three runs, only one of which was earned, while surrendering only four hits. Squatrito also struck out six in his final outing with the team.

The offense for the Yeomen came early, as they scored two runs in each of the first two innings. Senior shortstop Andrew Caprariello lead the way, going 2-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Senior catcher Kyle Neumeier also drove in two and went 1-3 in the game. The last Yeomen run was driven in by Betzel, who went 1-2 with a run scored.

On the topic of the 2006 season, Teitlebaum was optimistic, saying, “Next season is a ways off but it’s always good to finish the previous season on a high note, and although the competition may not have been as high as early this season things definitely seemed to be coming together.”

The Yeomen ended their season with a 12-24 record, going 6-8 at home, 2-9 away, 4-7 on neutral turf and 1-15 in conference play. Although the Yeomen started their season slow, they finished strong by winning six of their last eight games. The Yeomen only have five graduating seniors on the team, so they are looking strong for next year. Hopefully, they can carry the late season momentum from this year into next season.
 
 

   


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