Lookout Mountain, GA / Athens, TN / Dayton, TN / Cleveland, TN / Chattanooga, TN — A sense of sorrow accompanied the return home of the Goshen College baseball team Sunday afternoon, as the Leafs were still reeling after learning of Bluffton University’s charter bus accident in Atlanta where six people were killed on Friday.
Goshen had spent the previous week playing its first games of the season in both Georgia and Tennessee, posting a 3-7 record in a seven-day span.
For many of the players and head coach Josh Keister, however, the news of Bluffton’s loss far outweighed any emotions over the squad’s own play.
“First and foremost, our prayers go out to the Bluffton baseball team,” Keister said on Sunday. “Their accident occurred only an hour or so from where we were in Chattanooga and the morning before we were to drive home overnight. We have not played Bluffton since 2004 when we played them in the EMU classic where they were headed this year. This tragedy really struck close to home for our team as several of our players were recruited by Bluffton and I recruited many of the players on their team. This truly has been a tragedy that has affected us all deeply.”
Six people were killed Friday morning — including four Bluffton University baseball players — when the charter bus carrying the Bluffton team descended off an overpass near downtown Atlanta. Goshen College quickly offered its prayers and support — click here for related article — but the Leafs’ baseball team still had a pair of games remaining on its swing south.
Keister said Friday’s games at Tennessee Temple University began with a prayer.
“In our game on Friday evening we had a moment of silence before the game started and both teams gathered at the mound after the game to pray for Bluffton,” he said. “Our prayers will continue to be with Coach Grandey, the Bluffton baseball program, and the entire campus in the coming weeks and months.”
While falling to Temple by a 5-12 score in Friday’s first contest, the Leafs were able to come back and win by a 6-2 score in the team’s final spring break tally, leaving Keister to again reflect on Goshen’s sister school to the East.
“While we were happy to finish up with a win, it wasn’t a celebratory mood on the way home,” Keister said. “I think we all had our minds on Bluffton’s team. It will be that way for quite some time.”
Goshen had spent the week playing five different opponents at five different venues, opening with a double header at Covenant College on Saturday, Feb. 24. The Leafs opened with a 10-8 win to start its week-long tour, but followed with a 3-4 defeat in the day’s second contest.
Freshman Kraig Miller (1-1) secured the pitching win in the first contest, as Goshen rallied from an 8-7 deficit to force extra innings before moving on to the win. A single from freshman Sean Sears drove in the game-tying run in the top of the seventh, while a single from senior Nate Colclasure and a double from junior Ian Swartz helped push across two runs in the eighth.
“It's always nice to win your season opener which we did in extra innings over Covenant,” Keister said. “The high from that win did not last long as we blew a 3-0, seventh-inning lead in the second game, however.”
Covenant scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to steal the Game 2 win, as freshman Aaron Coy’s six-inning, 10-strikeout performance on the mound was for naught.
Aaron gave a great performance on the mound in his college debut,” Keister said.
Colclasure again did most of the damage offensively for Goshen, driving going 3-4 with a run scored. Sophomore Kyle Koch went 1-4 with an RBI, as did freshman Zach Miller.
The low portion of the trip — competitively speaking — occurred Sunday, where Goshen dropped 4-26 and 5-15 decisions at 14th-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan College. The Leafs gave up a total 31 hits to the Bulldogs, including five home runs on the afternoon. Freshman Matt Fyfe (0-1) took the Game 1 loss on the mound; classmate Zach Miller (0-1) was saddled with the Game 2 defeat.
“We were a little overmatched against 14th ranked Tennessee Wesleyan especially as we were deep into our pitching with an extra inning win against Covenant the day before,” Keister said.
Colclasure was again effective at the plate for Goshen, going 3-6 on the day with a home run in the second contest. Junior Darren Tronovich homered as well in the day’s second game, putting together an impressive 3-4 outing on the day with four RBI. Ian Swartz also did a number on the Tennessee Wesleyan pitching staff, finishing 4-6 with three runs scored and five RBI.
The Leafs’ bats remained cold on Monday, as Keister’s team dropped 0-4 and 1-10 decisions to Bryan College. Goshen generated 10 total runs to Bryan’s 17, but could never find hits at the appropriate times. That fact was especially disheartening in Monday’s first game, as sophomore Aaron Keister (0-2) provided a six-inning, one earned run pitching performance.
“We were just never able to get the bats going which wasted a good performance from Aaron Keister who went six innings and only allowed one earned run in the first game,” Josh Keister said. “That was disappointing.”
Goshen’s lone run of the day was driven in by Tronovich, as singles from Ian Swartz and Colclasure set up Tronovich’s sacrifice fly to center field in the second game. Kraig Miller took the pitching loss in that contest, striking out two while giving up nine earned runs.
With a day off on Tuesday to refresh themselves, Keister’s team provided the bright spot of the trip in returning to play on Wednesday. After dropping a 0-7 decision to 19th-ranked Lee University, Goshen responded with a 5-4 win in Wednesday’s second game, giving Keister a strong taste of early-season success.
Sears helped pave the way for that win, belting a two-out, two-run homer in the third inning to push Goshen ahead 4-1. Lee responded with a three-run bottom of the third, however, and the game was tied 4-4.
After trading four scoreless innings with the Flames, Goshen got the needed score in the top of the eighth inning. After singling, Zach Miller was able to advance to third base on a single from Sean Sears. Throwing caution to the wind, Keister called for the squeeze play.
Freshman Derek Swartz delivered.
Swartz laid down a perfect bunt that allowed Miller to score, giving Goshen the 5-4 advantage. Senior Dann Hunt (1-0) was flawless on the mound, going the distance while striking out five.
“That (win over Lee) was most certainly the highlight of our trip,” Keister said. “They have a current record of 19-2 and have been playing some very good baseball. The big hit was a two-run homerun by Sean Sears and a successfully executed safety squeeze by Derek Swartz in the eighth to take the lead. This win proves that when we play well we can play with anyone in the country.”
Ian Swartz (0-1) suffered the Game 1 loss on the mound. Goshen failed to generate a hit in the day’s first contest.
Following a rain out on Thursday — the Leafs were scheduled to face Tennessee Wesleyan College again — Keister’s squad concluded its spring break swing against the aforementioned Tennessee Temple. And, following a 5-12 loss in the first game, captured a 6-2 win in the second. Aaron Keister took the loss on the mound in the first contest, while Coy recorded his first collegiate win in the second.
“We played very poorly in the first game but were able to rebound to take the second game on Friday,” Keister said. “Aaron Coy was again very solid in six innings for his first collegiate win.”
Zach Miller, Colclasure and freshman Dustin Swartzel were responsible for Goshen’s three earned runs in the win, while Colclasure finished with an impressive 3-4, two-RBI performance in the day’s first game. Koch was 2-4 with an RBI in the day’s opener, while going 2-4 with a run scored in the second game as well. Freshman Derek Swartz finished 2-3 with a run scored in the win.
“Overall, a 3-7 record is not a lot of wins but we feel good about it as we got a lot of freshmen their first taste of college baseball,” Keister said. “It's always tough playing against southern teams who have played a lot of games already, but it's even tougher when you have a team as young as ours. We were never completely healthy during the trip as (freshman) Kraig Miller was recovering from a sprained ankle, (junior) Mike Malott tweaked a groin, (freshman) Cal Schlabach slightly pulled a hamstring and Aaron Coy bruised a sternum. We're looking forward to a week off to get healthy and then see what we can do at full strength in Kentucky this coming weekend.”
Goshen will next spend two days at the University of the Cumberlands, where the team will play in three games over the weekend of Mar. 9-10. The Leafs are scheduled to play in a double-header on Saturday against the Patriots. Game time for the first of two is set for 1 p.m.
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Senior Nate Colclasure