By. Pat Tintle
Sports Editor
Coming off a losing 2014 campaign, the baseball team began the 2015 season with a winning record. In their first three games of the season, the Bonnies took two of three games from Maine in the Russ Matt Invitational in Winter Haven, Florida.
The Bonnies started the series with a 3-1 win over the Black Bears. Then the Bonnies split the final two games in a doubleheader on Sunday, losing the first game 8-3, but winning the second 5-4.
By winning their first series of the season, the Bonnies have gained confidence, according to junior designated hitter Ted Dilts.
“Our team has a boost in confidence going into our next tournament after our two games to one victory,” Dilts said. “The Maine team we beat was very solid and compares (well) to most teams we will face this season. If we play like we did this weekend, there is no doubt in my mind we can make a run at the playoffs this year.”
Dilts went a combined 4-9 in the three-game series, recording two RBIs in that time. Accustomed to sunny weather and clear skies, Dilts recognized that playing in baseball-friendly weather was a big part of his offensive game.
“I was seeing the ball very well,” Dilts said. “It was a nice sunny day in Winter Haven and since I am from Los Angeles, I always hit better in warmer temperatures. Also, [the third game] was the tiebreaker game of the series, so I knew I had to perform well to help my team win the ballgame.”
Junior right-handed pitcher Steve Klimek, who pitched 4 1/3 innings Sunday’s loss, gave up two early runs in his season debut but recollected once finding his zone on the mound.
“I wouldn’t say I had jitters, but I was excited,” Klimek said. “It was my first start of the year, and the first time touching a real mound, so I was a bit jacked up. A couple bounces didn’t go my way, and they scored a couple runs; that’s baseball. After that, I settled down and felt very comfortable on the mound.”
In his two previous years at Bonaventure, Klimek has seen his statistics trend in a positive direction. His 5.66 freshman ERA dropped to 4.71 in his sophomore year, and also recorded a 4.63 ERA in Atlantic 10 conference games that same year.
The Bonnies won the Florida series without their head coach, Larry Sudbrook. But the absence of the 29-year leader only gave the Bonnies more incentive to play hard, according to Klimek.
“Coach Sudbrook was unable to go due to personal reasons, but our assistant coaches are great,” Klimek said. “They do a good job of keeping players’ confidence high and bring a lot of intensity to the field. I think Coach Sudbrook’s situation gave us a little extra motivation to win some ball games.”
The Bonnies will look to continue their young season this weekend as the team again heads to Florida to compete in the Snowbird Classic. The team will face Villanova tomorrow at 11 a.m. and will play Lehigh for three games in a row, starting on Sunday at 3 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday at 10 a.m.
“We’re expecting to go down and win baseball games,” Klimek said. “We expect to compete with Villanova and Lehigh and hope to come out with four wins. Like I said earlier, we will have confidence and we think that we have a chance to pick up some wins in Florida.”
Other than focusing on the upcoming games, the Bonnies are looking to prepare themselves for conference play by the time A-10 games start, according to Dilts.
“Our team hopes to build on the success we had against Maine, and tune up our weaknesses in order to become a feared team in the Atlantic 10,” Dilts said. “I believe, with our experienced coaches and senior leaders, the Bonnies are going to surprise some people this year with our success.”
tintleph11@bonaventure.edu
