1994 IVY LEAGUE BASEBALL STANDINGS: Baseball hoping to win it all this year

It has not been a glorious start to the season for the Penn baseball team. But the Quakers are confident that the cold, dark days of March will seem a distant memory in the bright sunshine of May, when the Ivy League and NCAA playoffs take place. Penn has every reason to believe it will be playing then. The Quakers return all but three regulars from a 1994 team that won the Ivy League's Gehrig Division and just missed beating Rolfe Division titlists Yale for the Ivy championship. Naturally, expectations are high for the 1995 campaign. "We're definitely looking to get to the league championship," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "If we don't, we'll be disappointed. Very disappointed." The Quakers' most significant attributes are their depth of talent and their experience. Eight of the nine members of the pitching staff return from last year. The four starters are back, led by team captain and No. 1 starter Dan Galles. Galles led the team in wins, complete games and strikeouts last season on his way to earning second-team all-Ivy honors. "Dan is a crafty hurler who consistently throws strikes," Seddon said. "He's a team leader on and off the playing field." Rounding out the starting rotation are senior Ed Haughey, junior Mike Shannon and senior Lance Berger. Haughey ranked right behind Galles in wins, complete games and strikeouts and received honorable mention all-Ivy honors. Berger, who transferred from Sacramento City College last season, had the Quakers' best ERA. Shannon, a junior, may be in his final season as a Quaker. Both his pitching ability and his explosiveness at the plate have pro scouts salivating, and the early word is he will be drafted come June. "He's got a future in baseball," assistant coach Bill Wagner said. "He could go in whatever direction they want him. He's got three good pitches?.He would make a great third baseman. He can hit and run and throws the ball hard." "Even without his best stuff he's one of the best pitchers on the East Coast," catcher Rick Burt said. Filling out the staff are five relievers, all but one of whom were in a similar role last year. Freshman Armen Simonian, the lone newcomer, joins sophomores A B Fischer and Alex Hayden in middle relief, while Mike Martin is listed as the official closer. The experience of the relievers cannot help but make the entire staff crisper and tougher. "They'll keep the pressure on the front guys if any sort of a problem ever comes up," Wagner said. "Some of the other [Ivy] teams may have two really good pitchers, but they're not going to have the depth of our staff." As a result, look for Penn's Ivy rivals to start their top two pitchers in weekend doubleheaders against the Quakers, even if Penn is using its fourth or fifth man. While Penn has limped out of the starting gate to a 5-7 record, the pitching has basically been as good as advertised. The problem is the lack of offense, but the Quakers are confident their bats can come around. "It was like everybody was expecting everybody else to get the hits," Burt said. "It was complacency as much as anything else." A prime reason for the lack of offensive firepower has been injuries. Shortstop Mark DeRosa injured his shoulder during the team's trip to Florida. Burt was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Once everyone is healed, the position players should mirror the pitching staff in their experience and depth. "There's going to be a lot of competition for positions down the line," Seddon said. DeRosa, who started at quarterback for the undefeated 1994 Penn football team, and second baseman Derek Nemeth make up the middle infield. Seniors Allen Fischer and Rob Naddelman start at the corners. Virtually all of these guys are comfortable playing more than one position, and freshman Joe Carlon can step in to play at almost any of the infield spots. The outfield is explosive offensively, with potential draftee Sean Turner and senior Tim Henwood at right and center field respectively. Senior Michael Green and sophomore Jeremy Milken will compete for time in left. Thus far the lineup has appeared to miss the hitting ability of departed seniors Eddie MacDonald and Tim Shannon. But after the injuries have healed and everyone has had time to find his rhythm, Seddon is confident the hits will come. Last year's leaders in slugging percentage -- Mike Shannon, Turner, Naddelman and Nemeth -- all return. The potential potency of the lineup is matched by its experience level. All the starters played in last year's best-of-three Ivy championship series against Yale in Middletown, Conn., last May. They remember how they felt when a freak fifth-inning error gave the Elis a lead they would never relinquish in the third and deciding game. They remember the feeling of emptiness that always comes with finishing so close to the ultimate goal. "We want to win the league," Burt said. "Anything else we would have to consider not a successful season, after the way we finished last year." But Penn can't afford to look too far ahead. The Quakers can't be so focused on the big picture that they lose sight of the task at hand each time out. To that end, the slow start to the season may prove beneficial. "We talked about winning [the Ivy title] a lot during the preseason," Burt said. "Now, we're 4-7, and we talk about each game." The Gehrig Division should throw a familiar set of challenges at Penn. Columbia battled the Quakers down to the wire last season and should be about as good this time around. Princeton is improved after finishing 10-10 in the league last year. But Seddon has built a solid all-around team and sees no huge obstacles to a second consecutive division title and a rematch with Yale in the championship series. "Now we just have to go out and do it," he said.

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