Turning Two

The Penn BaseballThe Penn BaseballTeam is Looking ToThe Penn BaseballTeam is Looking ToWin Its SecondThe Penn BaseballTeam is Looking ToWin Its SecondStraight Ivy Title Now they will try to do it again. At least one thing remains the same for this season -- Penn has been dubbed the favorite to win the Ancient Eight again. But as several of last season's key contributors have moved on, this year's edition of Quakers is in many ways different. Still, changes do not mean inexperience, said co-captain Mike Shannon. "We lost some key people," Shannon said. "The people we lost were good players, but we also have our fair share of veterans on our team." And coach Bob Seddon is quite comfortable with the talent he can put on the field, even after the graduation of eight players from a year ago. With a win yesterday over St. Joseph's, Penn's record stands at 4-6. Although the season-opening trip to Florida started poorly, with five losses in six games, the Quakers have rebounded, winning three of their last four. "I feel very good," Seddon said. "We've won the last two, and everybody's picked us to win it again. We're trying to instill that feeling, that we're the guys to beat." When talking to Seddon, it is clear that the aspect of this team that excites him the most is the infield. More specifically, the infield defense. "That infield is strong, defensively," said Seddon, emphasizing the word 'strong'. "As long as that stays strong, we'll be O.K." Said assistant coach Bill Wagner: "We think it's probably one of the strongest teams defensively we've had in the infield that we've been involved with in my 25 years." The heart of the infield will be patrolled by Mark DeRosa and Joe Carlon. DeRosa, a junior who is also the starting quarterback for the Penn football team, will be back at shortstop this season, where he earned second-team Ivy honors last year. But Derosa -- who also bats cleanup for Penn -- has struggled statistically so far, hitting just .244 and committing four errors through nine games. Seddon is not worried. "He's a very fine athlete," Seddon said. "He's being swamped by scouts, and he's got a gun for an arm." Carlon (.212) will be the other half of the keystone combination, starting at second base after spending his freshman year as a role player. "He's playing very well," Seddon said. "He's worked on his pivots, and he and Mark work well together." Senior Derek Nemeth (.324) will man third base, while sophomore Dan Goldberg will also see some action at the hot corner. First base will be played by Shannon (.425, team-high 17 hits), except when he is pitching. In that case, sophomore Armen Simonian, another pitcher, will take first. Seddon added that the Quakers outfield is solid as well, especially with senior Sean Turner patrolling centerfield. "[Turner] is strong in the middle," Seddon said. "He's got a good arm, and he's off to a good start with the bat. It looks like a good year for him." Turner is one of the fastest players on the team, and besides using his speed to chase down fly balls, Seddon is hoping Turner can establish himself as the team's leadoff batter. So far he has responded, hitting .353. "We've struggled to find a number one hitter," Seddon said. "We've used four people. I'd like Turner to stay there because of his speed." Junior Jeremy Milken (.250) has the leftfield job again this season. Rightfield is a bit more complicated. When someone other than Shannon or Simonian is pitching, Simonian (.143) will play right. If one of them is pitching, either junior Dan McCarthy (.250), sophomore Drew Corradini (.250) or junior Kevin O'Malley (.333) will take rightfield. Said Seddon simply: "Whoever hits is going to play." When Shannon and Simonian pitch, they will also serve as Penn's designated hitter, at least for the time being. When neither is pitching, the DH against right-handed pitchers will likely be sophomore Mark Nagata (.143). Against southpaws, either sophomore Dave Corleto or O'Malley will DH. "If we have a weakness it's that we don't have enough left-handed hitters in the lineup against right-handed pitchers," Seddon said. "We're not really weak down the lineup," Seddon added. "We have to score runs. We can't expect our pitchers to dominate." Indeed, pitching is the area in which Penn has been hit the hardest. The Quakers lost three of their top four starters from last year to graduation -- Ivy pitcher of the year Ed Haughey, all-Ivy second-teamer Dan Galles, and Lance Berger. "They have some big shoes to fill because we lost Galles, Haughey and Berger, three guys who really did a great job for us last year," Wagner, the Quaker pitching coach for the last 25 seasons, said of this year's staff. "The pitching so far has been very adequate," Seddon said. "We don't have a dominating staff, but we have a lot of guys. I think maybe we have a bit more depth than people give us credit for." Right-handers Shannon (0-1 6.39 earned-run average) and Simonian (1-0, 0.61 ERA) will be the team's top two starters, but the other two spots in Penn's four-man rotation are still up in the air. Southpaw junior Mike Greenwood and righties Alex Hayden, A.B. Fischer and freshman Sean McDonald will all see action over the next couple of weeks -- including the opening of the Ivy season against Columbia next weekend -- before any decisions are made, Wagner said. "I think we would probably use Greenwood if we felt that Columbia had three left-handed hitters who were in the 1-2-3-4-5 part of the lineup," Wagner said. "And if it were righthanders, we'd probably go with Fischer and Alex Hayden, and then maybe a Sean McDonald. But we're going to go another weekend before we make that decision." As far as the bullpen goes, Wagner said he was looking at sophomore righty Travis Arbogast, who finished yesterday's game, and lefty sophomore Todd Mahoney to be the stoppers. "If the freshman, Sean McDonald isn't the fourth starter, he could be a guy I bring in as a closer also," Wagner said. Wagner also praised senior catcher and co-captain Rick Burt -- who bats second and was hitting .444 before yesterday's game -- for his work in bringing along the young staff. "We've got good catching and Burt has been doing a nice job milking our pitchers along," Wagner said. "He deserves a lot of credit, and as the pitching and catching coach I would give him an A-plus on what he's been doing so far. His and Mike Shannon's leadership has been outstanding." That will have to continue if Penn hopes to win the Ivy League title again. Seddon warned that in the Quakers own division, Princeton, Columbia and Cornell will all be formidable. But the team is still confident. "We're favored this year in the Ivy League," Shannon said. "In our minds, we think we can win it hands down."

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