Baseball breezes to win

Bill Wagner is usually the first one to spot danger. It is his job as Penn's pitching coach to notice a hitch in a hurler's delivery, a shoulder angled slightly wrong or a leg kicked up too high. But when the wind hurled a folding chair from the top of the Quakers' dugout, Wagner was the last one to spot it. Just before the flying chair conked him on the head, Wagner stepped away. It was probably the scariest moment of the afternoon for the Penn coaching staff. On the field, Penn whipped an overmatched Widener, 14-3. The Quakers (6-2) crossed the plate 13 times before the Pioneers scored. They even put a nice little pattern together, scoring two in the second, four in the fourth and six in the sixth. By the eighth frame, most of the regulars were out of the contest and the series ended. The few fans who trekked down to Bower Field were probably grateful it did, as the park rivals the middle of Superblock for the coldest place on campus. Shortstop Eddie MacDonald led a balanced offense with two hits and four RBI. Brothers Mike and Tim Shannon, and shortstop Ed MacDonald had two RBI apiece. Allen Fischer replaced Mike Shannon, and smacked a triple and a double. Mark DeRosa tallied three hits and crossed the plate twice. He also showed a nifty glove at third base. "Everybody contributed," coach Bob Seddon said. "That is the way this team has been so far this year. The strength of this team is the depth. That is how we are going to win." Yes, everybody does contribute on this team. The players double as the grounds crew. After the game, the infielders rake the infield. The pitchers clean up the mound. The players fold the flag. They turn the scoreboard off. During the game, Seddon cleans the dugout, fixes the garbage can and makes requests for the music played between innings. If they had popcorn at Bower Field, he would be hawking it. He also plays marketing director. The Quakers donned green caps in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and Seddon says they will do similar stunts to draw fans throughout the season. The majority of Penn's 17 hits, however, had nothing to do with the luck of the Irish. They were tagged. Only in the third inning did the Quakers go down in order. Penn's performance on the mound was also impressive. Starter, and winner, Ed Haughey (2-0) tossed three scoreless innings, surviving a bases-loaded jam in the third. Lance Berger followed with three more impressive innings, yielding just two hits and starting a double play. Berger is a transfer student from Sacramento City College, which went to the junior college World Series. Six teammates were drafted by the major leagues. Except for getting picked off twice, the Quakers played fundamentally sound baseball. In the eighth inning, long after the game was secure, freshman pitcher Alex Hayden threw a Pioneer runner out at third after backing up an errant throw home. Now if only someone can bolt down those chairs.