Rookies anchor the Penn infield

Underclassmen Oliver Hahl and Shawn Spiezio will tagteam this year at second base. Never underestimate the versatility of an athlete. A track star who can sprint the 400-meter dash and soar to new heights in the high jump is a big bonus. Basketball player's who drive to the whole, shoot from three-point land and rebound have the potential to be All-Americans. And a baseball player who can play any position in the infield is a tremendous asset to its team. Through the initial 19 games of the season, Penn has had to rely on its wealth of young talent for offensive production. Rookie infielders Glen Ambrosius, Oliver Hahl and Shawn Spiezio have all stepped in and made major contributions. In particular utility infielders Hahl and Spiezio have helped in keeping Penn baseball atop of the Lou Gehrig Division. The two have combined to play every position except first base and have only committed six errors over 19 contests. Hahl's advance into the starting lineup might be the most intriguing. The native of Cincinnati, Ohio, who recently has been taking turns with redshirt freshman Shawn Spiezio for the second base job, has yet to complete one season with the Quakers and is already making his teammates and coaches smile. "Hahl is a nice-looking freshman," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "He is fundamentally very sound and he is going to be a very good player at the college level. He is in a situation right now where he is trying to learn the system and adapt to these weekend double-headers." A three-year varsity letter winner in baseball and soccer, Hahl captained both teams his senior year at Indian Hill High-School. The list of awards the second baseman received during his four years in Indian Hill includes all-city and all-league his junior and seniors years and all-state in 1996. Unlike Hahl's co-freshman, who have been unable to break into Seddon's everyday lineup, he has started over half of Penn's 19 games. Seddon said he has been pleased with Hahl's production from the nine spot. He went on to add the reason Hahl remains so far down in the order is because, together with Drew Corradini and Glen Ambrosius (who are No.'s 1 and 2 in the lineup) Penn has three "speedy players back-to-back-to-back." The experience of playing at the collegiate level on a regular basis has built confidence in the 5'11'' rookie. "Every time you get out there you feel more comfortable and you feel like you should be there," Hahl said. "The level of play is not the adjustment, it is more a mental thing. You have to just get out there and let yourself know that you belong there." While Hahl has primarily played second base, Spiezio has seen time at shortstop and third base, as well. And in the future Seddon sees Spiezio on the left side of his defense. Only in the past few games has the transfer from Wake Forest shared time with Hahl at second. Spiezio who "did not want to deal with the politics of Wake Forest baseball" decided, after chatting with the "easy going" Seddon, that the move to Philadelphia would be rewarding. Like most transfers, the combination of athletics and academics here in Quaker town caught Spiezio's eye. Minus Philadelphia's erratic weather system, which has taken some getting used to for the Lutz, Fla., native, Spiezio commented that this past year has been "a nice change" from Wake Forest. But the utility infielder has not nearly experienced the same kind of success as his fellow rookies. Spiezio is currently batting .214, but hit the ball very hard versus Columbia this weekend and feels it is just a matter of time before he gets more at bats and his batting average surges upward. "Even though I have not had that many at bats, I have been hitting the ball hard, but like right at everybody" Spiezio said. "Most of the time when I'm hitting the ball pretty hard I feel good, no matter what my average shows." Seddon supported Spiezio's own assessment that his batting average is bound to "pick up." After all as anyone who is familiar with professional baseball knows, Spiezio comes from a family steeped in baseball tradition. Cousin Scott Spiezio currently plays with Oakland A's and his uncle Ed Spiezio played in three World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and Chicago White Sox. Seddon's plan for the rest of this season is for Hahl to hit against left-handed pitchers and Spiezio to challenge righthanders. What has the coaching staff so excited is the longer these two Quakers continue to hit the tar out of the ball, Seddon and co. know that thanks to their multitalented infielders, they can find a place for Hahl and Spiezio to play.