By Samantha Burmeister
 

March 9, 2010

The Elmhurst College men’s baseball team began the 2010 season  by dropping two games against Concordia College on March 5. 

The team traveled to Minneapolis, where they faced the Cobber’s in the Metrodome for two seven-inning games.

Due to the lack of proper facilities and poor weather, the ‘Jays have not had much practice outdoors or on turf during their preseason workouts. 

However, the team did manage to get some practicing in at Max McCook indoor Chicago facilities, which  allowed them some time on the turf.

In the 2009 season, the Cobbe’s finished with a final record of 15-18 and 8-12 in conference play.

The ‘Jays welcomed back 12 seniors to their roster while introducing only three freshmen. 

Last season Concordia’s offense was led in part by junior Tony Emmerich who posted a batting average of .409 while driving in 19 runs.  Senior Adam Johnson also pitched in while hitting .338 last season.

The Bluejays pitching seemed to be in control until the Cobber’s scored five runs with two outs to win 6-3 in the first game. 

The ‘Jays were then shut out in the second game 2-0. 

Effective pitching and consistent hitting were two areas that nagged the team last year and were again apparent in the ‘Jays opening two games.

“You always hope that your first few games don’t [actually] look like your first few games,” said head coach Joel Southern.  “You hope to avoid some of those mistakes that sometimes come with not being on the field. We prepare our guys well [for situations] in the gym.”

In the next weeks the ‘Jays will face Hanover College on March 20, Spalding Universtiy on March 21 and then Dominican University on March 25, all of which are away. 

The ‘Jays have never finished above .500 overall in the three years Southern has been head coach.  Last season the ‘Jays finished 13-23 overall, 4-15 in CCIW play. 

“I think we just want to get off to as good of a start as we can,” said Southern.  “Hanover and Spalding are south of here five or six hours, so they will have been outside a bit more, but we’ll certainly be ready to compete with them.”

The ‘Jays will travel to Arizona and some warmer weather on March 27-29 to play in the RussMatt Tournament before beginning conference play on April 2.