Ribbie Reporter -- The Generals win the pennant!

At long last, I have my report from the ODAC baseball tournament. W&L’s pennant is their first ever and will also result in their first-ever trip to the NCAA playoffs. They’ll return to action May 13 in Salisbury, Md.

Rest? Who needs to rest in the playoffs?

There were many standouts during the five games of course, but pitchers Brendan Clark and Chuck Davidson deserve special mention. The two gentlemen pitched a combined 24.1 innings (out of a possible 45). They allowed ZERO earned runs and only two earned runs. Davidson pitched 8 innings on one day’s rest in the semifinal, allowing only 1 unearned run on four hits. He even told the coached he wanted to pitch in the final, though thankfully they wouldn’t let him. Davidson’s secrets were simple: avoid walking people, throw your fastball on the corners with consistency and use a good slider for strikeouts. Clark pitched in four relief in all four of the victories. His most impressive showing was when he threw 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to protect a 6-6 tie in the quarterfinals. In that stretched he struck out five, walked one and gave up two hits. The win in that quarterfinal – against Randolph-Macon College – came after senior Second baseman Byron Peyster bashed a two-run homer in the top of the 9th to break a 6-6 tie. The homer – Byron’s first of the season and third of his college career – came on a 1-2 count. I asked Byron what he was thinking at the plate, and his response deserves to be reprinted here: “Well, I’d struck out looking the previous at bat, so I just got really close to the plate and kept thinking, ‘don’t let him call you out again.’ The pitch was right over the middle of the plate so I swung as hard as I could and feeling that bat connect was a really, really good feeling.”

Ah yes, the mantra for successful hitting: “I swung as hard as I could.”

The title game

By Sunday afternoon’s championship game, both W&L and opponent Virginia Wesleyan were nearly out of pitching. Both teams had already played four games in as many days, and the title match would be game five. W&L trotted out Andrew Henderson, a senior who’d had a tough season, losing his DH job and then his spot in the pitching rotation. His ERA was an unsightly 7.20. He’d been lit up on Friday in W&L’s only tournament loss, throwing a disastrous relief stint where he couldn’t hit the strike zone. So we were a bit concerned about what might happen.

Henderson has good stuff. But he’s so inconsistent that you never know what’s coming. His best weapon is a big 12-6 curveball that he throws consistently for strikes. His fastball is in the low 80s, far from overpowering. But in the title game, he was extremely effective. He threw his fastball to both corners, and most of the times he missed his target it was low and away (a good spot to miss). This let him throw the curveball on 1-2 counts several times, and he got three batters to strike out looking. And he focused on challenging hitters and trusting his defense. Wesleyan got two out hits in the first, third and fifth, but since Henderson was challenging – and retiring – lead-off hitters the damage was minimal. He gave up a solo homer in the fourth to the Wesleyan cleanup man but pounced back by retiring the next three men in order. Henderson finally tired in the sixth, allowing a double and single to Virginia Wesleyan’s best two hitters. But by that point W&L was up 10-1.

When you start a pitcher with a 7.20 ERA you’re just hoping for one or two decent innings. Henderson gave W&L five of them. Wesleyan’s starter, in contrast, didn’t make out of the first. They’d gone through two pitchers and were down 6-0 before they ever got a chance to bat.

What’s next

I don’t know if what will happen at the regionals. W&L could go 0-2 and be back home in 48 hours. But in 2005 Hampden-Sydney – the number six seed in the ODAC – won the conference tournament and the regional, advancing all the way to the D-III World Series. W&L in 2009 was the number six seed in the ODAC. Could fate repeat itself? Here’s what I do know: If Davidson and Clark continue to throw strikes and mow down batters, W&L will be a scary team at regionals. If surprising standouts like Andrew Henderson suddenly emerge, who knows what can happen?