Men's Baseball: Waters strikes out Delaware State

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Staff
March 22, 2006

It was an up-and-down week for the Explorer baseball team this past weekend, as they opened up with two wins at home before dropping two in Texas.

On Tuesday, March 14, the Explorers hosted Delaware State at Hank DeVincent Field, and La Salle put together an offensive explosion. A seven-run first inning got things going as the Explorers went on to score 14 runs on 15 hits.

Junior Dan Waters converts one of his 12 strikeouts in the team's 14-1 victory
over Delaware State on Tuesday, March 14. Photo taken by Lou Pereseghin.

“That was the first game all year that our offense really clicked,” sophomore Mike Dertouzos said. “We had just come off a tough road trip and two tough home losses against Central Connecticut State and Cornell, so we knew we had to start hitting the ball better.

“We went into the game with our minds set on hitting. It all started with Billy in the first inning and once he got a hit and the next guy got a hit it kind of became contagious.”

Junior Billy Kern led the way, going 4 for 5 on the day with one RBI, while sophomore John Rickards went deep in the second for his first home run of the year. Also contributing was Dertouzos, who went 2 for 3 on the day. He scored two runs and knocked in three.

Junior Dan Waters pitched six innings of shutout ball, allowing only three hits. He struck out a career-high 12 batters on the day.

“Danny has done a great job of keeping us in every game he’s pitched in [and he did that against Delaware State],” junior catcher Rich Prall said.

La Salle picked up Wednesday where it had left off the day before. The Villanova Wildcats came to 20th and Olney in search of their eighth win of the season. However, they were not counting on another 14-run output by the La Salle hitters.

The bottom of the third was the backbreaker for Nova, as the Explorers sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs. Senior John Reifsnyder earned the win. In all, the Explorers used five different pitchers to secure the victory against Villanova. The final score was 14-6.

On Friday, March 17, the Explorers took a road trip to Dallas, Texas for a doubleheader with Dallas Baptist. La Salle started the first game off on the right foot, but it all went downhill from there.

The Explorers led in game one of the doubleheader after four innings by a score of 2-1. Junior John Vincent was involved in both of the Explorers’ runs, knocking one in and scoring the other. Dallas Baptist then began a barrage of runs to take over the ballgame, scoring 11 unanswered runs on its way to a 12-2 victory.

Game two was even worse for the Explorers. Dallas Baptist’s Jordan Craft tossed a gem, striking out seven on his way to a three-hit shutout of the Explorers.

La Salle did get some good news this week, as junior Dan Waters was named the Philadelphia Diamond Five Pitcher of the Week. This is only the second time that the award has been given out by the newly-formed Diamond Five. Voting for the award is conducted by the coaches of the participating teams.

Waters received the award for his masterful work in the game against Delaware State, in which he struck out 12 batters en route to his first victory of the season.

Currently 1-2 on the year with a 4.30 ERA (Editor’s note: 4.45 ERA), Waters is the first Explorer to be recognized by the Diamond Five for one of two weekly awards. Each week, the Diamond Five names a Pitcher of the Week and a Player of the Week.

This week, the Player of the Week for the Diamond Five was Villanova’s Kris Molloy, who went 10 for 14 this past week.

Editor’s note: The Explorers beat the Temple Owls in a close 5-4 contest on the strength of a sacrifice fly from sophomore Dennis Burge. Prall went 2 for 3 with a double, while Kenny Elkind went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Waters (5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 9 K) put forth another quality start and junior Gerard Breslin (1-2) picked up the win in relief.

The Explorers record stands at dismal 4-13; however, on the plus side the team’s A-10 record is a solid 3-2. This week will be crucial to the team, as they are in the midst of a stretch of five games in six days. Last night the team played at home against the Temple Owls in a Liberty Bell Classic matchup and today the Delaware Blue Hens will come to town. The three games after that will be on the road, though, as the Explorers will play a weekend series in Dayton, Ohio against the Dayton Flyers.

In reference to the team’s current tough stretch, Prall offered his thoughts: “I think we are learning to prepare mentally more than anything, and with a young team you have hope for some younger guys to step up when your grinding it out.”

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu