Experience is a difficult teacher, because the test comes before the lesson is learned. Shepherd University’s Baseball team will lack the experience it had from last year’s team, but the future is bright, as it has plenty of talent to compete for the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
I recently sat down with Wayne Riser, the all-time winningest coach in Shepherd athletic history, and asked him about this year’s team. Riser said that he likes what he has seen so far in the team’s approach to balancing practice with academics. Unfortunately the team has not had enough practice outdoors, due to snow and field conditions. Practicing indoors has not been tremendously productive, as there are obvious limits to what can be accomplished with hitting and fielding drills.
The Rams have just three returning seniors from last year’s team that won the Northern Division of the WVIAC. The current team has 16 new players and 11 that hai1 from the Eastern Panhandle. The Rams have opened their 2007 schedule with a disapointing 1-4 start. Riser’s team has manufactured just 14 runs in 5 games thus far, but there is a sense of optimism within the team that grows with each contest. The squad will certainly gain valuable experience as the season continues, and with strong pitching and defense the offense will come around. The key games this season will come against conference foes in what should be a close race for the North Division.
The Rams are chock full of local talent and all of the local guys should contribute to the team’s success. The Rams have 3 catchers with local ties. Justin Everhart (Falling Waters), Matt Bartgis (Hedgesville) and Westley Jenkins (Harpers Ferry) could all share time calling pitches behind the plate.
In early March the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association ranked the Rams 8th in the Mid Atlantic Region. Shepherd is one of four teams within the WVIAC that was ranked, so expectations from Ram fans are high despite the slow start.
Harpers Ferry’s Steve Kozak should be the ace of the Ram pitching staff. Last season he led the team in strikeouts and went 5-0 in 12 starts. Kozak has started the 2007 season 1-1. In his last outing he threw five shutout innings in a win against Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Brandon Armentrout(Martinsburg) finished with two scoreless innings in relief. Coach Riser believes that pitching depth should be one of the team’s strengths this season.

Junior first baseman Dirk Webb(Hedgesville) will be one of the leaders on offense. He scored twice and drove in a run in the win against IUP.