NORFOLK, Va. (Feb. 8) -- The Old Dominion University baseballsquad opens the 2000 season against South Carolina in thefirst round of the Citadel Classic in Charleston, SC. Thegame will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
Old Dominion willthen play Maryland on Saturday at 10 am, then finish thetournament against N.C. State on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Pre-season All-American shortstop Tim Hummel heads a list of 15 returninglettermen, including four position starters and two starting pitchers from lastyears'CAA Tournament finalists. The Monarchs have reached the CAA Tournament finalsfive of the last six years.
Hummel earned first team All-CAA, All-State and All-Region honors in1999.Hewas also selected to the Cape Cod Summer League All-Star squad along withMonarchteammates Shawn Weaver and Shawn Pearson. In 1999, Hummel hit .368 with fivehome runs, 62 runs batted in, 21 stolen bases and 21 doubles. He led the teamin rbi,in doubles, and ranked first in the CAA in doubles and sixth in rbi. During thesummer, Hummel led the league with 37 walks, was third with a .440 on basepercentage and scored 38 runs.
He was selected second team pre-season All-American by BASEBALL AMERICAand third team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, andCOLLEGIATE BASEBALL MAGAZINE. "Since his freshman year, Tim has really grown inall facets of his game. He has gotten stronger, faster and has an oustandingwork ethic," said Monarch head coach Tony Guzzo. "We are really excited for himandall of the national publicity has been richly deserved."
Also returning are Jason Greiner (Sr.,Of .278 ba/8 hr/41 rbi), Joe Troilo(Sr. OF, .272 ba/ 5 hr/41 rbi) ,Jared Musolf (So,1b, .279 ba), and Jeff Eure(So. 3b, hr). The Monarchs will also be counting on Travis Silver (Jr, C, ),Ross Robertson (Jr,,inf,),Brendan Mitchell (Jr, C), and Brent Sollenberger (Fr.inf), who was granted amedical redshirted last year.
On the mound, the Monarchs return Brian Ross (Jr, LHP,1-0, 3.21 era), ShawnWeaver( Jr, RHP, 9-4, 4.65 era), Louis Mazzante (So,RHP, 4-2), Parker Friske.(Jr, LHP, 3-2), Jon Tinkham (So.,LHP), and red-shirt freshman, Mike Hoover (Fr.RHP). Weaver pitched three complete games and tossed shutouts against Virginiaand UNC Charlotte. Weaver ranked second in the Cape Cod League with a 1.58 ERA.Ross returned late in the season from an injury and tossed a solid complete gamewin in the CAA Tournament against George Mason which put the Monarchs back intothe CAA finals.
Gone from last year's team that finished 30th in the final NCAA RPIrankings with a28-4 non conference record are Tony Gsell (2b, .375 ba./17 hr/ 61 rbi), AnthonyForelli (lb, .336 ba/12 hr/58 rbi), Jim Detwiler (RHP, 8-3, 3.66 era, 6 hr),Shawn Pearson (cf, .318 ba, 43 steals), Eric Folmar (C, .245 ba ), Andy Lee(LHP, 1.91 era, 3-1, 10 saves), David Bailey (RHP, 8-5, 4.65 era), and BenHamlet (LHP).
Gsell, became the school's all-time career homerun leader with 37, andearned second team All-CAA honors. He was also the school's Male Athlete of theYear. Gsellalso hit four career grand slam homers, the most in school history. He wasdrafted inthe 16th round by the Chicago Cubs. Anthony Forelli completed his career as theMonarchs fourth all-time homerun hitter and was drafted by Milwaukee in the 26thround. Jim Detwiler hit homers but was one of the most dominating pitchers inthe CAA last year. He tossed three shutouts and earned All-CAA honors. Detwilerwas drafted in the 16th round by Toronto Blue Jays. Shawn Pearson signed withToronto after an All-Star summer in the Cape Cod League. Pearson was second inthe CAA in steals and led the Cape in that category. Ace reliever, Andy Leehad ten saves and earned All- CAA , All-State and second team All-Region honors.David Bailey won eight games and later signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Tony Guzzo's staff brought in a very talented crop of 11 newcomers. Theyincludefive pitchers, four outfielders, an infielder and a catcher. The newcomers areRyanDunn (Fr, OF) from Bristol, Va.; Kevin Evans (Fr. RHP) from Medford, NJ.; ChrisGrynaviski (Fr,2b) from Emmaus, Pa.); Barry Hertzler (Fr. RHP) from EastProvidence,RI ; Kevin Heninger (Fr. C) from Virginia Beach, Va.;Rusty Hummel (Fr. RHP) fromMontgomery, NY.; J.D. Jackson (Jr, RHP) from Sallisaw, OK.; Dan McAfee (Fr, RHP)from Crofton, Md.; Matt Moye (Fr., OF) from Beaver Falls, Pa..); Jesse Thomas(Fr., OF) from Ventnor, NJ; David Vilardi (So, OF) from Fishkill, NY.) and RyanWilliams (Fr, RHP) from Virginia Beach, Va..
"It is really tough to replace the guys we lost last year. Because of theyouthfulnessof this team and the fact that some returnees will be playing differentpositions we havea lot of question marks,"notes Guzzo. "I really like our freshmen class, but wewant to bring them along slowly. We have another strong schedule which can onlymake us a better teamdown the road and prepare us for the CAA games. We want to be playing our bestbaseball down the stretch."
Once again the Monarchs will play another challenging schedule. Five nonconference opponents who played in last year's NCAA Tournament as well as the 21games in the CAA, which ranked third among the nation's conferences. The CAAput three teams in last year's NCAA tournament. The five non conference teamswho went to the NCAA's in 1999 are N.C. State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Rutgers,Virginia Tech and South Carolina. Also on the Monarchs schedule are Virginia,Duke, Maryland and Princeton. Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Wake Forest and UNCCharlotte will be home games. The CAA three-game home series will be againstRichmond, George Mason,and UNC Wilmington.
The Monarchs open the season at the Citadel Classic against South Carolinaon Feb.11. The first home game is on Feb. 25 against Rutgers while the first CAA seriesisMarch 17 against Richmond.
Old Dominion will again play the New York Mets AAA affiliate, NorfolkTidesin the annual scholarship game in Norfolk's Harbor Park. This year's CAATournamentmoves to the Outer Banks town of Manteo, NC, May 16-21. The Monarchs willplaya non-conference game in Manteo against CAA rival Virginia Commonwealth on April24.