D.J. Glasgow Feb. 26, 2009

Dutch open season in Metrodome

PELLA—The Central College baseball team will shake off a long winter with a pair of early morning doubleheaders at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn. Saturday and Sunday.  

The Dutch take on Bethel Univ. (Minn.) at 5 a.m. Saturday and Sunday they play Hamline Univ. (Minn.) at 4 a.m.

Central returns four starting position players and three starting pitchers from last year’s 22-21 club.

Coach Adam Stevens doesn’t expect the unusual start times to be a problem for his team.

“We’re used to practicing and working out in the mornings,” said Stevens. “Plus these are our first games of the year and we’re facing two quality opponents. I don’t think anybody should need any more reason to be excited and come ready to play.”

Bethel and Hamline were each 20-game winners last season finishing 21-18 and 23-18, respectively. Central met Hamline in the Metrodome in last year’s season opener, winning 4-2 before falling 12-9.

“We feel like our preparation in the gym has been good,” said Stevens. “But you can only know so much without playing a game.”

The pitching staff especially will be put to the test early with four games in two days. Stevens expects a lot of pitchers to see innings.

“Our goal is to get guys up to throwing a certain number of pitches in practice to have them ready for games,” Stevens said. “Not everyone is there right now and there are a lot of innings to pitch this weekend.”

Junior Trevor Talbot (Sioux City, East HS), sophomore D.J. Glasgow (Burlington) and freshman Corey Eisenman (Bloomingdale, Ill., Driscoll Catholic HS) have been pegged to start three of the games, and Stevens is hopeful that senior Adam Squires (Center Point, Center Point Urbana HS) will be available to start the fourth, after suffering an injury during the preseason.

After nearly a month of practice the infield remains an area of uncertainty because of the number of options.

“Our infield will be all different from last year,” said Stevens. “We’ve got good infielders at every position and at most positions we’ve got more than one guy.”

Freshman Mike Furlong (Davenport, Assumption HS) will open the season at shortstop. Sophomore Dave Lakin (Clinton) will join him at second base, and at third base time will be split between sophomore Anthony Miller (Davenport, Assumptions HS) and freshman Tyler Wivinis (Downers Grove, Ill., South HS) for opening weekend. Sophomore Kyle Hammann (Knoxville) will be a backup for all three positions. The only returning infield starter is Derek Knutson (senior, Richland, Wash., Yorkville (Ill.) HS), but he’s playing a new position at first base after splitting time between catcher and the outfield last year.

“Our focus has been on fundamentals all around so far,” Stevens said. “We’re continuing to improve from where we were in the fall which is great, and the work ethic has been outstanding. I’m excited to see how our guys react.”

After returning from the Metrodome the Dutch are back in action March 13 on their spring trip to Fort Meyers, Fla. Central will play its first game at its Kuyper Athletics Complex baseball field March 25 against Grinnell College.