It may be frozen up here in New York, but elsewhere it’s time for college baseball season. Our school’s baseball team is no exception.
The St. John’s baseball team kicked off the 2015 season by going 1-2 in Georgia for the Atlanta Challenge. They were beaten by Georgia Tech on Friday and then split a double-header Saturday against No. 19 Kennesaw State.
The Johnnies took a 1-0 lead in the first against Georgia Tech on Friday, but the Yellow Jackets responded by scoring six in the bottom half. Red-shirt junior catcher Tyler Sanchez hit a home run in the fourth, but Georgia Tech poured it on for a 17-3 victory. RHP Ryan McCormick gave up eight runs in just two innings pitched.
The highlight of the trip was junior RHP Cody Stashak. A transfer out of Cumberland County College in Vineland, NJ, Stashak dazzled in his Division I debut against the No. 19 team in the country. He allowed just one run on just four hits in 7.1 innings pitched. He had six perfect innings and at one point retired 11-straight batters. He got the win with help from home runs by Sanchez and freshman RF Anthony Brocato for a final score of 6-2.
In the second game of the double-header, Kennesaw State jumped out 10-0 and were able to hold on to a 10-5 victory despite a furious rally in the ninth inning from St. John’s.
Coming into the season as overwhelming favorites to win the Big East conference, the Red Storm continues its season opening road trip this Friday for a week-long trip to the Carolinas. First they’ll head for Greenville, NC for the Keith LeClair Classic to take on East Carolina, Liberty, and Michigan. They will return to Jack Kaiser Stadium, where they went 22-4 last season, on March 14.
