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Around the Horn: Student Weighs in on Brandywine Baseball
Like Mike Ditka was to the Chicago Bears or like Connie Mack was to the Philadelphia Athletics, Jeff Vickers is to the Penn State Brandywine Baseball program. Coach Vickers enters his eighth season as the Lions’ commander and is only four wins shy of reaching one hundred for his career. However, the only accomplishment Vickers is striving for this season is a Conference Championship. The team graduated four substantial players who accounted for eighty wins over their careers at Brandywine. The Lions return a core of young players and welcome a group of impressive transfers to create an unprecedented twenty-three-man roster.
The fall season opened on Sept. 7 as Penn State Wilkes-Barre traveled to Brandywine for a doubleheader. The Lions did not play the role of a courteous host as they applied the ten-run rule in both match-ups against the Wilkes-Barre squad.
Contributing to the sweep were team captains Craig Hannum, Tommy White, and Ted Seiler. Hannum enters the season as the team’s ace and will be relied on to shutdown the potent offenses of the PSUAC. “Craig wants the ball in his hand every game, and with his pitch location, I’ll have no problem giving it to him,” Vickers said. Hannum will have little difficulty keeping his arm fresh as the Lions roster ten pitchers, seven more than any roster of the past.
Another first for the team will be the addition of a pitching instructor, Tom Calvecchio; Vickers adds one of his former players to concentrate on developing and maintaining the effectiveness of his deep pitching staff. “Coach Cal gives us specialized workouts and allows practices to be split between pitchers and the rest of the guys,” said Hannum.
Ted Seiler will be the leader behind the plate in his second year as catcher. Vickers’ ability to recruit and bring in solid talent impresses Seiler, a 2007 graduate of Marple Newtown High School. “We have a whole roster of players with the ability to start, we should get off to a better start than last fall,” exclaimed Seiler who praised pitcher Craig Hannum for having a devastating slider.
Last fall, the Lions started with a record of 1-6 and had to win out the remainder of their schedule just to qualify for the playoffs. “Teddy provides a big bat and leadership behind the plate,” said Vickers. Seiler is not your typical sophomore, and with one year under his belt at the collegiate level, he will prove to be a headache for opposing teams in the PSUAC.
Solidifying the middle infield is shortstop Junior Tommy White, of Ridley. White looks forward to the success of the team this year, but is not taking anything for granted. “The pitching and the defense will be there every game, but we need to establish consistency at the plate in order to be as good as we know we can be,” said the levelheaded White. When asked what the team’s biggest strength is, White replied, “It’s got to be the chemistry. Last year it took until the spring Florida trip for the team to gel together. Right now we all look forward to practice and guys are already hanging out with each other off the field.” Team chemistry may not be reflected in the box score, but team unity always trumps talent, just ask the Yankees, who will miss the playoffs this season for the first time in fourteen seasons.
White, one of the team’s top hitters, teams up with second baseman Jimmy Burke (Upper Darby) to account for one of the best double play combos in the conference. When asked to describe the team’s biggest weakness, Hannum, Seiler, and White were stumped and struggled to give a response. Moreover, when Vickers was asked the same question, he responded, “I do not know if I can answer that, we’re a hardworking team that refuses to make mental errors. Right now I just want to focus on teaching these kids situational baseball, and make sure they understand that sometimes a groundball to first is just as effective as a homerun.”
Vickers’ goal for this team is cut and dried, “I will be disappointed with anything but a first place finish.” The team will play the eastern division of the PSUAC this fall and expects to improve on last year’s fall mark of 6-6.
-Matt Riley
