Oglethorpe University Baseball 2025 Season Recap

From the Official Athletics Site of the Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels:

ATLANTA - Head Coach Kellen Greer's fourth season came to a close on graduation day after another year of marked improvement.

The season began with a Sunday split against Brandeis with a close 3-2 loss in game one, then an 11-6 win. The Petrels also split their series with Kalamazoo, then Huntingdon handed them their first road loss.

Oglethorpe started a winning streak in late February, triumphing in seven straight games. Conference play began in mid-March with Berry ending the win streak. The Petrels did steal one game from Berry, then picked up a pair of wins against Centre. As the end of the regular season drew near, Oglethorpe started another winning streak thanks to Piedmont and Rhodes.

The Petrels swept the series against the latter before heading to the Southern Athletic Association tournament. The team faced Rhodes once again in the opening round, but could not repeat the energy from the previous weekend.

Award Winners

• Jonathan Cruz: All-SAA first team and SAA Athlete of the Week
• Jaxson Corr: All-SAA second team
• Trey Kinnan: All-SAA second team
• Isaiah Pou: All-SAA second team
• Tate Henderson: All-SAA honorable mention
• Cooper Krause: All-SAA honorable mention
• Nick Tarantino: All-SAA honorable mention
• JB Sain: SAA Athlete of the Week

Team Notes

• Eight freshmen made their debut: Sain, Cade Eidham, Ryan Causey, Konner Burrell, Hayden Partain, Aiden Holley, Will Lumpkin and Cian Khajavi.
• Six players made their Oglethorpe debut: Jace Armstrong, Tyler Hower, Rhett Wells, Jayson Barber, Alex Kerr and Sam Kates.
• Oglethorpe graduated 18 seniors/MBAs/dual degree players: Blair Barnes, Mason Pearcy, Sam Mills, Grant Guinther, Colin Stewart, Jake Hill, Matt Huckabee, Cooper Krause, Hunter Spence, Charlie Boyce, Cruz, Nick Tarantino, Greg Johnson, Brennan Boone, Gavin Latham, Shane Newsome, Jack Groh and Kates.
• Because the SAA tournament began the same weekend as Oglethorpe's graduation, the Petrels held their own private ceremony on Monday, May 5, in Lupton Auditorium.
• Freshman Brooks Gresehover worked the broadcast this season and Latham served as a team photographer.

Season Notes

• Record: 21-20.
• This was assistant coach Andy Hoyer's fourth season and Parker Hildebrecht's '23 second season.
• Oglethorpe faced Brandeis, Husson and Berea for the first time.
• The Petrels played Hanover for the first time since 1994.

Individual Leaders

• Cruz scored 44 runs, had 66 hits, 25 RBIs and stole nine bases. He also had a .522 slugging percentage. Cruz had the best batting average in the SAA (.433), led in hits, ranked second for assists, fourth for runs, and fifth for on-base percentage (.518).
• Pou recorded 37 runs, 43 hits, 10 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases. He led the SAA in on-base percentage (.544), ranked third for home runs, second for slugging percentage (.750), eighth for batting average (.393) and RBIs, and sixth for stolen bases.
• Corr ranked 3rd in the SAA for batting average (.404), had 35 hits & scored 28 runs.
• Jace Armstrong recorded a 7.01 ERA, ranking sixth in the SAA. He pitched 59.1 innings and struck out 32 batters.
• Kinnan had 61 hits and scored 28 runs. He ranked second in conference for stolen bases with 28 and also ranked 10th for batting average (.381), fifth for hits, and ninth for RBIs.
• Pearcy had 28 hits, scored 21 runs and had 20 RBIs. He ranked fifth in conference for putouts.
• Dylan Quintilio struck out 36 batters.
• Krause had 40 hits, scored 25 runs, hit four home runs, had 29 RBIs and stole seven bases. His batting average was .333, a slugging percentage of .492, and on-base percentage of .414.
• Brick Conway had 22 hits, scored 21 runs and stole nine bases.
• Henderson struck out 26 batters, Burrell made 25, and Sain followed with 24.
• Drew Jabaley scored 20 runs.
• Causey had 25 hits and 28 RBIs.

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On a personal note, #22 in your programs and #1 in your hearts, Paul Gaeta, suffered through a bit of a “Sophomore Slump” but kept battling and never stopped working hard and always supported his teammates.  (There were highlights, including his first collegiate start.)

All in all, I’m very proud of how he handled himself and the personal commitment he has made for his offseason. Please allow me this two-minute indulgence from a proud dad. 😉

#GoPetrels | #StayStormy

Attention Atlanta Area Pitchers! [College Pitchers, High School Commits, and Senior Prep Athletes]

Click image for larger version.

Proud Dad

Proud Dad!

I am proud to say that our boy will be continuing his education next year at Oglethorpe University here in Atlanta.  He has verbally committed to pitch for the Stormy Petrels baseball team beginning in the '23-'24 school year.

Let's get Stormy!

A Little Baseball Talk for Friday.

From an article in The Daily News on 11 April 2014. Thank you, Mark Feinsand. 

The Red Sox didn’t utter a peep to the umpires about the substance on Pineda’s hand, so it didn’t become an issue during the game.

“No one said a word,” crew chief Brian O’Nora said. “The Red Sox didn’t bring it to our attention, so there’s nothing we can do about it. If they bring it to our attention, then you’ve got to do something, but they didn’t bring it to our attention.”

“Nobody asked me,” Pineda said. “Nobody said nothing about that.”

Perhaps Boston’s silence was the product of a pair of incidents last season in which two Red Sox pitchers were accused of doctoring the ball themselves.

Clay Buchholz — Pineda’s opposing starter Thursday night — was accused by Blue Jays TV analyst and former World Series MVP Jack Morris of throwing spitballs during a start against Toronto in May.

Then during the World Series, a photo on Twitter showed a strange green substance on Jon Lester’s glove during his Game 1 start, which Lester later said was rosin. MLB opted not to take any action based on the lack of evidence and the fact that the Cardinals did not complain.

Red Sox manager John Farrell said he was made aware of the substance on Pineda’s hand in the fourth inning Thursday night, but when the pitcher returned to the mound in the fifth, his palm was clean.

“That’s the extent of it,” Farrell said.

Farrell went to great lengths to downplay the issue, making it clear he didn’t have a problem with Pineda.

If anything, his message — and that of other Red Sox pitchers — seemed to be that if you’re going to do it, don’t get caught.