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Messiah Baseball Prepped For '08 Campaign With New Leadership
Posted: 2/11/2008
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First-year head coach Bryan Engle said he will rely heavily on the play - and leadership - of his seven seniors.

Grantham, PA — With a major stadium renovation completed and a new head coach in place, optimism is running high in the Messiah College baseball program.

Former standout pitcher and 2003 Messiah graduate Bryan Engle looks to take the reigns as the 11th coach in the 44-year history of the Falcons program this spring, replacing 15-year veteran Frank Montgomery, who retired at the conclusion of the 2007 campaign.

With the season-opener less than one week away — Messiah is scheduled to travel to Eastern Mennonite University on Feb. 16 — Engle said he is beginning to feel the excitement of the approaching season, while looking to make his first year as head coach a great one.

“It’s not nervousness,” Engle said of his anticipation. “It’s excitement. It’s so helpful to have a veteran team. I’m pretty excited because they’ve grasped what we’re trying to do as a coaching staff. They’ve gotten after it the last few months, and we all expect improvements.”

Engle assumes leadership of a squad that produced a 17-20 overall record in 2007, returning all of its starting position players. A talented recruiting class made up of 11 newcomers should provide Engle with a deep bench, while a completely redesigned stadium should pay immediate dividends: A new outfield fence could drastically change the team’s numbers this season, with just 395 feet to centerfield and 330 feet down the lines.

“It could have a huge effect,” Engle said of the new-look stadium. “I think primarily it will benefit us from a pride standpoint, as our guys will now be really looking forward to playing at home. Offensively I think we may see some numbers go up. What used to be a long fly ball out may now be a home run. As a (former) pitcher, I’d always rather see a 1-0 game than a 10-9 game, but I think it will make for some exciting baseball.”

Engle — who played four years under Montgomery and was the 2003 MAC Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Year — said that it was an honor to carry the torch passed on by his former coach, as Montgomery concluded his tenure as Messiah’s all-time leader in wins with 267.

“To come back and take over for a guy I played for is special,” Engle said. “It’s not awkward or uneasy in any way. Coach Montgomery wants to see the program continue to rise. We have a great friendship and he stays in contact with me to see how we’re doing. He has certainly helped make the transition a smooth one.”

Pitching

The 2008 Messiah baseball team has two team goals, and two team goals only.

“We want to win the next game that we play, and we want to win the last game of the season,” said Engle. “If we worry about those two components, everything else will take care of itself.”

A deep and talented pitching corps should aid those ideals, as the Falcons’ rotation could go as many as 11 deep. Senior Dan Kern returns with a team-best 6-2 record in 2007, while senior Jeremy Stoltzfus (team-leading 33 strikeouts) will see starting time as well.

“It should be a strength of ours, as we return a solid core of pitchers,” Engle said. “I’m not sure if there’s a (major league) draft guy in there, but we’ve got some experience and some young arms that can do some things. Every time out, they’re going to give us a chance to stay in the game.”

Seniors Chandler Sheaffer and Kyle Stuckey will also see some time on the mound, with Stuckey being one of three southpaws on Messiah’s roster. Transfer sophomore Sheldon Witmer — from NCAA Division II Millersville University — has been impressive during the pre-season months as well.

“Kern probably gets the nod as our ace because of his numbers last year, but this group will make it tough on me to establish a true league rotation because of the solid arms we have,” Engle said. “Three pitchers is the norm in league play, and you really want to get into a consistency of knowing when you’re going to pitch.”

As if those possibilities weren’t enough, the Falcons return junior pitcher Kurt Heim to the mix, a hard-throwing right-hander who finished 2007 with a team-leading five saves and 2.22 ERA. Heim struck out 19 batters in 92 at-bats, also a team-leading ratio. Senior Ben Jordan will also see a strong role on the mound, giving Engle options both as a starter and a reliever. Freshman Travis Thome has also looked good in early season work and will have opportunities to toe the rubber.

“Kurt is a true, hard-throwing closer,” Engle said. “In NCAA Division III you don’t see traditional closers that often, but he embraces the challenges of late-game situations.”

Even with no true rotation clearly in place until the season gets underway, it is certain that Engle — who also was a Third-Team Mid-Atlantic Region All-American hurler in 2003 — will have a vested interest in the performance and improvement of his pitching staff.

“You win baseball games with pitching and defense,” he said. “I think this staff can do some really good things for us. We have high expectations.”

Infield

Messiah returns its entire infield for the ’08 campaign, with a few alterations: Senior Craig Mease moves to second base after manning the shortstop position over the last two years, while sophomore Jon-Mike Richards takes over the gap.

“Our infield, in making a few changes, should be improved from last year,” Engle said. “I think, as a rule, guys will be much more comfortable. Last year guys were playing at spots that maybe weren’t their normal positions, and were playing there out of necessity. Our infield is all one more year experienced, better fundamentally and with those things, they should be more comfortable which will lead to being better offensively.”

Anchoring the defense will be junior catcher Ben Kirk, who hit .306 last season while committing just three errors. Belying the prototype for backstops, Kirk hit four doubles in ’07 while going eight for eight on stolen base attempts.

“I think we have one of the best catchers in the league, maybe the region,” Engle said. “Ben should have a great season for us. Defensively he has one of the best arms we’ll see, and he just understands the game behind the plate. He’ll hit four or five for us, he leads us and he’s a vocal guy. He’ll be a gamer for us and he’ll get after it.”

Stuckey will most likely spend most of his time at first base, as the senior hit .286 last season while driving in a team-leading 20 RBI. Sophomore Adam Ranck is the probable starter at third base. Mease drew a team-best 23 walks last season, while Richards hit .256.

“Guys will push guys for playing time in the infield,” Engle said. “That should only make us better. We had 74 total errors last year and 38 were committed by the middle infield. I think our guys have shown a strong desire to be much better defensively, and I think we will be.”

Outfield

Perhaps the Falcons’ most exciting group of players, Engle said he believes big things are in store for the team’s projected starting outfielding corps of junior Jon Ebersole (left), sophomore Jordan Zimmerman (center) and Witmer (right), as the trio should provide the team with the bulk of its offense and speed.

Zimmerman returns after a phenomenal freshman campaign which produced a .308 batting average and team-leading three home runs, earning All-MAC Commonwealth honors as a result. Ebersole also hit .308 and is expected to serve as the leadoff hitter in ’08, while Witmer has adjusted well after arriving on campus in the fall, according to Engle.

“Our outfield should be phenomenal,” Engle said. “We should have speed and power out there every time out. One thing we’ve stressed with these guys is fundamentals. If we can really get better at those, we should be able to do some big things both offensively and defensively. We’ve got three guys out there that compete and make sure they’re doing the right things to win.”

Senior designated hitter / utility man Ben Snyder should only improve those chances, as Snyder led the team in most offensive categories last season. His .342 batting average and .433 slugging average were tops on the squad, while he also belted nine doubles and drove in 17 runs.

“Ben Snyder is the ultimate team player,” Engle said. “He’ll do whatever it takes to make the team successful, and could play any of the outfield positions if he’s called upon. He could also catch or play corner infield. He’s the type of guy you want on your team not just because of his bat, but because of his team-first attitude. He makes everyone better.”

In his first season in a coaching role, Engle has brought in an entirely new staff, as 2002 Messiah graduate Derek Price, Andy Srebroski and Steve DeRiggs will join as assistant coaches.

“We have a great group of coaches who have instantly paid dividends to our players,” Engle said. “I am really excited about what we’ve got going here already.”

It won’t be long until Engle and company get a chance to showcase that excitement, as the season-opening double-header at EMU is slated for a 12 p.m. start on Feb. 16. The team will then travel to the University of Mary Washington a week later, facing the Eagles in a double-dip also slated to begin at noon.

It begins a journey that Engle hopes exceeds even his expectations.

“This is a great group of guys that come together to form what I think can be a very good team,” he said. “As a whole, I’m really excited. During my playing days, I’m not sure we ever had the lineup top to bottom that this team has offensively. We have a lot of good, good ballplayers whose closeness off the field will make us better than the sum of our parts.”