WPI Baseball Primed for a Championship

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Joe Parello, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Senior John Flynn has provided power in the middle of WPI's order.

The baseball team at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute is off to a hot start, and has big plans for the rest of the season.

“Obviously, the goal is to win the conference and get to the NCAA tournament,” coach Mike Callahan said. “That’s the goal every year, but the team has a really strong confidence right now. We feel like we can do some good things this year.”

The Engineers sit at 10-5 overall, and 2-1 in the NEWMAC after taking two out of three from Babson earlier this week. WPI’s two victories over last year’s conference champions put them in good position early for a run at the NEWMAC title. The Engineers have relied heavily on their deep starting pitching staff to keep them in games early on, and found timely hitting to win four games by two runs or less.

Leading the Engineers’ pitching staff is junior Shane Sampson. A Worcester resident that starred at West Boylston during his high school days, Sampson has worked as both a starting and relief pitcher. Sampson currently leads the team with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, and thinks the team is just now hitting its stride.

“We’ve started to get back into the swing of things and really get going,” Sampson said. “We’ve really improved defensively since our road trip to Florida, and our bats are starting to come around. Our confidence is definitely high.”

Firepower on Offense

Offensively, the Engineers are powered by sophomore David Trujillo. The Sutton native leads WPI with a .422 batting average and 13 RBI so far this season. Senior John Flynn is also flirting with the .400 mark, batting .393 with a .518 slugging percentage. In all, the Engineers have four players batting over .290, and have a remarkable .366 on-base percentage as a team.

Impressive Start for Pitching Staff

Still, WPI will go as far as its pitching can take it. The Engineers boast and impressive team ERA of 2.79, and have surrendered only two home runs through 15 games. The pitching staff has gotten a boost from freshman Andrew Portera, who has been a pleasant surprise addition to the starting rotation. Portera is currently 2-0 with a complete game in three starts, and second on the team with a 1.17 ERA.

A Productive Spring Break

The Engineers fared well on their early season road trip to Florida, going 7-3 against some stiff competition. The trip also allowed the team to play outdoors, something they are not normally able to do this time of year.

“The trip was big for us, because it got us outside and off the turf,” Callahan said. “There are just some things that you see out on a baseball field that you can’t simulate inside. I think it’s really helped some of the younger guys and guys that have changed positions to come along on offense and defense.”

Uncommon Maturity

With a number of younger players contributing, you might think WPI would have some trouble staying focused. Sampson, one of the team’s three captains, says that could not be farther than the truth. On the contrary, Sampson believes this is one of the most focused team's he has ever been a part of, and thinks that may be WPI's biggest strength.

“Being a captain, it’s really just my job to make sure everybody is ready to go,” Sampson said. “That’s not a problem with this team. The guys understand we have to be mentally and physically focused from pitch one to the final pitch. My responsibility now is just to make sure the young guys are coming along.”

Next up for the Engineers is conference rival Springfield on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 pm. You can find WPI’s complete schedule here.

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