Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Feb. 4, 2005, edition 1 / Page 15
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Feb. 4, 2005 www.guilfordian.com Baseball team takes first at-bat Taleisha Bowen Staff Writer And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go," reads a line in Thayer's poem "Casey at Bat," which first appeared in The San Francisco Examiner in 1888 -six years before Guilford College's first base ball team had an at bat. Come Feb. 6, the current incarnation of that same team will hold the ball and let it go as they enter their 111 th sea son. The Quakers hope to improve from last season, which saw a 20-19 record, leaving them in eighth place out of ten teams in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). They finished 6-12 in conference play. TALEISHA BOWEN/GUILFORDIAN This season's first game wilt be Feb. 6 Despite the non-stellar sea son, last year's team did have the sixth-highest number of at bats, the fourth-highest team batting-average, and the third highest number of hits since Guilford College began keep ing team record books. Of the returning players, 18 are letter winners and seven are starters. Returning stand outs include senior team co captain Adam Comstock, junior co-captain Rob Bittner, who had seven home runs last year and 45 runs batted-in (RBIs), as well as senior co-captain Josh Miller. Miller was the winner of Guilford's Most Valuable Player award for 2004, with two home runs, 36 RBIs, and a .414 batting average-- the team's highest. Miller was named to the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) College Division All-State Baseball Team, along with now graduat ed teammate A.J. McCauley. "Bittner and Miller had huge years last year," said head coach Gene Baker. "I don't know if it's fair to expect the same numbers from them this year. But they can still have even more of an impact as far as run-scoring ability." The loss of McCauley as a player may prove a major challenge for the team. Last year, McCauley's batting average was .362, and over the course of his time at Guilford, McCauley joined the ranks of Guilford legend and current major league standout Tony Womack, appearing several times in the team record book with the career high in stolen bases (85 bases in 154 games), hits (243), and overall batting average (.380). "We haven't really lost AJ," said Baker. "He's helping coach a little bit." This is Baker's seventh year with the Quakers. He has a 155-132 record here, and an overall record of 354-488. Baker is in his seventeenth season coaching college base ball. The team's starting lineup is young compared to last year's. "There's only one first-year, and only one senior (starting)," said Baker. "There are a lot of sophomores and juniors. This year and next year, we're real ly going to play with the same team." There is a strong sense of SPORTS Baseball team practices Feb. 1 solidarity among this year's squad which may prove to be a catalyst for their success. "I love the camaraderie with my teammates," said first-year pitcher Scottie Wilcox. "We hang out together, we eat together, and we practice together. A lot of us live together." "It works because you have to know each other on and off the field to play well together," Wilcox said. "Our greatest strengths are pitching depth and hitting depth," said Baker. "I don't know that we can identify a particular guy who is our num ber-one pitcher, but we've got the luxury of six or seven or eight guys who can all go out there and get people out any day." "I think we have a really good pitching crew and some really deep hitters," said Wilcox. "We look good." The first baseball game of the season is Feb. 6, at Methodist College at 2 p.m. The first home game will be Feb. 8, on Mcßane field, against Southern Virginia College, also at 2 p.m. The team's first conference game is at Eastern Mennonite College on Feb. 27. The Quakers are confident that a strong start will send them in the right direction towards a successful season. "We do look really good this year," said sophomore catcher Phil Drew. "This year's team is a lot younger than last year - we have a lot of sophomores and juniors starting. But every one knows everyone else's strengths and weaknesses. We play together real well."3€ Yoga club helps students shape up Genevieve Holmes Staff Writer Guilford College has just started a yoga club on campus. It meets Fridays from 1 to 2:lspm in the Alumni gym. "Yoga is centering," said Susan Newton. "You know who you are, you know how you feel." Newton is the new yoga instructor at Guilford College who previous ly taught at Brown, Smith and Wellesley. Newton took over for Alice Vaughn- Goldman. Vaughn- Goldman used to teach a class for both stu dents and faculty. She now instructs Yoga at the Triad Yoga „fc VWWV.EVERGREEN.EDU Yoga improves flexibility and overall fitness Institute in Greensboro "(Yoga) teaches you how strong your body really is, discipline, and the ability to stretch your self more than you could in just about any other sport," said senior Julie Balasalle. The club is not to be confused with the yoga classes which are being changed from the one credit class of this year to two levels of instruc tion for the fall 'OS semester. Introduction to Yoga One may be taken for one credit and Mixed Level Yoga Two may be taken for one credit. Newton teaches the classes as well as instructs the club. In addition, Newton Page 15 Greensboro. N.C. believes that students need to be more aware of their self-importance. They need to take care of themselves. "Yoga teaches you keen awareness that's not isolating. You learn to be open-minded and open-hearted," Newton said. "You put your life in perspective." Matt Salisbury, senior at Guilford College and another student of Newton's was intrigued by the idea of learning yoga. "I was curious, really," he said. "I wanted to check it out and see what it was about. It's been pretty exciting. I didn't expect it to be as chal lenging as it is." Students should take advantage of the new yoga program at Guilford. "If nothing else, yoga helps with posture and breath training," Newton said. "Even if it's only for an hour and fifteen min utes a day, Yoga can help improve one's out look on life, the way one carries oneself, and med itation.". The program has proven to be a nice addi tion many students' daily routines, including Salisbury's. "I'm getting more flexi ble and stronger and the teacher is really knowl edgeable. I think it's good for people to do different sorts of things." he said.3€
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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