16
THE GUILFORDIAN
Baseball
Fulton drives Quaker steamboat towards ODAC
Jon Dunkle
Staff Writer
The 1992 Guilford baseball teamis com
ing off a 17-12 season, its first winning
season since
1983 and their
bers of the Beville
Old Domin
ion Athletic Conference. Last season the
Quakers took seven of nine games against
ODAC teams.
Guilford begins the season with the pitch
ing staff as its greatest strength. The top
three starters, juniors Chan Whitson and
Tony Smith, and sophomore Marty Stern
were a combined 10-2 last season. Whitson
led the team in virtually every pitching cat
egory as he compiled a 4-1 record with a
2.30 ERA. He will be the opening day starter
on Saturday. Last year's number two starter,
Tony Smith, threw the only shutout by a
Guilford pitcher last season, a 10-0 thrash
ing of ODAC opponent Emory & Henry.
This season marks his third as a starter. As
a freshman last season, Stern averaged a
Baseball Roster
No Name Pos. Bats Thr Yr Hometown
1 J.J. Rogers OF L L SO Raleigh, NC
2 Jeff Smith SS/2B L R JR Greensboro, NC
3 Jeny Marshall P/3B R R SO Danville, VA
4 Shane Handy OF R R SR Randleman, VA
5 Clarence Inscore OF L R SR Raleigh, NC
8 Wayne Williamson SS/2B R R SO Danville, VA
9 JeffThigpen C/OF R R JR Burgaw, NC
10 Bron Thompson OF L L JR Warsaw, NC
11 Kevin O'Neil 2B L R FR White Sulphur, WV
12 Tim Smith OF L L FR Chapel Hill.NC
13 Scott Abell 2B R R SR Fredrick, MD
14 ChanWhitson P R R JR Asheboro, NC
15 Scott Stier 38/C/P R R JR Cocoa Beach, FL
17 Stephen Goins P R R SR Harrisburg, NC
19 Tony Smith P R R JR Winston-Salem, NC
20 LeonPinkett OF R R JR Baltimore, MD
21 Rick Beville P R R JR Emporia, VA
22 Johnny Hughes P R R JR Creedmoor, NC
23 Chad Axford OF R R JR Staunton, VA
24 Stephen Folks IB R R JR Greensboro, NC
25 Rob Merry OF R L JR McLean, VA
26 Marty Stern P R R SO Pompano Bch., FL
27 Clint Acrey C R R FR Durham, NC
Brindon Christman OF R R SO Eden, NC
Jude Ciayton C R R FR Brookings, SD
Jonathan Petrash 28/P R R FR Kesington, MD
Ty Simmons P R R JR Tobaccoville, NC
strikeout an inning as he fanned 27 in as
many innings to post a perfect 3-0 record.
The hard throwing right-hander will look to
equal his num
bers this sea
son. Junior
Johnny Hughes
will also make
a few starts as
he will rotate
between the ro
tation and the
bullpen.
In relief, the
Quakers are led
by stalwart vet
eran Rick
Beville. The
junior from
Emporia, Va.
led the team in
saves last sea
son as the
team's ace
closer. A side
arm thrower,
Beville relies
on groundouts
to get the oppo
nents out. In
addition to
Hughes and
Beville, juniors Ty Simmons and Scott Stier
will pitch in relief. Simmons will pitch long
relief in addition to making a few spot starts.
Stier will mix his pitching duties with those
Hs v
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Stat leader Stephen Foulks photo courtesy SID
mans first base in 1992.
SPORTS
of his starting third base role. Simmons will
be making his first appearance as a Quaker
pitcher this season. Senior Stephen Goins
and sopho
more Jerry
Marshall will
try to over
come arm in
juries to con
tribute to the
staff as well.
"We're re
lying on ex
perience on
the mound,"
coach Fulton
said when
talking about
the Quakers'
hopes for this
season. "If we
can make the
routine plays
on defense
we will likely
finish in the
upper divi
sion in the
ODAC."
Fulton's
concerns
about infield
play are justified as one half of last year's
infield are gone from the team. First baseman
Mike Carlson, the team's leader in home
runs, and shortstop Tony Womack, an eighth
round draft selection by the Pittsburgh Pi
rates last season will be replaced by juniors
Stephen Foulks and Jeff Smith, respectively.
Foulks, the designated hitter the past two
seasons made six appearances at first last
season and performed flawlessly on de
fense. His bat outshined his defensive per
formance, however, as he led all starters in
batting average, slugging percentage, and
on-base percentage as well as hits, doubles,
walks, and runs batted in.
He and Goins are the co-captains for this
season. Jeff Smith, an extremely aggressive
ballplayer, started at second last season and
will move to the left side of the infield for
this season. An extremely good contact hit
ter, Smith started last season hot but tailed
off in the end to hit .238. He had the second
best walk to strikeout ratio on the team and
did an excellent job advancing the runners
by putting the ball in play. Smith's double
play partner will be freshman Kevin O'Neil.
The West Virginia native was redshirted last
season and hopes to provide the team with
good glovework. Stier will start at the hot
corner again this season, batting in the
cleanup spot this season while trying to
improve upon his .247 batting average.
Bron Thompson will lead-off this season
and play in the outfield again. He will be
joined by seniors Clarence Inscore and Shane
Handy. Thompson, who led the team in
stolen bases in 1990 with 11 and was second
last year with 12, will try to approach the
February 28, 1992
school record of 50 stolen bases in a career
held by Barry Whitlock. Inscore provided
power and speed off the bench last season
with four homers and six stolen bases in just
47 at bats. Handy spent a portion of last
season on the bench as a result to an injury
to his shoulder that occurred early in the
season. Both he and Inscore look to produce
excellent numbers with a full season of play.
Sophomore Jerry Marshall will start at
designated hitter for the early part of the
season. He missed all of last season with a
leg injury and has been hampered by a sore
arm during this winter. Upon recovering, he
will fill in at third and pitcher.
Behind the plate, junior Jeff Thigpen will
be given the starting job after serving as
reserve catcher the last two seasons. The
strong-armed Thigpen made his mark on
opposing teams by gunning out three run
ners in seven games last season. Thigpen
will be relieved by freshman Clint Acrey.
Acrey, whose strongest asset is his bat, will
>■ continued on page 20
1992 Baseball
Schedule
Date Opponent Time
Feb. 29 LENOIR-RHYNE# 12:00
Mar. 1 at Methodist 2:00
Mar. 3 at High Point 3:00
Mar. 5 NO. CAROLINA A&T 3:00
Spring Break at Jacksonville, Florida
Mar. 7 Edinboro 7:00
Mar. 8 North Florida 1:00
Mar. 9 Fairmont State TB A
Shenandoah TBA
Mar. 10 Kenyon TBA
Mar. 11 Ohio Valley (Exhibition) 10:00
Mar. 13 LYNCHBURG* 2:00
Mar. 15 BROCKPORT STATE 2:00
Mar. 17 HAMPDEN-SYDNEY* 3:00
Mar. 18 N.C. WESLEY AN 3:00
Mar. 21 HIRAM# 1:00
Mar. 22 NORTH ADAMS ST 2:00
Mar. 23 at North Carolina A&T 3:00
Mar. 26 at Lynchburg* 3:00
Mar. 28 EASTMENNONITE*# 12:00
Apr. 1 at Emory & Henry*# 1:30
Apr. 4 RAND-MACON*# 1:00
Apr. 5 at UNC-Greensboro 2:00
Apr. 7 at Lenoir-Rhyne 3:00
Apr. 11 at Virginia Wesleyan*# 1:00
Apr. 12 WASH & LEE*# 1:00
Apr. 15 at Hampden-Sydney* 3:00
Apr. 16 atFerrum 7:00
Apr. 18 NEW NEWS APP. 12:00
Apr. 21 FERRUM 3:00
Apr. 24 at Shenandoah 3:00
Apr. 25 at Bridgewater*# 1:00
Apr. 29 ODAC Quarterfinals TBA
May 2 ODAC Finals TBA
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
♦Old Dominion Conference Game
#Doubleheader