Matt Galvao ’17, Staff Writer
The Merrimack baseball team has had an up and down 2014 campaign. They stand with a 17-16 overall record, and an 11-11 record in conference play. The Warriors sit 11th out of 16 teams in the NE-10 conference.
The season started off on a good note when the Warriors won four of five in the month of February before slipping in March winning just 8 of 14. So far this month, Merrimack has won 5 of 14 games. Even though the Warriors have not been able to win as many games as they would have liked to the offense has certainly been there. They have driven in 209 runs in the 33 total games played this season and have scored double digit runs in 9 games.
Head coach Jim Martin believes that his team has played well. There have been some positive and negative aspects but they are looking to the games ahead.
“We have played pretty well this year. Some positives and negatives but we are looking forward to playing a great team in Bentley,” said Martin.
There have been many young players that have stepped up this season for Merrimack. One of those players is sophomore Frank Crinella. Crinella has had a great year so far after winning NE-10 Conference Rookie of the Year last season. He leads the conference in RBI’s with 32 and is second in batting average (.418). He has been one Merrimack’s best players this season and has played a key role for the Warriors.
“Frank is a having a good year and we expect him to continue his production on defense and offensively,” Martin explained.
With a year that has been up and down the question is has there been an x-factor or player that has been a player that the team has relied on or has consistently contributed to the team. Martin says that the team doesn’t have an x-factor, but rather looks up and down the entire lineup for contributions to the team.
“We do not have an x-factor,” Martin said. “but we look for each guy to contribute to our program in their own distinctive way.”
For the remainder of the season Merrimack will play every remaining game against NE-10 rivals. This stretch will be especially important to the Warriors because of the battle of positioning in the NE-10 standings. With 9 games remaining, each game has added emphasis for playoff positioning.
“We have to stay focused each pitch and have a one pitch mentality. Our league is very competitive and we have to focus on each pitch of each game,” explained Martin.
Like any other team there are things that the team needs to improve on especially as playoff time is around the corner. Martin feels that his team has to play an all-around solid game in every aspect and control what they can.
“We just have to play solid in all 3 phases: pitching, defense, and have quality at bats, and control what we can control,” said Martin.
