There used to be a commercial for ESPNU that used the slogan, “Tradition never graduates.”
The Elon University baseball team may have lost 16 players from last year’s Southern Conference Tournament champion squad, but that’s not an excuse to stop adding to the rich tradition of the program.
“We don’t want to rebuild,” said Mike Kennedy, Elon head coach. “That word’s not in our vocabulary. We just want to reload, get right back at it and compete.”
The Phoenix welcomes 16 new players — 10 freshmen and six junior college players — on the heels of the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament berth, one that ended with a loss to No. 6 University of Virginia.
“Over the course of the last 10 years, maybe even longer, there’s kind of an attitude that comes along with our program that we’re going to do things right,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to work hard at it. We expect to win. Some guys have to step up. We’re going to make sure that they understand that they’re here for a reason. They have a tradition to uphold.”
That tradition begins with winning SoCon championships, something Kennedy said remains the focus for his team. But it’s going to take some work this year with the slew of newcomers. In addition to that, Elon was picked to finish fourth in the SoCon by the media and the coaches. Considering the Phoenix has only finished as low as fourth once — its first year in the league — it’s a change of pace entering the season.
Senior infielder Sebastian Gomez said winning one more would be nice but also the team should be striving for that every day.
“Anything below [a SoCon title] is not acceptable here,” Gomez said. “At Elon, we win. That’s all we want to do. That’s all Coach Kennedy does. He brings it out of us, somehow, someway.”
Gomez, relief pitcher Ryan Pennell and starting pitcher Jacob Baker are Elon’s only three seniors this season. If you factor in that Baker came to Elon after playing two years of junior college, that leaves Pennell and Gomez as the only two in their fourth year with the Phoenix.
Pennell made 24 appearances out of the bullpen in 2013, striking out 22 and posting a 5.87 earned run average. He earned victories in both the SoCon Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, throwing a combined seven innings and not allowing a run in games against Georgia Southern University and University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Gomez has bounced around a number of different positions in both the infield and outfield. He was named second team All-SoCon in 2013 after leading the Phoenix with a .323 batting average.
Kennedy said he sees Gomez playing a lot at second base this season. Both Gomez and Pennell said they’re excited to be taking on more leadership roles in 2014.
“I’m just trying to set a good example for the younger guys,” Gomez said. “We’re trying to instill the right values in these guys. The work ethic, coming out here and working every day. If you’re tired, you have to push through it. It’s a grind. We play 60 some games, so you have to grind it out.”
While the team has only been officially practicing since late January, the players have been doing individual workouts since before winter break. Prior to that, the Phoenix played a fall slate which, according to Kennedy, “had some bumps in the road, but overall went well.”
Because of those bumps, Kennedy said the newcomers are still finding and settling into their roles on the team. He acknowledges there might be some struggles early on.
“For the most part, there are guys that are going to be in important roles who just haven’t played at this level,” Kennedy said. “It’s going to take a little time to get those guys’ feet wet. I think we have talented guys, and once they gain experience, they’ll understand the level of play. We can’t emulate that in practice.”
The pitching rotation looks to be completely retooled after the losses of starters like Spencer Medick, Kyle Webb and Dylan Clark. Kennedy said there were five or six guys competing for the starting roles at the end of January.
Elon had issues with depth in the bullpen last season, sometimes not having enough relievers capable of holding onto leads. Pennell said that should be different in 2014.
“I think we have much more depth,” Pennell said. “A lot more harder throwers and more guys throwing strikes. Coach [Micah] Posey’s emphasis in the offseason was to get ahead, throw strike one and pound the zone. Basically, let the hitter get himself out, and don’t try to do too much.”
Consistency is one aspect that will be vital not only to the bullpen’s success, but to the team’s as a whole, Pennell said.
“Last year, we’ve said that it was a great year, great run,” he said, “but we by no means played very well the whole year. A big emphasis is playing our best baseball throughout the year instead of just our last 10 games and being more consistent rather than just going on stretches.”
Elon may have bid farewell to first baseman/catcher Ryan Kinsella (who hit 21 home runs and batted .313 before being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks), but there are some key pieces to the puzzle returning. Alongside Gomez is junior infielder Casey Jones (.287 batting average in 2013) and in the outfield are twins Quinn (.269 batting average) and Blaine (.262 batting average) Bower.
“Across the board, we’re pretty solid right now,” Gomez said. “We just need to keep working and not take any days off. Any day we take off, some other team is working harder than we are.”
The Phoenix’s schedule shapes up a bit differently than in years past, with the most obvious difference being the amount of home games. Elon will play 33 games at Latham Park, the most since entering the Division I ranks. The Phoenix will play 10 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2013, most notably home-and-homes with No. 8 North Carolina State University (Feb. 18 and March 19) and the No. 13 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (April 16 and May 7).
Elon opens the season with an eight-game homestand, beginning with three games against the University of Cincinnati Feb. 15-17. The Phoenix once again hosts the Elon Invitational, with St. Joseph’s University, High Point University and Gardner-Webb University coming to town the weekend of Feb. 28-March 2. Elon also plays Wake Forest University and Coastal Carolina University twice, one game each on the road and at home.
“Everyone’s trying to do that, play more games at home,” Kennedy said. “Guys are in class longer, they get to sleep in their own beds. There are lots of positives to playing at home. We’re very fortunate to be able to do that, especially early in the season. Hopefully it helps us.”
If anything, playing at home should be a constant reminder to the newcomers, and the team as a whole, of the rich baseball tradition they are expected to uphold.