Revamped Pitching Staff Has AU Back in GLIAC Baseball Title Hunt
May 4, 2004

Punctuation can be a headache for many fledging writers. Commas, semicolons and the like can be confusing.

Ashland University head baseball coach John Schaly can sympathize with those looking to straighten out the tools of sentence construction. He’s taken what was a question mark at the beginning of this season and turned it into an exclamation point.

It’s not often that those two symbols become confusing. But heading into this baseball season, Schaly was forced to replace his entire starting pitching staff. The losses included Ryan Hartzell, who’s tied for first in career victories at AU and Nate Wright, a first team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference pick in 2003.

Another senior, Jon Krugman, was an honorable mention all-conference pick in 2003. Those three pitchers won 23 of Ashland’s total of 37 games last season and were the backbone for a team that advanced to the NCAA regional tournament.

This year’s starting staff includes two juniors who came to AU via the junior college route and a true freshman. Those three are all 8-2 and have helped the Eagles to a 43-11 mark. AU finished the regular season in first place in the GLIAC and this weekend, will host the league tournament. It would appear that the school’s sixth consecutive bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs is just around the corner.

“Our pitching staff has done an unbelievable job,” said Schaly, in his seventh season at AU. “Going into the season that was the big question mark. It’s been solid all season long. The pitching staff has been a pleasant surprise.”

The two junior college transfers who have made a quick adaptation to NCAA Division II baseball are righties Cody Castle (Dayton, OH/Sinclair C.C.) and Todd Martinelli (Gahanna, OH/Columbus State C.C.). Josh Davidson (Lexigton, OH) is a true freshman who is a strong candidate for the GLIAC’s freshman of the year award. In addition to his pitching prowess, Davidson is hitting .379.

Last year’s staff was built around power pitching. Both Hartzell and Krugman could rear back and get strikeouts in a tight situation. Hartzell ended his career second in strikeouts at AU and Krugman had a team-leading 100 strikeouts in 88 innings a year ago.

This year’s staff might not throw as hard as last year’s group, but this is no group of soft tossers either.

“Cody is in the mold of those other guys (last year’s starters),” remarked Schaly. “He’s got a good arm, throws hard and has a nice off-speed pitch. Davidson really mixes it up, he’s got a great curveball. Martinelli can run it up there in the upper 80’s, maybe 90 miles an hour. He’s got a great arm, he keeps the ball down and he hits his spots.”

Castle could earn the league’s pitcher of the year award. Castle, Martinelli and Davidson are tied for second in the league in victories. Castle is the GLIAC leader in ERA (2.24), innings (88.1), strikeouts (73) and starts (13). He’s seventh in opponents batting average (.256). He went 2-0 last week and his last start was a 5-0 complete game win over Findlay.

“I didn’t know anything about the league, said Castle of his previous knowledge of GLIAC baseball. “The biggest adjustment for me was the conditioning part. We never lifted weights in junior college.”

Davidson has won six consecutive decisions. He’s sixth in the GLIAC in ERA (3.48) and 10th in strikeouts (53).

Martinelli is fourth in innings (68), seventh in ERA (3.84) and ninth in opponents batting average (.266). Getting on base against Martinelli has been a struggle for GLIAC hitters and those who do reach base often encounter another problem. The junior is third in the conference in runners picked off (three).

The education of these pitchers began last fall in intrasquad workouts. Schaly admits that during that time he didn’t know what Castle would bring to the staff. Davidson caught the attention of the coaching staff right away.

“Cody and Todd had some college experience, “reminded Schaly. “They needed to see what it was like to compete against lineups filled with juniors and seniors. Going against our lineup in the fall helped. Josh had a terrific fall season, he was our best pitcher in the fall.”

Castle and Martinelli pitched against each other in junior college. It didn’t take long for the two former opponents to bond once they joined the Eagles.

“We hung out a lot the first semester,” admitted Castle. “We pitched against each other in junior college and he (Martinelli) gave it to us. He showed us what was right and what was wrong.”

Now Castle, Martinelli and Davidson will carry the mound load for the Eagles this coming weekend in the GLIAC tournament and the following weekend in the anticipated trip to the NCAA playoffs. But Schaly is quick to point out that some other members of the staff have filled key roles admirably. Senior Chad Moore (Columbus, OH/Columbus State C.C.) has thrived in the bullpen where he’s gone 4-0 with a pair of saves. The righthander has a 3.18 ERA.

Junior lefthander Ryan Douglas (Loveland, OH), a second team all-conference pick a year ago, is 4-2 with a team-high five saves. Sophomore righthander Jim Barry (Mentor, OH) pitched five innings out of the bullpen last weekend to earn the win in a 15-7 triumph at Findlay. Senior Bryce Bednarczyk (Newark, OH/Columbus State C.C.) has held down the fourth starter’s job all season and is 5-2.

“Chad’s done well, he had a great fall,” Schaly said. “When he’s throwing strikes he’s tough. Jim Barry really improved his velocity and he’ll throw in the postseason. Ryan’s done a great job in his role, he can get out lefthanders or righthanders. All of our returning pitchers have gotten better and the three new guys have made the adjustment.”

The Eagles enter the GLIAC tournament with an 11-game winning streak. As that shows, AU doesn’t find itself behind often. In tournament play, it’s of the utmost important to stay in the winner’s bracket and not have to fight back through a loser’s bracket filled with potential pitfalls. But if that should happen to the Eagles, this year’s team may be better equipped to handle that scenario than even last year’s team that was led by Hartzell, Krugman and Wright.

“I feel we have the depth on our staff to come back through the loser’s bracket if we have to,” said Schaly.