By Peter Skrumbis

Over the years, the school has had basketball, tennis, water polo and volleyball dynasties, giving the school a reputation as a powerhouse in those respective sports. Head Baseball Coach Matt LaCour wants to change that.

“We are well on our way to changing the culture of our program, which is one of the main goals in the transition of the program,” LaCour said. “We are doing the same things that the teams that have been successful around this school have been doing for a long time.  Basketball, volleyball, water polo have all been doing what we are doing now for years.”

This year, the baseball team has already improved.

“Our expectation is to get better each and every time we hit the field,” LaCour said.  “I think we have done a good job with that up to this point in the season.  We are a completely different program from where we were in September, and that is a testament to the work the players and coaches have put in up to this point.”

In probably their most important win of the year, over league rival Crespi, the team bettered last year’s team’s league record of 0-12.

In this game, the Wolverines came back from a four-run deficit with help from seniors Ryan Calvert ’07 and Isamu McGregor ’07.

Calvert is batting a team high .470 this year.

“Ryan has taken his game to a level where he can compete at the Division 1 level if he chooses to do so,” LaCour said.

Calvert, the fast lead-off man, has also played a big part in the team’s major strength-base running. 
“We have been good on the bases so far this year,” LaCour said. “We have stolen 53 bases at this point in the season which is excellent.”

Despite the improvement and excitement, the team has struggled some.

““So far this year we have been in every single game and have competed each inning” Eric Shultz ’08 said. “However, we are not satisfied and want to take our games to the next level.”

“Defense has been our weakness,” LaCour said. “We are struggling making the routine play at times, and it is really costing us late in games.”

LaCour also pointed to the fact that the team has had trouble completely finishing games.

“We need to play all seven innings,” LaCour said. “Right now we are a four- inning team, and we tend to have mental lapses.  We need to get to the point where we are a consistent team for all seven innings.”