Union’s baseball team enters the 2019 fall season hopeful and confident despite a meek performance last year, going 17-32 on the season and only 10-20 in conference play.
However, the magnitude of returning players with immense talent shows new promise for the Bulldogs in a large senior class.
10 seniors are returning this spring, including Nolen Milton, Caleb DeMarigny, Charlie Ellis, Luis Larrinaga, Kory Pollard, Jesse Kelley, Hayden Lewis, Zane Phillips, Spencer Schultz and Scott Shearer.
Lewis led Union previously with five home runs and seven triples, finishing with 30 RBI’s on the year. Milton had a .315 average on the season and is confident that it’s the players themselves who have to step up and take leadership roles on the team. There are going to be a lot of “last” moments for these young men, so it’s likely that will be the case.
“We’re a very close team because of how long we’ve been together,” said Milton regarding the experience of the team. “We don’t like to sit and dwell on what happened last year. We already know what we need to do to be successful.”
It’s clear that it’s up to the veterans to lead a team, which will be interesting to watch, especially for a group that is also being joined by several new faces. Eight new players join the Bulldogs as transfer juniors who look to add to an already dynamic roster. As if that wasn’t enough, Union has added six freshmen, including Levi Schlesinger, Drew Hill, Walker Adkisson, Taylor Graves, Owen Bartholomew and Grayson Jerke.
Moving forward for the Bulldogs means having a new attitude. Experience and talent leads to success, which is obviously what’s on the mind of this team. But for senior shortstop Caleb DeMarigny, there’s a sense of urgency to this season that was left out in years past.
“We’re hungry,” said DeMarigny, referring to the seriousness of this year for the Bulldogs. “I think we feel like we have a lot to prove, but we’ve been putting in the work to see results come to fruition.”
For the Bulldogs, success won’t be easy to come by, but it’s obvious no one is more eager than the players themselves.
Ranked 10th in the pre-season coaches poll, Union hopes to return to the GSC Tournament this season after first appearing in 2017.
Photo Courtesy of Union University