Baseball News

Herberts pick up victories on senior day

The Centre College baseball team finished the season with a pair of victories on senior day over Manchester 9-5 and 9-8 Saturday, May 3 at Gary Wright Field in Danville, Ky.

With the wins, the Colonels finish the season 20-17 and the Spartans fall to 18-22 to finish their season. The 20 wins is the most for a Centre team since 2001, and only the third time in school history the baseball team has recorded 20 wins. It is also the first time since 2001 the Colonels have finished the season with a winning record.

Game one

Centre opened the scoring early in the first game, getting a run in the first inning after senior Ben Jeffers (New Albany, Ohio) was hit by a pitch and later scored on a single by junior Brandon Rosen (Ashland, Ky.).

The Colonels added four more runs in the second inning. After a single by senior Kevin McGee (Louisville, Ky.), Steven Kull (Frankfort, Ky.) hit a run scoring double to put Centre up 2-0. Freshman Steven Proctor (Griffin, Ga.) followed with a two run home run to give the Colonels a 4-0 lead. Jeffers added scored the fourth run of the inning on a pair of errors to give Centre the 5-0 lead.

After working two scoreless innings to start the game, the Spartans got on the board in the third with a home run off Centre senior pitcher John Herbert (Louisville, Ky.). Manchester then added another run in the fourth on a double and a pair of singles to cut the lead to 5-2.

Centre responded in the bottom half of the fourth when Kull started the inning with a single, then advanced to third on a double by Jeffrey Williams (Knoxville, Tenn.). Junior Jake Jones came up with two runners on and two outs and hit a three-run home run to right field to give Centre an 8-2 lead.

Manchester would add three runs in the fifth on a pair of hits and two Centre errors to keep the game close at 8-5. The Colonels pushed across one more run in the sixth after a double by Proctor and an RBI single by Jeffers.

Manchester had a pair of singles in the seventh, but Herbert struck out a batter then induced a pop fly to finish the game in his final game as a Colonel.

Herbert recorded the complete game victory, improving to 7-1 on the season. The seven wins is tied for a Centre single season record. Herbert allowed five runs, two earned, in seven innings on ten hits while striking out five and walking only one.

At the plate, Williams, Proctor, McGee, and Kull had two hits apiece for the Colonels. Proctor led the way going 2-3 with a double, a home run, three runs scored and two runs batted in.

Matt Holycross suffered the loss for the Spartans after allowing nine runs in 5.1 innings.

Game 2

In the final game of the season, the Colonels looked to finish off the doubleheader sweep and pick up win number 20 for the season and rallied from a 4-0 deficit for the 9-8 victory.

The Spartans started with four runs on five hits in the top of the first inning off senior pitcher Jarrod Williams (Carrollton, Ky.).

The score would stay at 4-0 until the bottom of the third when Centre added two runs after a double by Jeffers and RBI singles by Jones and Rosen.

Manchester added a run off Jarrod Williams in the fourth, but Centre tied the game at five after a leadoff walk to Kull, a single by Jeffers, an RBI double by Jones, and a single by freshman Cory Crowdis (Louisville, Ky.) that scored two.

Aaron Herbert (Louisville, Ky.) worked a scoreless fifth in relief for Williams, and the Colonels took their first lead of the game in the bottom half of the inning. Senior Than Cutler (Frankfort, Ky.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. A pair of singles by Kull and Jeffrey Williams loaded the bases with no outs for Jeffers, who drove in two with a single. Jones then doubled to score another run and give Centre the 8-5 lead.

Manchester rallied in the sixth with the help of a three run home run off Aaron Herbert to tie the game 8-8.

Centre was unable to score in the bottom half of the sixth, and Herbert shut out the Spartans in the seventh, setting up a dramatic ending to senior day. Needing only one run to win the game in the seventh, Jeffers led off the inning with a walk. Jones followed with a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Crowdis sacrificed the runners into scoring position, then Manchester walked Rosen to load the bases with one out for pinch hitter Steven Proctor. Proctor came through with a walk off single through the right side to score Jeffers and give the Colonels the 9-8 victory.

Aaron Herbert picked up the win in the final game of the season for Centre, pitching three innings in relief, allowing three runs on three hits, while striking out one and walking one. Jarrod Williams got the no decision in the final game of his career after pitching four innings and allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits and striking out four.

Jones led the way at the plate for Centre, going 5-5 with two doubles and three runs batted in. Jeffers went 3-4 in his final game with three runs scored and two driven in. Jeffrey Williams added three hits and Crowdis had two hits in the victory.

Joe Egner suffered the loss for the Spartans allowing four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings of relief.

With the wins on senior day, the senior class of Than Cutler, John Herbert, Ben Jeffers, Kevin McGee, and Jarrod Williams become the class with the most wins over a four year career in Centre baseball history.

With the doubleheader wins, the Colonels finished the season with a 20-17 record.