Wesley Baseball Team Swinging for Fences After Shaky Start

Wolverines Aim for Conference Championship

By Brian Baker and Warren Gross, The Whetstone

Wesley baseball head coach Bret Underwood came into this season knowing his team was young and inexperienced.

Head Coach Bret Underwood
Photo Credit: Wesley Athletics

After suffering a 17-6 loss to conference rival Christopher Newport in the first game of a doubleheader on March 15, Wesley turned it around with a big win the second game, the first of a 6-game winning streak, during which the Wolverines also defeated conference rival Salisbury.

“I was surprised that we came out in the second game of the doubleheader against Christopher Newport,” Underwood said. “We had lost the first game by 11 runs and were down five or six in the second game and we came back and won in the tenth inning,” he said.

Watching his players come together and play team-first baseball inspired hope in Underwood that the team can get into the conference tournament and possibly win a championship.

“We have a young team and we played like it early on,” Underwood said. “Over the last few weeks we have played together as a group and that’s the biggest strength of this team.”

The second-year head coach said the consistency of Trevor Mears and others are a bright spot this season.

“Trey was the CAC (Capital Athletic Conference) rookie of the year last season and he began this season right where he left off last season,” he said. “He’s hit in the middle of our order all year and he’s currently second on the team in RBIs (runs batted in). Our shortstop Corey Smith, who played every game last season, has played outstanding, and Connor Gobright hitting in the middle of our order has played well.”

Connor Gobright
Photo Credit: Wesley Athletics

Underwood said the momentum of their victory in the second game of the doubleheader continued the next day against Salisbury.

“We had spent about 10 to 11 hours on the field the previous day and had to travel back here to play a nationally ranked Salisbury team and we came out and beat them,” he said.

Underwood said he wants to win the conference championship.

“We have the group to do it, I truly believe it, and I have been telling them that since the fall,” he said. “If we play well and buy into the team concept we can do it. We came into the season picked 5th in the preseason pole and we beat the first and second rank teams and swept the third-ranked team, so I think we have a good shot.”