photo courtesy of Crystal MotenSenior pitcher Adam Cowley may not be back this year, but there is a chance that he could return next year for another season. Head coach Ric Lessmann has received information indicating that Cowley would likely be granted a medical redshirt if he requests one at the end of this year.
With his elbow injury healing too slowly to get him back on the mound in time to salvage this season, Cowley will cut his losses and try to come back strong next year. The loss of the team’s ace this year, however, deals the Bears a big blow.
“You just can’t lose your number one,” said Lessmann. “Not only do you not get the 7 or 8 wins that he would normally get during the season, it pushes the rotation back. Then, when we play these five or six game weekends, we have to let a lot of our second-liners into the game. Those second-liners have pitched poorly for us so far, and our record reflects that.”
Despite such a grim outlook, the Bears managed to win three of their last five games. Stellar hitting has kept the Bears afloat; the team averaged a whopping 8.8 runs scored over its last six games, and 7.8 runs per game for the entire season.
“I thought our offense would be decent this year,” said Lessmann. “It’s certainly not better than last year, but we did a good job of replacing people. Everybody is taking turns at producing; if you look at the statistics, Kirk Heischmidt has done really well, and also Ryan Argo at first base. Joe Kelly has gotten a lot of RBI, and a nice surprise has been Joel Farrell. We haven’t had trouble scoring runs.”
Heischmidt, who plays third base, leads the team in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.417), on-base percentage (.517), slugging percentage (.750), home runs (5), doubles (9), and even hit by pitches (5). He had a productive game in the first half of a doubleheader on Tuesday against Maryville University, pounding four hits and driving in five runs, while leading the Bears to a 15-1 victory.
The second game of the doubleheader was a wild affair, featuring yet another Bears comeback. In the fifth inning, Maryville cranked out six runs against relievers William Schierding, Matt Knepper and Jeff Reindl to stretch what had been a tenuous 4-3 lead into a seven run advantage. The Bears began chipping away in the bottom half of the inning, as Joe Kelly launched a line drive over the wall in left for a two run homer, cutting the lead to 10-5.
In the seventh, the last inning, Maryville led off with a triple, and the runner scored on an error to extend the lead to 11-5. The Bears, who have come back from a nine run deficit to win already this season, refused to concede. Steve Schmidt and Joe Kelly began the bottom half of the seventh with doubles, and the next two batters drew walks, loading the bases. Mike LoBosco popped up for the first out of the inning, but Joel Farrell singled to bring home a run and load the bases again. After a Heischmidt fielder’s choice scored another run and cut the deficit to three, Ryan Argo delivered with a clutch two-out double that brought the Bears within one run.
But with pinch runner Jeff Ching in scoring position, poised to tie the game, Ramos Mays grounded out to shortstop, and the Bears fell just short.
Despite losing the heartbreaker to Maryville, the Bears are still on a roll at the plate, and will look to get a little help from the pitching staff as they take the field at home this weekend. On Saturday, the Bears will face Thomas More College and Knox College at Kelly Field, and they will play those same two teams again on Sunday. A game on Tuesday against Greenville College, whom the Bears beat 11-3 earlier this year, will wrap up the home stand.