CSM softball team picking up where it left off two years ago

Hawks baseball gearing up for encounter with Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

Friday, April 3, 2009

New head coach Mike Garner has the new-look Hawks out to a 6-3 mark, including a second-place 5-1 tab in the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference, after sweeping Hagerstown on Wednesday at home by 8-0 and 3-2 outcomes.

Behind two legit pitching arms in ace Christina Pasquini (Chopticon) and the versatile Cristina Hutchinson (Thomas Stone), also the starting center fielder, Garner and his coaching staff are fully confident the club can pick up where it last left off in 2006 when the program was 25-17-1, two years after it finished 32-9 and ranked seventh in the country with a Region XX title in hand.

"We'll be there at the end. We'll be a force to be reckoned with," Garner said, not giving into the notion that CSM's first team in three years must go through the assumed rebuilding phase of a sub .500 season. "My expectations are high whenever we get on the field with the group we have. We'll get better as the year goes along. Absolutely, [winning the Maryland JUCO is a reasonable goal]. We'll definitely be in the running to do that. I think we're going to have a pretty good season."

He added, "This program is up and running and will be for the next few years. It starts with pitching. When you have two good pitchers, you're going to be in every game."

This is not a deep team, having 11 players on the roster. But that did not stop longtime current assistant coach and former accomplished frontman John Creaturo from praising the collection of talent at a recent team meeting.

Creaturo is back with CSM after dealing with the unexpected death of close friend and the program's former head coach Tommy Morrison last year. Morrison had built a legendary coaching career atop CSM and within the Little League ranks.

"Johnny has been here 30 years, and he said [at our team meeting] that this is one of the most talented teams he's been involved with," Garner said. "Actually at this stage, I'm very shocked at the comments he made because I know some of the teams that have come through here [over the years] that have been very talented.

"We didn't even know if we would have a team this year. So I'm a little surprised by it. But once we compiled the components needed to have a team, I realized that we've got a chance to do some things here."

There is no shortage of leadership for the Hawks as catcher Brooke Martin (La Plata), third baseman Megan Sturman (Westlake), shortstop Kim Leatherman (Lackey), first baseman Allison Sloan (Stone) and second baseman Ashley Lyles (La Plata) are fulfilling the all-important role.

Martin and Sloan are platooning between catcher and first.

Some of the players have select ball experience.

"We have a great core of young ladies that have been playing the game for a while, and we have two great athletes who have never played before but are very surprising. They are actually producing, and that's a huge plus for us," Garner said, referring to Helene Aulisio (Huntingtown) and Chantal Hebron (Stone). "They have nowhere to go but up. They've picked up the game so well.

"I don't think we've reached our potential, without a doubt. We play well together, and they're learning and adapting to the way I coach."

Because Garner was not named to the helm until after high school season ended last year, he was unable to adequately recruit. So he used his full-time status working for the college to get within the four walls of each CSM campus across region to garner interest in his program.

It was at the Prince Frederick campus that he discovered Aulisio, who now mans left field. Hebron, a standout volleyball player for CSM, is in right.

"I was asking girls left and right, whether they were in field hockey or soccer sweatshirts," Garner said about his on-the-fly recruiting tactics before the season. "I didn't care [what their athletic background was]. I was asking. It could've been a long season [given how I had to recruit]."

The recruiting front is much different this year for Garner, who has been active in scoping talent both in and out of the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference.

"Our name is out there," he said. "We've made great headway so far."

The offense is in need of the most improvement for the Hawks. The team is working hard at developing consistency with the bats, and as of late, Garner is seeing the attention to detail pay off as the Hawks are making progress offensively.

Defensively, players are in established positions. And the numbers do not lie when it comes to CSM's stalwart defense, led by its mound talents. CSM has yielded no more than two runs in any game, yielding just 14 runs in nine contests.

Average joes

versus the pros

At 9-9 overall, 6-7 in the Maryland JUCO, CSM baseball is on pace for its most wins since the 2002 campaign. That was also the last time the program finish over .500.

But it's an exhibition game that is the most prestigious on the Hawks' remaining schedule.

That's because the Hawks will take on the pros at 7:05 p.m. April 21 when they meet the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf. The unprecedented matchup takes place just 48 hours before the second-year independent minor league outfit opens its season at home against Liberty Division rival Long Island in the Atlantic League.

This exhibition fundraising effort is a free event. In lieu of admission, CSM will be accepting donations at the gate to benefit its athletics program.

"This will be an exciting time to play with minor league players on the same field," said CSM ninth-year head coach Joe Blandford, whose first name gives more spotlight to the Hawks' average Joe status in the showdown. "Most of the Blue Crabs played at four-year colleges before playing in the majors and minors. Our guys have been playing baseball their whole lives and dream of one day having the opportunity to be where these minor league players are. So, this is an exciting time for them."

Blandford views this matchup as one of David and Goliath proportions.

"We don't expect to win the game, but we do want to showcase the talent coming out of junior colleges," he said. "CSM playing against the Blue Crabs is a good opportunity to test our baseball skills. The Blue Crabs have brought a winning baseball team to the area and the college players enjoy going to the games. 

"This will be a memory [our players] will not forget."

Though the Blue Crabs' new facilities –– entering its second season of existence –– are the venue for the contest, homefield advantage should not factor into the equation for the exhibition affair. The Hawks are hosting 18 games at the stadium this spring. So far they are 3-3 at the confines the Blue Crabs call home.

"We have a great relationship with the Blue Crabs," Blandford said. "The idea for the matchup came up in conversation, and we took them up on it. The Blue Crabs are very supportive of our program."

The Blue Crabs are using the game with CSM as a tuneup for their season opener, so they are hardly taking the Hawks lightly.

This season's Hawks are comprised of 15 freshmen, two returning sophomores and a transfer.

As of March 29, sophomore Nick Sydnor (Northern) was leading the Hawks with a .417 batting average and 14 RBIs. Freshman J.B. Sapienza (La Plata) had a team-high two homers.

The Hawks' top pitchers as of March 29 were freshmen Marc Collazo (Lackey) and Anthony Butler. Collazo had a 1.47 earned run average in 18 1/3 innings, while Butler was 3-1 through 37 2/3 innings.

dcogle@somdnews.com