Turning A Corner

What’s up Horizon League faithful!

As the season hits yet another checkpoint with the beginning of May, it also reminds us that the Horizon League Tournament in Gary, Indiana is getting closer and closer. With that being said, these crucial League games take on a greater importance in regard to seeding for the HL tourney.

At this moment, the Raiders are currently 23-17 overall and have a 12-4 record in league, good enough to be atop the Horizon League standings. We’re just coming off of a successful sweep of a scrappy Youngstown State ball club, where we battled through some of the highest temperatures of the season, extra inning adversity, and an opponent that wouldn’t go down without a fight. Our team showed a lot of character this weekend by being able to overcome some of these roadblocks as we continued to keep the bats hot while maintaining both solid starting pitching and a supportive bullpen.

With the end of the season sneaking up on us every day, our entire team and coaching staff deserves credit for being in the position we are currently in. From seeing guys like Jon Durket battle back from a major arm injury to give us five innings of one-run ball, to seeing our young guys pick up our older guys at the plate and in the field, this weekend was a great example of how close this brotherhood has become. Continuing to play the game pitch-by-pitch and inning-by-inning should hopefully keep our steady play rolling through May and into tournament time.

This week we have a large challenge in front of us as we partake in games both at home and on the road. We play Big East foe, Cincinnati on back-to-back nights — first on the road, then at home. We’ll also host three games this weekend when we square off with an always competitive and well-coached Milwaukee ball club. The importance of these games still remains high and ending this week with some wins, especially in front of our home crowd, would be monumental for our season.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to my brothers — Casey Henn, Garrett Gray and Tristan Moore. Class of 2012 represent!

Go Raiders!