May 6, 2024 4 min read

By John Sacco

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

After a grueling 40-game, regular-season schedule, will the real Washington & Jefferson College baseball team stand up?

The Presidents, four-time defending Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions and current regular-season champion, have been tough to figure in 2024.

At the same time, Waynesburg finished third in the regular-season standings and is back in the postseason for the first time since 2019.

“If you can pitch, you can win,” said Waynesburg coach Perry Cunningham. “We’ve had better consistency out of our bullpen this season. It’s more than two guys, it’s been three or four.

“Offensively, we are not led by any one great player. We’ve had more consistency through the lineup and added depth.”

As for W&J, the up-and-down nature of the season leaves it with questions heading into first-round play at 11 a.m. Wednesday against No. 6-seed Thiel (15-22 overall, 10-10) at Ross Memorial Park. W&J is hosting the six-team tournament. The PAC increased the number of postseason entries this season from four to six.

The Presidents (28-12 overall and 16-4 in the PAC) have been plagued by allowing big innings, playing erratic defense at times and in some games showing an inability to deliver big hits.

Conversely, they seem to be able to explode offensively and get hits in bunches.

In recent weeks, they have defeated Point Park — an NAIA power — traditional Division III power Marietta, swept regionally-ranked Otterbein last week and defeated Mount Union.

Yet, W&J lost three of its last four PAC games — swept by No. 2-seed Grove City and splitting with Allegheny Saturday.

“We’re pretty young and have some inexperience,” said W&J coach Jeff Mountain. “That has led to some uneven performances. We have more of a youthful mix on the mound as we did not return a lot of pitching innings. Almost all of our main pitchers are (underclassmen).

“At the beginning of the season, if you told our staff we’d win 28 games and win the PAC regular season, we’d have been ecstatic and considered it a successful season. But now, it seems uneasy and inconsistent.”

W&J has been without its two most productive hitters for an extended period. Left fielder Scout Zaus missed nine of the last 13 games with a hamstring injury and second baseman Josh Dezenzo missed the last 19 games with an ankle injury.

Zaus has a .443 average with seven home runs, 38 RBI, a .713 slugging percentage, .522 on-base percentage and 1.235 OPS. Dezenzo, who when injured was among the top hitters in the NCAA, has a .492 batting average, nine doubles, six home runs, 21 RBI, a .938 slugging percentage, .514 on-base percentage and 1.452 OPS.

Mountain said he expects to have Zaus for the tournament. Dezenzo might get some pinch-hit at-bats and a couple designated hitter at-bats.

Sophomore Anthony Pass is the Presidents’ top pitcher. He owns a 7-2 record with a 3.20 ERA. He has 59 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings.

While the Presidents are the top seed, it seems the Wolverines (24-12, 15-5) — who have strong pitching — have the most momentum as they finished the regular-season on a roll with seven consecutive victories after losing three of six.

Grove City will play No. 5-seed Westminster at 2:30 Wednesday.

The formidable Wolverines’ pitching staff features Nick Guidas, Sam Bevin, Evan Umland and David Leslie. Guidas leads the PAC in ERA (2.07) and has 78 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings.

Waynesburg (23-17, 15-5), is the No. 3-seed and will play No. 4-seed Allegheny (26-12, 14-6) at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Yellow Jackets’ 23 wins matches a school record.

The Yellow Jackets feature top pitcher Dalton Lucey, a West Greene High School graduate. He has pitched 70 2/3 innings and four complete games with a 3.82 ERA.

Waynesburg expects to be buoyed by the return of third baseman Mike Bell, who has missed a dozen games. He has a .321 average with a .491 on-base percentage, .469 slugging percentage and a .960 OPS.

The PAC tournament is not a traditional, six-team, double-elimination bracket. The conference is using an NCAA regional model. That is why all six teams play in the first round. The tournament will continue through Saturday. The champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA regionals.

Extra bases

The winner of the W&J-Thiel game will play the loser of the Waynesburg-Allegheny game at 2:30 Thursday. The loser of the W&J-Thiel game will meet the loser of the Grove City-Westminster game at 11 a.m. Thursday. The winner of the Waynesburg-Allegheny game will meet the winner of the Grove City-Westminster game at 6 p.m. Thursday.