Staff ace out with severed pinkie -- By Michael Petre (Daily Staff Writer)
WINCHESTER — Sauntering into his third season at Shenandoah University, Kevin Anderson has reached the breaking point.
The Hornets' baseball coach recorded 23 wins in each of his first two years. Now, with his second recruiting class and a deeper roster, Anderson is ready to lead his players up the next rung of the ladder.
"We're at a crossroads right now," Anderson said this week. "Now it's time to take it to the next step. But it gets harder and harder and harder."
When the Hornets open 2006 with a doubleheader against Penn State-Altoona at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Bridgeforth Field, Anderson will possess the most complete roster he has had in his time at Shenandoah. Last year's team had no seniors, meaning every key contributor returns.
Well, almost all of them.
The Hornets suffered a significant setback when senior right-hander Gerry Sasse severed the pinkie on his pitching hand while pushing a car Sunday. Sasse had a 2.95 earned-run average and was 5-4 in 12 appearances last year. He would have been the staff ace, but the injury — and 6 1/2 hours of surgery to repair the damage — will keep him out of the mix, a loss Anderson called "a devastating blow."
Sophomore Jasen Eberz will also be unavailable after undergoing shoulder surgery on his left, non-throwing arm. Eberz batted .255 with two home runs and eight RBIs last year; he was projected to be the Hornets' designated hitter.
"That's two shots that we're going to have to overcome," Anderson said. "Some younger guys — guys that have been role players — are really going to have to step up."
There is talent to fill those holes, but Anderson's locally focused recruiting is not a perfect science. He originally brought Tyler Vaughn, the former Millbrook ace and The Northern Virginia Daily's 2005 Baseball Player of the Year, into the fold, but he has since backed out. Situations like that are common at the Division III level, but it doesn't make them any easier to swallow.
"It's the way you look at things; we stress the positives," Anderson said. "If you just look at it from a negative point of view, it's like quicksand. You just bury yourself."
Among Anderson's pitches to potential players are Shenandoah's small-school atmosphere, the program's comfortable travel arrangements — even the Hornets' uniforms.
Apparently, they've worked.
"We're not just bringing in bodies," junior third baseman and Warren County product David Jenkins said. "We're bringing in people that can actually help the team."
Anderson said he perceives most of the players he chases as Division-I caliber — or right on the edge of it. That means a bigger school will swoop in every once in awhile, snatching away a potential D-III star with the promise of scholarship money.
"They want to come here, and then a Division I jumps up and gives them a thousand dollars or 1,500," he said. "To lose a young man for not the right reasons ... you bite your tongue and wish them good luck."
That wasn't a problem early on. When Anderson took over in July 2003, the Hornets had just 12 players. Some last-minute finagling boosted the roster to 17; this year's team sits at 35, enough to let the Hornets play a junior varsity schedule.
"It's a little bit more selective," Anderson said. "We've come a long way in a short amount of time."
Nick Sborz can speak to that. The senior right-hander is one of three players who predates Anderson at Shenandoah, joining Sasse and catcher/third baseman Adam Kuchemba. The difference between Anderson and previous coach Justin Cronk is, quite literally, night and day.
"Before, we would have marathon practices," Sborz recalled. "We would be out there six, seven hours drilling over stuff. [Anderson] is so organized. We get out there and we've got a specific thing we've got to work on and then we're out of there.
"It wasn't like that before. We'd have the [lights] on and we'd be out there until 11 o'clock at night."
Hovering around .500 during his first two seasons, Anderson has made reaching that mark more difficult this season by tackling a handful of perennially strong nonconference opponents. The USA South Conference remains its usually staunch self; the leagues' coaches picked Shenandoah to finish fifth, and reigning champion Ferrum is ranked No. 9 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Junior middle infielder Daniel Ziccardy, whose .319 batting average and 25 RBIs were second-most on the team last year, shares Anderson's viewpoint on this season's importance.
"We're making tremendous strides," he said. "This year is going to be critical to our success."
In the end, it boils down to talent. Jenkins said he thinks the Hornets match up well with the rest of the conference, particularly on the mound. Even after losing his top pitcher, Anderson remains confident.
"We're not looking for a quick fix and moving on," he said. "This is my hometown; this is where I want to be.
"We have a lot of obstacles and roadblocks, but we're going to stress the positives and we're going to get there."
