The Mary Washington College baseball team looks toward the new millennium having completed one of the most successful decades in any sport at the Fredericksburg school. Over the past ten years, Mary Washington has tallied a cumulative 239-96 record (.712 winning percentage), and advanced to six NCAA Division III Tournaments. Over the same span, Mary Washington has won five Capital Athletic Conference titles, and sent seven players to professional baseball. The Eagles' success has been well documented, as they carry the 23rd best winning percentage for the decade among ALL NCAA member schools (Division I, II, III).
The Spring of 2000 looks to be another successful season for the Eagles. Coach Tom Sheridan welcomes back several talented players from last year's 20-13 team and looks for an immediate impact from a very strong recruiting class. Among the returnees are All-Capital Athletic Conference selections shortstop Nick DiJulio, second baseman Jay Montepare, center fielder Tad St. Clair, and catcher/DH Brad Poole.
DiJulio, a rising senior who transferred to MWC from Belleview (WA) Community College last fall, is the top returning hitter from a year ago. Di Julio hit .351, with team highs inat bats (134), hits (47), and assists (99), while swiping16 bases from the leadoff spot.
Montepare, who switched from third base to second midway through the '99 season, continued to be solid defensively while batting .297 with a team-high 13 doubles and 28 runs scored. St. Clair hit .293 with three home runs and 24 RBI, while possessing one of the strongest throwing arms in the region from center field. Poole, a rising. senior, swatted team-highs with seven home tuns and 30 RBI, arid carried a .571 slugging percent age while starting all 33 games a year ago.
Other returning position players include sophomore outfielder Scott Chapman·, who batted .310 with a .517 on-base percentage in 61. plate appearances a year ago, and infielders Mark McEathron, Brian Sabatelli, Christian Buchakjian, outfielder John Bartoli, and catcher Mike Santay.
The Eagles' mound corps loses just one player to graduation from a staff that carried a composite 4.18 ERA in 265 innings of work. Heading the list of returnees are juniors Erik Dorman, Matt Hooker, and Mike Parker, who combined to win ten games between them in '99. Dorman, last year's workhorse, hurled a team-high 75 innings, and finished second on the staff in wins (five) and was first in strikeouts, with fifty. Parker, who suffered with arm problems last Spring, carries a career 6-4 record into his third season, while Hooker emerged last year, picking up three wins without a loss and pitching to a 3.26 ERA. Other returning moundsmen include rising sophomores Rob Boese (2-1, 3.68 ERA and 30 strikeouts in '99) and lefty Reed Shabman (2-0, 2.84 ERA).