Archbishop Wood’s experienced lineup opens season with win

WARMINSTER >> On paper, there’s a lot to like about Archbishop Wood baseball this spring.

The Vikings have seven position players back with quality bats among them, a top arm in junior Jack Colyar and a good group of guys ready to compete for spots in the lineup and pitching staff. While experience and talent may look good on paper, the Vikings still have to play games.

They know that better than anybody and got their season off to a good start Saturday with a 15-0 four inning win over visiting Franklin Towne Charter.

“There’s a take care of business mindset,” senior captain John Gifford said. “Everyone knows that, our coaches preach it too. All of our guys know they have to put in 100 percent every game. We can’t take teams lightly, especially in the Catholic League so we’re going to have to be at our best every single day.”

Gifford, in his second year as the starting catcher, led Wood’s hit parade with a double and a three-run home run to a contribute 4 RBIs on the afternoon. Six different Vikings had at least two hits and when senior Kyle McNamee got a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first, it was an indicator of how the day was going to be for Wood.

The Vikings posted five runs in the first, five more in the second keyed by Gifford’s bomb to left field and five in the fourth as they ended the day early. The blended power with five extra base hits, patience with five walks and aggression, all things coach Jim DiGuiseppe Jr has come to expect from this group.

“It was a good day for the bats, we came out focused and we did a lot of really good things today,” DiGuiseppe said. “Our pitchers worked ahead and changed speeds well and we made the plays behind them when we had the opportunities. From an offensive standpoint, we were aggressive attacking the ball in the strike zone and it was good to see.”

Saturday’s game was Wood’s first official game of the year and they opened their renovated field by showing a little of everything they hope leads them to another season of contention in the PCL. Work on the field, which includes new seating and better views behind home plate isn’t finished yet, kind of like the team itself.

While DiGuiseppe said the lineup is starting to figure itself out, the team’s pitching staff is also working itself together. Colyar didn’t throw on Saturday, but he figures to be the team’s centerpiece on the mound. Against FTC, Dylan Slowinski came out firing and struck out all six batters he faced in two innings while Bryce Stock rang up four in his two innings.

“It’s different than last year, we’re still finding roles for certain guys,” Gifford said. “Dylan will definitely be up there, Sam Reynolds will feature a lot. We have a lot of arms, we don’t have a No. 2 stud like Jack, but just a lot of quality arms with different looks, which is good.”

The Vikings spent March 23-29 in Myrtle Beach working out, practicing and scrimmaging and Gifford said it was a big help on Saturday. They got a lot of good work in and were able to see live pitching and hitting, something that would have been difficult back home with the weather.

“We got a lot of our timing keys down in Myrtle,” Gifford said. “With as many returning position players as we have, that’s a big help early in the season.”

McNamee added a double in the fourth inning, Slowinski singled in his first two at-bats, Robbie Bailey had two hits and two RBIs hitting second and right fielder Antonio Rossillo reached three times with a single, double and walk.

Gifford noted the play of Bobby Hennessey so far and the second baseman came up with three hits on Saturday.

Last season, Wood reached the PCL final and won the District 12-5A title. Still, the Vikings only finished fifth in the PCL regular season standings and DiGuiseppe noted the league is just as tough this year.

“This a real good group to be with and I’ll tell you, they’re a focused group and very competitive,” DiGuiseppe said. “I love seeing that, you can’t put a price tag on that. Several of our guys are three-year starters, I’m excited but you have to go out and prove it on the field.”