MCC Baseball Team Preparing for Regional Tournament with an Eye on Texas

After playing 38 games in 38 days, the MCC baseball team spent the week catching their collective breath, working on fundamentals and taking care of some much need home maintenance.

The 38-game schedule was an exercise leading to the NJCAA Division III Region XXI Tournament, which will be played this weekend (May 9-12) in Manchester.

The winner of the double-elimination tournament will advance to the NJCAA World Series, which will be played May 17-23 in Tyler, Texas. Ask any of the 24 players on the 2008 Cougars what drives the team and they will all give you the same answer: a trip to Texas.

“From day one, that’s what it’s all about, that’s what you play for,” sophomore pitcher and Tri-Captain Jeff Raymond said after a gym workout before practice Wednesday.

The team played on frigid and rainy days in late March and early April, knowing that a chance to play on the national stage was within reach. Recently the players have taken up drawing the Texas flag in the dirt in front of the home dugout as a reminder of what they are playing for.

And on Wednesday before a fundamental session run by Assistant Coach Shawn Barry, Tri-Captain Liam Ohlmann and Barry scraped the old paint off both dugouts at McCormick Field and gave them a fresh coat of Cougar blue.

The Cougars finished the regular season with a 26-10-2 record under ninth year Head Coach Chris Strahowski and are the #2 seed in the tournament, based on an 11-3 Division III Region XXI record. They are scheduled to face #3 Massasoit CC (28-11, 10-4) at 3pm at Northwest Park Friday. #1 seed Holyoke CC (23-16, 12-2) is scheduled to play #4 Northern Essex CC (14-15, 8-6) at 3pm Friday at McCormick Field on the MCC campus.

Raymond (Hebron) comes into the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record in seven starts and 2.03 ERA, but the Cougars’ staff ace is Ohlmann, a right-hander from Wallingford. Ohlmann pitched in front of five Major League Baseball scouts during his final regular season start Saturday against Eastern Connecticut’s JV. The Fordham University bound Ohlmann, whose fastball has touched 93 mph, is 6-1 with a 1.50 ERA with 61 strikeouts over 42 innings.

Strahowski’s deep pitching staff also includes freshmen Mike Quagliaroli (5-0, 1.47) of Windsor Locks, Glastonbury’s Dan Nelson (1.93, 37 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings) and Steve Simon (Middlefield) who had a 2.70 ERA and 29 strikeouts. Sophomore Kevin Garrison (Berlin) led the staff with four saves.

With 11 solid pitchers, it was no surprise that MCC finished the regular season with a team ERA of 2.53, but Strahowski didn’t anticipate how heavy the bats would be.

MCC hit .341 as team, led by sophomore Kevin Clements (Vernon) who was #22 in Division III with .438 batting average. The Tri-Captain also led the team in RBI with 38 and tied for the team lead in home runs with three. MCC’s leadoff hitter freshman Alan Fredriksson (Torrington) hit .436 and scored 42 runs – 1.24 per game – and a .540 on-base %.

Sophomore Bryan Hager (Burlington) hit .404 with 32 runs scored and 20 RBI; sophomore Derek Grundmann (Colchester) with nine doubles, five triples and a pair of home runs; and freshman Aaron Guilbeault had a strong second half and checked in with a .341 average including a home run and 18 driven in.