Plum baseball aims to live up to standard

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, April 20, 2018 | 4:53 PM

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Through the early part of the season, veteran Plum baseball coach Carl Vollmer admitted his team has fallen short of the standard the program sets for itself.

The silver lining for Vollmer and his Mustangs is they still have time to achieve the goals they've set.

The Mustangs (6-3, 2-2) sat mid-pack in the Section 2-6A standings through last Thursday with losses to rivals and perennial contenders Norwin and Hempfield.

“The coaches and the players have high expectations of ourselves every year, and we haven't met those expectations thus far, but the great thing is our destiny is still in our hands,” Vollmer said. “There's a ton of baseball left to be played.”

Plum had a make-up game scheduled Sunday against Penn-Trafford after the deadline for this edition.

After a 2-1 Florida trip to start the season, Plum joined the rest of the WPIAL in waiting out below-normal temperatures and snow that's led to a myriad of postponements and a dozen days indoors before playing the next game.

They scored nonsection wins over Moon and Shaler after the layoff and opened section play with a 9-4 win over Connellsville.

But then the Mustangs suffered back-to-back losses to Norwin, 5-4, and Hempfield, 10-6, which has put them in catch-up mode in the early going.

“We're pretty evenly-matched teams, to be honest,” Vollmer said. “We had some self-inflicted wounds and hurt ourselves in both of those games. Give credit to the other teams. They took advantage of those mistakes. Those are good programs, and they're well-coached.

“When you make too many mistakes against good teams, you dig yourself into holes that you can't get out of. We had baserunning and defensive mistakes. We had plenty opportunities to put ourselves ahead in both of those games, and we just didn't get it done. We just have to move forward and not dwell on it too much, because every team is going to make mistakes.”

Plum earned a 6-3 win over Penn Hills last Wednesday to snap its two-game skid.

With several postponements, many section games will be stacked together down the stretch, and the Mustangs will count on their pitching depth to try to climb back into the race.

Ryan Kircher, a Kent State recruit, is the staff ace, but other pitchers with experience such as Will Rumcik, Jackson Rodgers, a La Roche recruit, and Geno Marra give Vollmer confidence his team is in good hands in the pitching department.

“We have guys who are eager, because they haven't pitched as well as they're capable to this point, or they're looking for an opportunity to prove themselves,” Vollmer said. “We have guys that fit into both of those categories, and they're hungry, so I think that will bode well for us.”

Marra pitched 5 ²⁄₃ innings and struck out six in the win over Connellsville, and Kircher and Dom Carlisano had three hits apiece. Carlisano drove in three runs.

Tanner Froehlich, a Seton Hill recruit, had a pair of hits against Norwin and homered against Hempfield. Rumcik took the loss against Norwin, and Rodgers was the losing pitcher in the Hempfield loss.

“(Rumcik) has a proven track record at the varsity level,” Vollmer said. “He had a rough day against Norwin, but he's a good pitcher with a resume that we'll be counting on in the next couple of weeks.

“(Rodgers) took the loss at Hempfield, but we didn't do enough behind him. I think his pitching line was a little deceptive, because he pitched better than his line would show. He's going to get some more opportunities, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with them.”

Plum has been solid offensively and averaged 7.3 runs through Thursday, scoring double digit runs in three games. Vollmer said his team needs to be more consistent in the field and that will come with more consistent playing time.

Like the rest the WPIAL, the Mustangs are hopeful the worst of the weather is behind them, and they can get into a rhythm as the second half of the season approaches.

“We're looking forward to getting out and showing the type of team we think we are,” Vollmer said. “We're in a difficult section, and we've lost to some good teams. We've beaten some good teams, too, so it's a matter of what we can do going forward. Hopefully, we're going to grow and continue to get better.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

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