Del Tech baseball opens season 19-0
To say Delaware Technical Community College’s baseball team is off to a hot start would be an understatement.
Delaware Tech is 19-0 and ranked eighth in the nation in the latest NJCAA Division II poll. The team has an overall batting average of .355, has scored 163 total runs, and has knocked in 27 home runs. Recently, the team pulled off impressive wins over Harford Community College, a perennial powerhouse in Maryland, and Bucks County Community College, which plays in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
“We had a really good fall and built a lot of confidence as a group,” said head coach Stu Madden. “Every game we go into, the guys are fully confident we will find a way to win, and that confidence goes a long way.
“We have a group of guys who are really talented and have bought into the team aspect of what we are doing. There are guys who have experience winning and are bringing that to the team, and buying into the team culture that the coaches are teaching.”
Madden said the team has been clicking in all three phases of the game – hitting, pitching and defense. The stats back that up.
First baseman Matt Rodriguez (Delmar High School) is batting .554 with 31 hits, 23 RBIs and five home runs. His batting average places him 12th in the nation. Centerfielder Mike Paigliei (Brandywine High School) is batting .458 with 22 hits, 28 RBIs and four home runs. His RBI numbers have him tied for seventh in the nation.
Second baseman Chase Boyle (Sussex Central High School) has an on-base percentage of .481 with 20 hits and 12 RBIs; outfielder Jonathan Golebiowski (Delaware Military Academy) has an on-base percentage of .486 with 20 hits, 14 RBIs, and 4 home runs; designated hitter Chris Friend (Caesar Rodney High School) has a .462 on-base percentage with 11 hits, 14 RBIs, and four home runs; and catcher Ethan Watkinson (Sussex Central High School) has an on-base percentage of .4397 with 18 hits and 13 RBIs.
“It’s not just one, two or even three guys who can do it,” Madden said. “Every single guy has the ability to get the big hit. Everyone on the team believes the next guy will be able to get it done; they believe someone is going to do something to get the win. Every guy in the lineup has gotten a big key hit for us to win the game, and that’s nice as a coach to watch and have the confidence in every guy in the lineup to be able to win the game.”
Pitchers Riley Culver (Delmarva Christian High School) and Cade Williams (Nandua High School in Virginia) have four wins apiece, while Jonathan Hines (Delaware Military Academy), Zach Hart (St. Georges Technical High School), Zac Cole (Lake Forest High School), Brandon Schlabach (Delmarva Christian) and Williams all have an ERA under 2.60.
“On the days we haven’t hit well, we’ve had outstanding pitching performances and played tough defense,” Madden said.
One of the more impressive things is the success has come from a team almost entirely made up of student-athletes from Delaware. The only two non-Delaware players are from nearby Maryland and Virginia.
“It’s not very surprising. There are a lot of really good baseball players in Delaware,” Madden said. “I think it also speaks to things we are doing as a program; we are starting to do the right things to accumulate the type of talent we are getting from across the state. That’s our goal – to be able to win a championship with the majority of the players on the team being from Delaware. This season shows you don’t have to go somewhere outside of Delaware to get this type of recognition or compete for a championship.”
From this point on in the season, Delaware Tech will play a majority of its games against region opponents. These are going to be the games that determine where the team will enter the region tournament as it aims for postseason success.
“Now we are going to have a target on our back,” Madden said. “We need to stay healthy, stay hungry and stay motivated.”
For more information on Delaware Tech Athletics, go to dtcc.edu/athletics or follow dtccathletics on Instagram.
