Baseball
Baseball
2009 Season Recap
Head coach Tim Pettorini readily admitted that The College of Wooster’s 2009 baseball team wasn’t as talented as many of his 27 others, and that was before season-ending injuries to the expected ace of the pitching staff and the starting shortstop, however, he also repeated throughout the spring that “it’s not the best players who win, it’s the best team.”
The Fighting Scots believed in that mantra like never before, as their chemistry and clutch postseason performances, especially from pitchers Justin McDowell (Willard, Ohio) and Mark Miller (Convoy, Ohio) and Sean Karpen (Venetia, Pa.), who set the tone for the offense, brought them closer to winning the national championship than ever before. Complete Story
Program Overview
Since the 1970s, Wooster has been home to one of the premiere baseball programs in NCAA Div. III, but the Fighting Scots have taken it up a notch recently as they continually are among the elite few with realistic national championship expectations. Wooster owns three top-three finishes over the previous 13 seasons at the Div. III Baseball Championships – runner-up in both 1997 and 2009 and third-place in 2005 – and the Scots have won more games than any other Div. III school in the 2000s with a 372-98 record (.791).
Wooster has consistently been the top team in the North Coast Athletic Conference, having won 12, or just shy of half, of the league’s baseball crowns since it was founded in 1984. Along with that, the Scots are among the best in the highly-competitive Mideast Region, earning bids to the NCAA regional tourney 24 times and taking the crown five years (1989, 1994, 1997, 2005, 2009).
Individually, players in the program are annually honored for their work on the diamond, highlighted by 33 total All-American citations from the American Baseball Coaches Association, as well as 12 NCAC Players of the Year and 11 NCAC Pitchers of the Year.
Wooster’s success is the result of year-round training from a demanding, but dedicated and fair coaching staff, and a challenging schedule. The Scots take advantage of the school’s unique two-week spring break, playing 16-to-18 games during their annual time in Port Charlotte, Fla., and then take on some of the top teams within the Mideast in weekday match-ups while playing NCAC weekend series during the regular season.
Jackson Inducted Into "W" Hall of Fame on Sept. 26
So, how does one go from being primarily a reserve his first two seasons to a two-time first-team All-American, as was Matt Jackson’s career arc with The College of Wooster baseball program. Learn More »