Young Dallas Baseball Teams Experiences Highs and Lows

In a season of streaks, the University of Dallas baseball team lost their first seven games under rookie skipper Fraser Holmes, and never quite recovered to finish with a record of 14-25. The underclassmen dominated team had two streaks of three or more wins and four streaks of three or more losses. Despite the losing record, the squad sported three Association of Division Three Independents (AD3I) All-Independent team members, two United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) All-Americans, one USCAA Academic All-American, three AD3I players of the week, and two USCAA honorable mention players of the week. Additionally, junior pitcher Philip Carkhuff was responsible for the only record set for the year – the single season save record with 4. 

Statistically speaking, Dallas received valuable contributions from the entire lineup. Sophomore outfielder and AD3I second team All-Independent outfielder Brian Shelburne (Portsmouth, RI/Portsmouth H.S.) led the team in batting average (.338), doubles (12), and triples (3).  Shelburne was also named an USCAA Honorable Mention All-American, while senior second baseman and team MVP Sean McSheffery (Woodridge, IL/Downers Grove North H.S.) led the team in at bats (146), hits (46) and games played (41). Freshman first baseman and USCAA Honorable Mention All-American Adam Farris (Flower Mound, TX/Liberty Christian H.S.) led the team in home runs (5), runs (36), walks (27) and steals (15) and junior third baseman David Rettinger (San Antonio, TX/Central Catholic H.S.) led the team in RBIs (29) and hit by pitches (10). On the mound, sophomore AD3I second team All-Independent pitcher Michael Schweiss (Parker, CO/Chaparral H.S.) led the team with a 3.86 ERA and tied for the led in wins with four. He shared the top spot in that category with staff ace and AD3I second team All-Independent pitcher Philip Carkhuff (Marietta, GA/The Lovett School), who also led the team in appearances (19), saves (4), innings pitched (59.2) and strike outs (77).  Carkhuff was also named as a USCAA Academic All-American, and finished tenth in the final NCAA DIII Statistic Ranking Summary with 11.78 strikeouts per nine innings.

As a team, Dallas hit a very impressive .294 for the season, with 81 doubles, 10 triples and 11 home runs. They also combined to drive in 194 runs, draw 148 walks and stole 73 bases. On the mound, the pitching staff had a collective ERA of 6.21 while compiling 262 strike outs for an average of 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.9 whiffs behind the NCAA DIII leader. The UD staff was also responsible for 4 complete games and 8 saves. The team, however, often fell victim to the error as they allowed 94 unearned runs on the season.

Also lettering for the Crusaders were Devin Arnold (McKinney, TX/McKinney H.S.), Varea Costello (Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage H.S.), Nico Caluda (New Orleans, LA/Jesuit H.S.), Trevor Allred (Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage H.S.), Delano Ponce (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Academy), Chase Cooper (Flower Mound, TX/Liberty Christian), Marty Lopez (Albuquerque, NM/St. Pius X H.S.), Michael Morrison (Dallas, TX/Lake Hill Prep), Michael Byers (Manassas, VA/Seton Home School), Joe Zimmermann (Woodstock, MD/Chapelgate Christian Academy), Austin Cooper (Afton, OK/Afton H.S.), and Andrew Laux (Keller, TX/Keller H.S.).

The Crusaders will lose two valuable members to graduation – infielder Sean McSheffery and pitcher Joe Zimmermann. In his final year as a Crusader, McSheffery batted .315 (46-146) in 41 games (41 starts) while adding 18 runs, 17 RBI, 4 doubles, and 8 steals in his MVP season.  In his three year career at UD, he compiled a batting average of .309 (128-414) with 81 runs, 50 RBI, 16 doubles, a .438 on base percentage, 18 steals while earning letters in all three years he attended UD. In his final campaign Zimmermann went 3-4 with an ERA of 6.81 and 23 strikeouts in 13 appearances as a starter and reliever. In parts of four years went 7-5 with a 6.20 ERA in 24 appearances and 11 starts spanning 61 innings.  He threw a complete game and combined on a shutout while striking out 34.

In the pivotal early season series against a tough Texas Lutheran University team that finished 32-13, UD's spring record was 1-8 and the loss in the opener pushed the record to 1-9.  Dallas' underclassmen dominated staff was largely responsible for two wins that clinched the three game series and turned the season around.  After a solid 6 inning start by Schweiss in the second game of the series, Byers came in relief and pitched 3 innings of 2 hit ball for his first save of the season.  Byers was also instrumental in the series finale win when he entered in relief of Zimmermann and held the shutout victory intact.  In 4 innings Byers pitched perfect baseball; surrendering no hits, walks, or runs to earn his second consecutive save.  Dallas also took two of three in a late season series against the eventual United States Collegiate Athletic Association Champions, Briarcliffe College. 

With the five top ranked pitchers returning and all but one offensive starter back in the fold for the 2011 campaign, coach Fraser Holmes and assistant Kyle Kilgo will look to improve on their inaugural season.  Add in another strong recruiting class and the valuable experience each team member gained; the outlook looks bright for the UD program.