Article from the Southern Ohio Copperheads:
http://copperheadbaseball.com/news/index.html?article_id=255Players Riding Momentum from NCAA Tournament
By Jack Hurley - Copperheads Staff Writer
As we move into the third week of the GLSCL season, lots of Southern Ohio Copperheads players are looking to continue the momentum of their great college seasons.
Starting pitcher T.J. Shook is coming of a Big Ten Tournament that saw his Michigan Wolverines clinch the championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. So far this season for the Cheads, Shook has made one start, striking out four batters in a four-inning no-decision at Lake Erie.
Shook isn’t the only player coming of an NCAA Tournament appearance, however. The Ohio University contingency of infielders Tony Giannini and Connor Callery, and pitchers Jake Rudnicki and Christian Botter are coming off of a banner year for Bobcat baseball. The Bobcats went 36-21 during the regular season and turned it on when it really mattered, winning four straight games in the MAC Tournament to advance to their first NCAA Tournament since 1997.
“We hope we can bring that good energy from (the NCAA Tournament) because we are still on a high from that,” Giannini said.
“The overall experience we had from that was unbelievable. I still can’t put it into words, coming in as a freshman and getting that sort of experience was incredible.”
Giannini has continued his strong output since the start of the Copperheads season, batting .389 with two doubles and two RBIs as well as being one of the best defensive infielders on the field. Callery is third on the team hitting .429.
Rudnicki had an up-and-down first outing of the season Thursday night in Xenia, throwing three scoreless innings in-between the third and fifth innings but taking the loss.
Botter had a strong relief outing on Wednesday at Lake Erie, giving up just a single run in three innings.
The Copperheads are riding all this momentum and with the win against Xenia last night, the team is tied for first place in the GLSCL.