Kai Cummings gears up to swing against ANC on Tuesday. Cummings, a junior, plays center field and pitches for the Tigers. Against the Lions, he reached base all three times – scoring twice – and registered the Tigers' only two hits against Westtown on Saturday. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)[/caption]

by Jonathan Vander Lugt

To second-year Germantown Friends School head coach Randy Mower, his team has the chops to make the Friends League playoffs.

And after last Tuesday’s 14-4 mercy-rule win over the Academy of the New Church, it seemed like he might have been right.

Caleb Friedman-Spring got off to a rocky start on the mound for the Tigs – he allowed a run in the first inning on a pair of hits and a walk – but settled down and retired nine of his next 11 batters faced. Ben Istvan pitched the fifth, and allowed three after an error on the would-be final out extended the inning.

It was no matter though. In as good of a performance as Mower could have hoped for, the offense roared to 14 runs in just five frames. After struggling to find players to highlight in a game where everybody played relatively well, Mower did mention a few.

“Eli Kushner played a nice shortstop, and Tyson Maddox really struck the ball well at the plate,” he said. Maddox, a junior, had the hardest-hit ball on a sacrifice fly to left in the first inning. “He’s been pretty hot lately and he kept that up.”

“All in all, nobody really stood out in a good or bad way – it was just a nice team win,” Mower said.

This was a welcome change after an up-and-down stretch featuring a 13-11 loss to Springfield Township where GFS committed nine errors, and an 8-1 loss to the Westtown School on April 4.

“We actually spent all day (Monday) polishing up the little things,” Mower said. “We haven’t really played our best yet, and part of that was that we weren’t respecting the game in the way that we should.”

“It’s been rocky. We’re a good team, but we thought we were a really good team,” Mower said. “We got hit in the mouth a bit, and we’ve built our way back up,” Mower said.

“Today was a good step in the right direction for that, but we’ve got a long way to go still.”

GFS junior Tyson Maddox scores on a wild play Tuesday against the Academy of the New Church. Credited with a single, Maddox poked a grounder by the third baseman that went through the left-field wickets – a three-base error that allowed him to come around and score. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)[/caption]

That was evident when Tigers got knocked down a peg again against Westtown on Saturday in an 8-0 loss, but GFS shouldn’t be discouraged.

“Our pitching is really strong this year – we’re very deep,” Mower said, of his 3-7 (2-2 in league play) squad. “We just have to make sure that we can defend behind them.”

GFS figures to have five regular starting pitchers: Kai Cummings, Elijah Lockman, Justin Needle, Tyson Maddox and Eli Kushner. Friedman-Spring and Istvan will typically pitch in relief with an occasional start (such as the one against ANC).

“I’d love to think that because I was a pitcher, we’re going to pitch well,” said Mower, who pitched for St. Joe’s and briefly in the Washington Nationals organization. “But it really comes down to personnel. We have a couple guys back from injury this year, and that’s really helped us.”

“We have a new pitching coach as well – Mike Barsotti,” Mower went on. “He’s an ‘08 graduate and really brought a lot to the team. He’s really one of the biggest reasons we’ve been pitching so well.”

The bats will have to become more consistent – the Tigers have scored nine, one, 14 and zero runs in their league games so far – but should have Cummings, Maddox and senior captain Noah Davidson to help right the ship as they get more reps.

Last year, Mower guided the Tigers to an 11-9 finish before falling in the four-five play-in game in the Friends League playoff. For GFS faithful, hopefully a year under Mower’s belt as head coach will help get them at least that far again.

“We’re 100 percent a playoff team in the Friends League, and I’d love to be in the championship game,” he said. “It’s obviously not a sure thing, but we’re definitely talented enough to make it that far.”

“This year I had a really good plan about what I wanted to do and what I wanted to accomplish and I’ve worked toward those goals,” Mower said. “It’s not like I haven’t been around baseball my whole life, but it’s the little things.”

“Right down to making lineups – I put a whole lot of thought into that,” he went on. “It gets a little easier every day.”