Second baseman Joel Goldberg, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania, is one of just a few seniors on this year’s Washington team. KEVIN COOK / FOR THE TIMES
During Saturday’s 10–0 non-league loss to Father Judge, multiple George Washington baseball supporters jokingly inquired about Roger Hanson dusting off his old Eagles jersey and taking the field.
On this afternoon, Hanson, a 2014 First-Team All-Public selection and Division A’s Most Valuable Player for his exploits on the mound, was in street clothes, just another spectator like everyone else on that side of the fence. Standing close by was Scott Siley, another Washington First-Team selection from a season ago, two integral parts of the most magical baseball campaign at the school in two decades, which culminated with the Eagles’ first Public League title since 1995.
For the first time in almost 20 years, Washington enters the baseball season as defending champions, and the Eagles will have to attempt to repeat without the help of Hanson, Siley and fellow senior starters John Santos (also First-Team All-Public), Gilad Metro and Pat Farrell, all of whom graduated last summer. Despite their absence, the target on Washington’s collective backs is still enormous, and the program is left with four key holdovers and a lot of inexperience.
“It definitely hurts losing those seniors, no question about it,” said junior pitcher Eddie Tingle, set to make the leap to staff ace in Hanson’s stead. “But I think the team is really coming together. We’re jelling, and the guys with experience who are back want to lead this team. I prefer to be a leader, and these guys are really coming into their own in that role.”
The guys Tingle is alluding to, beyond himself, are junior first baseman Ishmael Bracy and seniors Joel Goldberg (second base) and Chase Alexander (catcher), all of whom were on the field when the Eagles dispatched Franklin Towne Charter in a 3–2 nailbiter in the championship game. They may not have been seniors, but the quartet does not lack experience, and all four are stepping up to the challenge of leading a young team that is resetting the foundation while still hoping it has what it takes to go on another championship run.
It will be anything but easy. The Public League’s Division A, quite simply, is stacked. Franklin Towne has finished runner-up in each of the last two seasons and brings back almost everybody; Frankford, which failed to win a league title for the first time since 2010, has matured from a young team with raw talent to a very dangerous one; Central, along with Franklin Towne, is probably the division’s co-favorite on paper; and then there’s also Lincoln, Olney, Esperanza and Philadelphia Academy Charter, among others, who could make noise.
So where does Washington fit into this equation? As of now, it’s hard to say, mainly because the team’s youngsters with little to no varsity experience are still being shown the ropes. There is talent there, for sure, but whether it comes together this season or needs until next year to mature remains to be seen.
“Last year, I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” Tingle said. “But I think I can speak for everybody when I say how shocked we all were that all of a sudden, it was just over. It hits you that you’re losing six seniors with a lot of talent, and it’s definitely a different feeling going into this season. But we have a chip on our shoulder, because I think people are doubting the guys who are back. We have more talent than what people might think. As of now, we just want to get a playoff berth, because there’s some tough teams in this division. But I do think we can prove the doubters wrong.”
“I know there’s a lot of teams around the league that don’t expect us to be as good without our seniors, especially our big horse, Roger,” added Bracy, who has been best friends with Tingle since they were 8 years old. “But there’s some legitimate talent here that hasn’t even been tapped into yet, and we’re going to hold our own and be better than other people think we are.”
Washington is off to a 2–3 overall start, including a 2–2 mark in Division A. The Eagles lost to Central (7–2) and Olney (6–0), but scored wins over GAMP (11–1) and Edison (11–0), the latter of which came on Monday. That victory featured a 12-strikeout performance from Tingle, showing that he indeed has what it takes to be a top-flight pitcher in this league.
“I think everybody understands this year is a huge difference to last season,” said Alexander, who will play at East Stroudsburg next year. “Joel (Goldberg) and I go way back, all the way to preschool, and we’ve talked about being more talkative this year, as well as being patient as the young guys continue to develop. Sometimes that means talking slower to teach them the game of baseball, and us four as a group realize we have huge shoes to fill. A lot has changed and we know we have to be at the top of our game, but it’s real good to be considered one of the leaders. And I do believe that by the end of the season, we’ll be poised for another deep run.”
In addition to Tingle, Bracy will see time on the mound as well as being one of the league’s top returning hitters (he was Second-Team All-Public at 1B a year ago). Junior Matt McHale is another pitcher whom Alexander said has loads of potential.
“I’ve been on the team since my freshman year, so I’ve seen a lot of great players go through the system,” said Goldberg, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. “Guys like Corey Sharp, Jake Wright, my brother Aaron … but only we can say we enter a season as defending champions. It still gives me chills just thinking about it. Yes, there’s some new guys, but we still have a strong nucleus. We just have to stay humble and hungry and realize that we can’t take anything for granted just because we’re the champs.”
The Eagles have already matched their league loss total from a year ago, so odds are this team will run into some bumps along the way. What Tingle, Alexander, Goldberg and Bracy must understand is that losing a few games is not the end of the world; what matters most is how and what Washington learns from its defeats, and how it can catapult itself into playing consistent, hot baseball toward the end.
Bracy especially seems to have embraced this realization. He’s one of the league’s most talented hitters, but is such a fiery competitor that he lost his composure on multiple occasions a season ago. Last year, he might have slammed his bat or thrown his glove in frustration if he struck out or made an error; now, he seems to understand that, as a leader, his actions will be emulated by others.
“I expect so much out of myself,” he explained. “Last year, I would hit the ball 350 feet but it would be an out and I’d get so angry that it wasn’t a hit. I understand now that it’s not OK to lash out and be that way, because my team will see that and think it’s fine to act that way. I needed to better understand that baseball is a game of failure, and you will fail more than you succeed; I pride myself on being a leader, not someone that’s going to disrupt the clubhouse. Baseball is a game, and we’re here to have fun. I understand that I was lashing out, but now that I see that guys are listening to what I tell them … I take a lot of pride in helping coach them, and I think people doubting us is only going to add fuel to the fire. When we’re firing on all cylinders, we’ll be tough to beat.”
If the four leaders at the forefront stay healthy and focused, and some of the team’s youth develops in the next four to six weeks, the Eagles are far from a team that should be counted out.
“It’s up to us to coach these guys up and teach them the fundamentals of the game,” Goldberg said. “It’s still real early to tell, but I believe the division is up for grabs for whoever wants or desires it most. What Chase and I really want to do before we go is instill some strong leadership upon these young guys, so Eddie and Ish can keep leading them next year when they’ll be even better. Teams like Frankford, Olney, Central, Franklin Towne … are they good? Of course, but I think guys saw what we accomplished last year and it gives them hope that they can do it, too.”
Tingle, who is certainly not lacking in self-confidence, agreed.
“I am totally ready to be the ace of this staff,” he said. “I felt like I was last year, too. A lot of guys we have now are maybe unsure of themselves at the plate and don’t want to screw up in the field. You can’t play the game tense, so we’ll show them how to have a short memory. As long as guys keep coming to practice every day and working hard like they did last year, then we’ll come around. A lot of teams think we won’t be back to last year’s form, but I 100 percent believe we can prove them wrong.” ••
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Senior catcher Chase Alexander will play baseball at East Stroudsburg University next year. KEVIN COOK / FOR THE TIMES
Junior first baseman/pitcher Ishmael Bracy is a returning All-Public selection for Washington. In addition to being one of the league’s best hitters, the vocal Bracy has also worked on his leadership skills. KEVIN COOK / FOR THE TIMES
Junior starting pitcher Eddie Tingle is ready to step up as Washington’s ace on the mound. His 12-strikeout performance in an 11–0 Monday win over Edison backed up that notion. KEVIN COOK / FOR THE TIMES
