By Kellie Lagoy
New Head Coach Chris Francis turned this VWC baseball team into a winning machine in just one season.
The Marlins haven’t seen postseason play since 2010 when Nick Boothe was still coaching, but that all changed as the season came to a close this year. After five years of waiting, the Marlins clinch the second seed in the conference tournament.
VWC finished the season 15-12 overall, and they went 9-5 in conference games. They’re winning record this year put them in good position to start the playoffs. Not only does their record put them in a good spot, but their talent will surely take them far.
The Marlins have a few names on the ODAC leaderboards going into postseason play. Senior Zach Bach is fifth in the conference for batting average with a .400, and with the impressive batting percentage he posts a .464 on base percentage which is fourth in the conference.
The first round of the ODAC tournament will take place Apr. 23, and all the games will be at City Stadium in Lynchburg, Va. All six seeded teams will play the first day, and the first matchup will be early at 11 a.m. Top-seeded Shenandoah University will battle with the bottom seed Eastern Mennonite University first.
The Marlins will have a 2:30 p.m. start time against fifth-seeded Roanoke College. This season VWC swept Roanoke midway through April in a double-header on home turf. The Marlins only allowed seven total runs in both games, while they put up 15 of their own.
This playoff run won’t be easy, but the Marlins have shown resiliency this season to prove that they can handle the pressure.
