The game was played in a crisp two hours and 35 minutes with the home team getting some outstanding pitching and flawless defensive work. This is a team that has started off the season as well as any in its history. The Saturday afternoon sun was shining enough to give that ever growing bald spot on the top of my head enough redness that I later wondered why I hadn’t worn a hat. Yet, when I got to the game 30 minutes before its starting time of noon, I had no problem grabbing a front row seat behind home plate. When the game was finally decided, there were less than 200 people in the stands.

This was not a game between a group of rundown former baseball players looking for an excuse for something to do before they each drank a six-pack at their favorite watering hole. Still, there were no TV cameras, there were no reporters, there was no Bucky and Larry behind the microphone broadcasting the game to the thousands that wished they were there but couldn’t get a ticket, and there weren’t 13,000 fans in the stands cheering the players’ every move. Despite all of this, the players gave it everything that they could. They dove for balls, they ran like the wind, and they did whatever they could for another victory.

You see, this is the University of Dayton baseball team. The same baseball team that came within a whisker of making it to the NCAA tournament for the first time less than a year ago. The same baseball team that started the season 14-6 verses 0-6 last year. While the Flyers have cooled off a bit and currently stand at 21-13, they are anything but cold compared to Flyer baseball teams of the past.

Most fans of the University of Dayton are fans of the basketball team. They are fans for many reasons. Many of us were brought up following the Flyers on Channel 7 and WHIO radio because it was impossible to get a ticket to the UD Fieldhouse. Many became fans when they enrolled at UD and found out how much fun it was to go to the Arena and yell at Digger Phelps to sit down and maybe even get on national TV by painting their face red and blue. Some are just fans because it seems like the thing to do.

What many fans of the University of Dayton do not realize is that the rest of the athletic teams at the school do offer quality entertainment at little or no cost. The Flyer soccer teams and volleyball teams have been very successful in recent years with the women making the Sweet 16 and the men reaching two NCAA play-ins. The baseball team won more games than ever last season and are on target to break that record again this year, yet on one seems to know.

Through some very intelligent recruiting while using his ties to the junior college system, Tony Vittorio has brought the Flyers to a level that the school has not enjoyed in the past. It is not out of the question to expect a trip to the NCAA tournament this year if things break right toward the end of the season. Despite the addition of the traditionally strong Richmond Spiders to the A-10 who currently sit at a gaudy 32-4 and #21 in the latest USAToday rankings, Vittorio has put together a senior-laden team that has shown in the early season that they will be a tough team to handle when the conference tournament is held in Norwich, CT, in late May. The Flyers will need to finish either first or second in the West or have one of the top two winning percentages of those not finishing first or second in either of the divisions to qualify for the preliminary round of the conference tournament. The top two teams from the preliminary round of the tournament will then travel to the home of the top remaining seed for a best two-of-three series the following weekend. The winner will then advance to the NCAA Tournament.

The key to any baseball team is the amount of pitching that they can throw at the opposition and it is no different for Dayton. The Flyers pack a good one-two punch in Mike Kerins and Mike Rolih. Between them, they have started 12 of the Flyers’ first 20 games and own a combined 10-1 record. Aaron Pahs and Jake Hanson are next in line with a combined 3-0 record and Earned Run Average of 1.94. Pahs and Hanson have been used almost exclusively in relief and as a result, Vittorio will need to see some improvement from the rest of the starting staff if the Flyers are to give themselves an opportunity for an at-large bid should they not win the conference tournament.

The Flyers are well coached in the fundamentals. They know when to take an extra base and they know how to catch the ball. After the first 20 games, they committed just 13 errors or .65/game. As a comparison, the Cincinnati Reds averaged .85/game last season and the best defensive team in major league baseball last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks, averaged .52 errors per game. The Flyers also make the most of their hits, scoring .79 runs per hit while only giving up .51. They have a team batting average of over .300 and an on-base percentage of almost .400.

For those of you that have never seen a college baseball game, you would be amazed at the quality of the players. For a city that has become enamored with the play of the Dayton Dragons, most would be surprised with the talents that these players possess. Although the roster is not filled with future major league draft picks, they would give the Dragons a run for their money should they ever be matched up. Although you would be hard pressed to find a 95-mile per hour fastball on the Flyers, they know how to play the game. You will not find a player here that will strike out more than once each game or a shortstop that will make an error every fourth game as we have seen at Fifth-Third Field. What you find are kids that love the game and play it for the right reason, not just for that future paycheck.

There are still a number of home games left this season that will give you an opportunity to see these exciting young men. (http://www.daytonflyers.com/baseball/schedule.html) Make sure you stay after the game to see what these student-athletes do when the fun is over. They do not head to a nice locker room for a warm shower. They run through a series of calisthenics and then get out the rakes to get the playing field in shape for the next game. This is what true college athletics is all about.