Let youth be served
GROVE CITY — His team is young. It’s also extremely talented.
Grove City College baseball coach Matt Royer entered the 2023 season betting on the latter. And he’s winning.
A lot.
“Going into this year, I felt like we had the best baseball team Grove City has ever had,” Royer said. “Then we opened the season with two games in Kentucky, where we played absolutely terrible.
“But things have gotten much better since then.“
Eden Christian graduate and Seven Fields resident Luke Vittone, Butler graduate and right-handed pitcher David Leslie — both sophomores — are two of the big reasons why.
The Wolverines close the regular season with a 1 p.m. home doubleheader Saturday against Chatham. Grove City is 28-8 — 15-3 and tied for first with Washington & Jefferson in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference — and needs one win to break the school record for most wins in a regular season. The Wolverines finished with 28 wins in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Vittone started the season at second base. Leslie began the year trying to come back from elbow surgery that sidelined him for all of the 2022 campaign.
“We flip-flopped Luke and (shortstop) Lucca Baccari and it really strengthened our team,” Royer said. “Luke has a strong arm and outstanding range. Lucca is a solid defensive player. Neither one wanted to change positions initially. But once they saw how the move made us a better team, they were fine with it.
“David was a little tentative on the mound when the season started, which was understandable. He hadn’t played baseball in a year and once you get back out there, you’re always wondering if the injury is going to return again, if you feel something different when you unleash a pitch ... It’s a mental hurdle to overcome.”
Both players are doing quite nicely these days. Batting in the leadoff position, Vittone is hitting .329 with eight doubles, four triples, five homers and 23 RBI. He’s also stolen 14 bases in as many attempts.
Vittone hit .309 with four homers and 25 RBI while starting as a freshman in 2022. He hit .425 as a senior at Eden Christian.
“I’ve been a consistent hitter, but my main goal hitting lead-off is to just get on base,” he said. “I usually have the green light to steal second base if I want to. Coach gives signals that way as well.”
Royer said a signal exists that tells Vittone “to go ahead and go if he feels like he can get there. He knows what kind of lead he’s getting off his base and we trust his judgment.
“He turns the double play better than anybody I’ve coached and I’ve been in baseball for 43 years. I had a (middle infielder) get drafted in the 11th round and Luke turns double plays better than him.”
Leslie has the unique combination of having three saves and three complete games on the mound for the Wolverines this season. He’s gone from working his way into action out of the bullpen to becoming one of the most consistent starting pitchers in the PAC.
“We began the season in Florida and I really struggled,” Leslie said. “It wasn’t just coming back from the surgery, it was adjusting to college competition for the first time.
“I rely a lot on my fastball. Our coaches emphasize getting ahead in the count and I’ve been using that to pitch to my strengths.”
Leslie was recently named PAC Pitcher of the Week. He’s been named the league’s Rookie of the Week twice. His fastball averages between 88 and 91 miles per hour.
In PAC play this season, he is 5-1 with a 1.24 earned run average in six starts. Overall, Leslie is 6-2 with a 3.24 ERA, 64 strikeouts in 66.2 innings pitched.
“David has tremendous potential,” Royer said. “His fastball is his best pitch, but he’s got an effective sinker and curve he throws for strikes. He lost a game to W&J, 2-1, and he worked his sinker so well that they didn’t hit a ball in the air until the fifth inning.
“He’s got a pitcher’s body and is only going to get better. He’s pitching as well as anybody in the league right now. Over the next couple of years. he should be dominant. I’ve had three pitchers drafted by major league teams and they’ve got nothing on David.”
Grove City is trying to win its first PAC baseball title since 2008. The Wolverines have only one senior starter — catcger C.J. Saylor — have a sophomore third basenman hitting .456 (Mally Kilbane), a freshman center fielder (Nick Sampson) hitting .360. Thye team batting average is .325.
“We have tremendous hitters hitting behind me,” said Vittone, a business economics major. “Every time I get on base, I feel like I’m going to score.”
“Our goal is to win the PAC championship,” said Leslie, an exercise science major. “That’s all we’re thinking about right now, winning that tournament.”
