WSU Baseball | Photo by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
The Wright State University baseball team capped off its fall scrimmages by hosting its annual Green & Gold World Series.
Every season, the baseball team plays against various schools along with intersquad matches to examine the talent and progress the team possesses ahead of the spring season, closing out the preseason matchups with the Green & Gold World Series.
Each year, two captains—one pitcher and one position player—are selected for each team.
This year, Julian Greenwell and Jay Luikart were elected captains for team Big Hoss BBQ. On the other side, Sammy Sass and Wes Earles were at the helm of Paper Route Empire.
Captains for each team are responsible for drafting their teams along with making in-game decisions, such as lineups, substitutions and pitching changes.
“You get a new appreciation for the work coaches have to do during games,” Greenwell mentioned. “It is a cool experience. It is definitely really fun, but it can be stressful.”
The series
The Green & Gold World Series lived up to the hype this season, with both teams playing well and forcing a deciding third game. Team Big Hoss BBQ took down Paper Route Empire in game one by a final score of 8-4.
In game two, Paper Route Empire would respond by evening the series with a 7-4 win.
Game three would determine the winner of the series for this fall.
A stellar performance
Sunday’s deciding game began when Ben Zink performed the National Anthem on his electric guitar in front of the entire crowd. It was Zink’s first time ever performing in front of any type of crowd.
“I knew he could do it. Occasionally, after practice, he’ll play guitar in the locker room when everyone's gone, and I hear. I'm like, ‘Yeah, that's really good,’” Head Coach Alex Sogard said of Zink's pregame performance. “He killed it. It gave me chills listening to it.”
After losing game one of the series then winning the second game, team Paper Route Empire won the third game to claim the 2023 Green & Gold World Series.
The event is a great opportunity to showcase new and returning talent, team bonding and friendly competition.
Winners…and losers
Aside from friendly banter, the Green & Gold World Series recently added new implications to the tournament.
“We all go out for dinner, and the winner gets brisket, and the losers get hot dogs,” Sass mentioned on the bragging rights.
Looking ahead
This year’s baseball team will possess a lot of young talent surrounded by great veteran leaders who share the same goal in securing a regional title.
“I think there are a lot of young guys that will help us, but for this year, we are really just trying to get over that hump to win a regional,” Greenwell said. “I think the new guys coming in really give us a shot to do that.”
The RaiderGang will now work with position coaches for continued training moving into the winter months in preparation for this coming spring season.
