Following the beginning of a tough preseason and regular season consisting of unruly weather and the loss of players to injury, the Tartans dominated their first OCCAC challenge over the weekend against rivals Owens Community College, Head Coach Steve Dintaman knew this was exactly what the team needed to boost morale.

“They were very resilient and they competed very well under pressure,” Dintaman said.

The Tartan Pride started off hot offensively, with players Matt Sullivan and AJ Kruzel delivering quality batting that gave the team a good plate appearance rating, that was above average at .700.

“Everybody stepped up when they needed to,” Dintaman said.

With further contribution of hits and exceptional pitching from players Austin Downing and Jonathan Lowe, Stephen Holland and “fireman” Scott Haag, the Tartans displayed an attitude that Dintaman has defined clearly as, “a never-say-die mentality.”

The Tartans were able to win three out of four games in the series, which puts the Tartans’ record at 12-7 on the season and 3-1 in the OCCAC.

While looking toward the rest of the season, Dintaman still holds strong with the team’s expectations. “Every conference game is important and we’re going to defend our title,” Dintaman said.

The men’s baseball team continues their run for the conference title at home vs. Ashland University JV on Thursday, April 4 in Ashland, Ohio.

Their next home game will take place on Tuesday, April 16 vs. Vincennes University at 4 p.m.

 

Young, eager and ready to live out their dreams — youth baseball players in Cartagena, Colombia, Carlos Merlano and Darwin Argumedo traveled everyday to practice at the only baseball field in the area.

“That field is one hour from where we lived,” Argumedo said. “It was hot everyday. I mean it was crazy hot. But now being here, even if it is cold, we can still practice inside. It’s beautiful. I’m so glad I am playing here.”

The players’ hard work and dedication led to both players earning the chance to play for Sinclair Community College after competing in the Dayton Classics, a summer baseball program in Dayton. At the Classics, the players were coached by Greg Beamer, who forwarded his interest in the two prospects from Colombia to Sinclair Baseball Coach Steve Dintaman.

Argumedo earned a scholarship with Sinclair and Merlano earned a spot as a walk-on, whose tuition is paid for by a sponsor back home.

“For me, this has been a great opportunity, because my parents weren’t going to be able to pay for my school and I was probably going to have to be [in the] military,” Merlano said. “But here at Sinclair I can be what I want to be and I get to play the sport I love. So, I try to see this as an opportunity that God put in my way and I’m trying to make the best out of it.”

Merlano is now a relief pitcher, who is seeing his first action with the team this season, as he was red-shirted last season. In four appearances, Merlano has an ERA of 6.14 as he is trying to find his groove as a member of the Pride.

Merlano said that adjusting to his new life in Ohio without his family was tough and at one point, he didn’t see his family for two years. But thankfully, Argumedo’s family opened up and provided him with a family-like environment during the transition.

“I want to say how thankful I am for Darwin’s family,” Merlano said. “I’m just grateful. People shouldn’t [be] taking stuff for granted, because you never know what’s going to happen.”

“We pick each other up,” Argumedo said. “Sometimes we just talk about life. We have become like brothers. We love to talk about life and baseball.”

Argumedo is the everyday catcher and is in his sophomore season at Sinclair.

At the start of the season, he said he was starting to feel the pressure and wasn’t playing up to his potential. But now that the conference season has begun, the man behind the plate for Sinclair said he is fully focused and ready to help the team bring home another championship banner.

“I had a rough start, but now I’m getting my confidence back,” Argumedo said. “I want to be on the same page as my pitchers. I want to know them like they are my brothers.”

In 14 starts, Argumedo is batting .278 and is fielding .987. But his most valuable attribute might be his leadership behind the plate, as he knows what to expect of the run through the Ohio Community College Athletic Association.

He also said that even though it is his last year at Sinclair, he is grateful for the time he has spent at the college.

“I love Sinclair,” Argumedo said. “I wish it was a four-year school. It’s a blessing to be here.”

The Tartan Pride team finished up a series victory OCCAC rival Owens Community College on March 23 and 24, giving them an early 3-1 lead over what is projected to be their biggest competition in conference this season.

Both players think Sinclair has the talent to make a run to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series.

“We have all the tools to get it done,” Merlano said.

Argumedo has faith in his team, but thinks it should be taken with precaution.

“I think we can get it done,” Argumedo said. “We have a pretty good team, but I think we should take it one game at a time.”

The Sinclair Community College baseball and softball teams are taking full swing this season.

The baseball team has been plagued with bad weather and injuries, but are exerting tartan pride and looking to toughen up while going into the mid-season.

In addition, the softball team looks to make a name for themselves and prove that a 21 year absence will not stigmatize its revival.

Steve Dintaman, head coach of the Sinclair baseball team, is going into his sixth season and is embracing the opportunity for yet another conference championship run.

“I’m honored to be the coach here,” he said.

Dintaman gave praise to his players and coaching staff.

“We have a good system here,” he said. “We have a great assistant coaching staff and we were able to get a great recruiting class of players. Guys that can play at the highest level division one and division two baseball.”

Which is something Dintaman and his coaching staff care about.

“We want to be a part of the journey and where these players want to go with baseball,” he said

Weather has not been kind to the Sinclair Tartans as of lately; with several cancelations, rescheduled games in addition to complications as to where they will practice, the Tartans have still refused to become complacent.

Dintaman understands this has been a challenge for his team and staff, but knows how hard his team is working every practice and every game since the beginning of the season.

“It’s been a slow start. We’ve had a lot of injuries earlier in the season, but we are healthy now. We’ve probably won the games were supposed to win and we’ve lost some games were supposed to lose,”  Dintaman said.

Scott Haag, a pitcher for the Tartan Pride, is a sophomore transfer from south eastern Illinois and knows how much potential this team is capable of producing.

“Our team has all the potential in the world. I mean, we just have to do it,” Haag said.

Haag feels strongly about the group of players he is surrounded by and would not have it any other way. “Everybody loves everybody; it’s basically a brotherhood. It’s not like one person standing over here. It’s everybody standing here together,” Haag said.

Ben Herlihy, a freshman infielder from Centerville High School, agrees with Haag.

“This is the best baseball team I’ve ever been on. It should be, because we’re a college team,” he said.

Herlihy said his teammates are very good when it comes to playing on the diamond.

“Every player on this team was a good player at their high school and it’s cool to learn from everyone and find your place on the team,” he said.

With well-known opponents such as Potomac State and Parkland Community College coming up in the next couple of weeks, the Tartan Pride looks to get in gear to start conference play beginning March 22. “These next two weekends will definitely determine where we are heading into the conference season. This is the team that can do it. The goal at the end of year is to be in the World Series and I don’t see why not,” Dintaman said.

While men’s baseball is in full swing at the moment, the women’s softball team is firing on all cylinders, prepping for the revival of a program that has been in the shadows since 1991, while beholding the ability to shine on such great heights of athletic will and dedication.

Last year, Steven Beachler was named new head coach of the women’s softball team.

A former assistant varsity coach for softball at Miamisburg High School, Beachler is not timid about what it takes to be a head coach of a junior college team like Sinclair’s.

“It’s a great opportunity, considering there has not been a softball team playing at an intercollegiate level since 1991,” he said.

Beachler is anxious to get his team out on the field and show what they’re all about.

“These players are dedicated and chomping on the bit to prove themselves,” he said.

Sinclair’s lapse in time between 1991 and the beginning of the 2012 season seems unburdened at the moment with its new head coach.

“It’s a great opportunity to put Sinclair on the right track and women’s softball on top,” Beachler said.

Sinclair Community College’s men’s basketball team fought through their season with high and low moments as any other team. However, their strength did not go unnoticed by the people watching them closely.

Jeff Price, head basketball coach, was impressed with the group of young men and how they came together to finish out the season, referring to them as “a really good group of guys.”

The season had a rough start in the beginning with losing a couple of scholarship players in the first few games. Price was impressed with how the team rebounded from that set back and their ability to get things done. The team made it through and ended the season with a 16-14 record, two of the wins being part of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference. Price said even with the trouble in the beginning, they came out to play every single night.

According to Price, the Tartan’s had a strong pre-season scrimmaging with two National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II teams — Fairmont State and University of Indianapolis. During the season there were nail biters, such as their away wins over Columbus State Community College and Edison Community College, both in over time that showed the team’s strength.

“We didn’t win some of the ball games I thought we were going to win, but I think they learned,” Price said.

He refers to the team as a “learned group” that came out better at the end of the season than when they started.

“They never gave up and they stayed with us — every pregame, I looked in their eyes they were ready to go,” Price said.

The overall goal of the men’s basketball program is not only to win games, but to be good student athletes.

A mission statement the team follows, goes by the three C’s, which is to be good in the classroom, participate in community service and compete well.

Price proudly states that on average, four out of five guys go on to four year schools in the 10 years he has been here. Many of his former players come back wanting to help in some way because of what they got out of playing at Sinclair.

“We put you in classes that will transfer, not just keep you eligible,” Price said.

The players this season have held that up with not losing anyone academically and staying on pace to transfer.

Price views his job as getting players from point A to point B as soon as possible with the latter being ready to go to a four year school. In and out of this past season, it was said that the group are “good character guys,” fighting through the adversity in the beginning and coming out stronger from it.

For more information on the men’s basketball program, visit http://sinclair.edu/athletics/MensBasketball/.

The Sinclair men’s baseball team is returning this February to attempt to win their fifth straight Ohio Community College Athletic Association Championship.

Last season the Tartan Pride won 44 games, which earned them a #3 overall ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association poll.

That ranking did not carry over to this year, so Sinclair will begin the season unranked.

Sixth-year head coach Steve Dintaman said that being ranked to start the season isn’t a big concern.

“We’ve never been preseason ranked in my tenure,” he said. “It’s just the way it is, there [are] 16 teams in Michigan and there are four or five in the south and they (the north region of the District 12) take all those votes.”

The Pride are returning 11 players (seven starters) and will begin the season with a road trip to Tennessee to play the University of South Carolina — Salkehatchie and #12 Walters State Community College on Feb. 16 and 17.

Dintaman said his pitching staff is probably the strongest and deepest group on the team. They have a platoon of strong arms who are capable of carrying the team to another conference championship.

As for the other side of the ball, the Tartan Pride offense is returning seven of nine everyday positional players for a team that held a batting average of .313 last year. Dintaman said having that kind of experience is immeasurable.

“The whole outfield that we have is going to be made up of second-year players, guys that are returners, guys that know what needs to happen and what goes on,” Dintaman said. “It should be interesting.”

Dintaman expects a big year from his sophomores, especially his infielders Austin Downing and Matt Sullivan. Downing held a .339 batting average last season, knocking in 40 runs as well, a team high. Dintaman said that Sullivan was touted as the team’s best overall player because of his versatility and work ethic.

Dintaman also expects big numbers from his new everyday catcher, sophomore Darwin Argumedo.

The catcher from Cartagena, Columbia said he expects the team to be ready to compete for another conference title this year.

“I think we got a pretty good team,” Argumedo said. “We all work hard. But I think we need to take things one game at a time. When we focus on one game at a time, then we’ll have 40 [wins] and then we’ll win the conference and keep going from there.”

Ohio Community College Athletic Conference season starts March 22 against Owens Community College and Dintaman feels the team will be ready.

“I’m very excited about our schedule for the upcoming season,” he said. “We have scheduled some tough non-conference games and we’ll play three preseason ranked teams before conference season begins. Our goal remains the same — win the conference and win the regional. The regional champion receives an automatic berth to the World Series and that’s where we want to be.”

Those who are interested can follow the team via the application gamechanger at gamechanger.io/home and searching for Sinclair.

Select games will also be broadcast courtesy of Gem City Sports Network. To find out more, visit gemcitysports.com.

Stats and information courtesy of Sinclair Baseball records, NJCAA.org, OCCAC.org and Dintaman’s 2013 season preview.

The Sinclair men’s basketball team is 15-5 on the season and look like one of the teams to beat in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference.

The Pride have their work cut out for them, as they still have to face the no. 15 ranked team in their region, the Lakeland Community College Lakers.

Men’s Head Coach Jeff Price said he knows it will take around nine wins to bring home the conference banner this season, which means the Pride can only afford to lose two more conference games.

The season opening stumble against Owens Community College was a wake-up call for the Pride as they turned around and defeated the no. 19 ranked Columbus State Community College Cougars on Jan. 19.

Sophomore point guard Charlie Byers exploded with 38 points in 42 minutes, putting the Pride on his back on the way to a huge OCCAC win. Sophomore Gavin Schumann chipped in 12 points as well.

Price hopes his team is ready to come together now that conference season is underway, as the team has been ravished with injuries all season long. He said his team has been a resilient bunch, crediting his bench as being the strongest part of the team.

“We’ve spent our non-conference season trying to grow and fight through a lot of injuries,” Price said. “We’ve had many different line-ups. We have a really good bench. I’m really proud of how our bench has played.”

Those valuable minutes from each of his players has allowed his team 82 points per game, which is ranked #20 in the nation at the Division II Junior College level, according to National Junior College Athletic Association statistics. The Pride is also ranked sixth in free throws made per contest.

Schumann leads the Pride with 18.6 point per game this season.

Price said he is happy with his team’s record, but he knows the job isn’t done. He mentioned the team is approaching full strength and he hopes (barring anymore unforeseen injuries) his team will be at full strength by the end of February, just in time for the NJCAA District XII Tournament.