2026 Wooster Baseball Home Opener: Postgame Comments by Coach Aaron Swick

I had a chance to speak with Wooster Fighting Scots baseball coach, Aaron Swick, following their home opener today. It was a double-header against SUNY Oneonta. The Scots split the two games, losing the first 8-1 and winning the second 10-0.

Here's my interview with Coach Swick:  

JW: Michael Scarpelli was cruising in Game 1 and then things kind of slipped away. What did you see in Game 1 that led to the loss? 

Coach Swick: They took advantage of some free bases. A hit batter, then an error, and the sac fly where the guy dropped the ball. So there's some free bases there. And I didn't make a good selection in terms of the pitch call and that guy put a good swing on the pitch. They did a really good job pitching-wise and playing good defense. So, kudos to them for having good plans at the plate and good sequencing on the mound. And then, they strung together some hits in the eighth inning there. We just didn't have our best game offensively, but proud of the way the guys kind of bounced back.

JW: How's Ryan Kramer doing? Looked like a knee or an ankle maybe? 

Coach Swick: Yeah, that run down, it was just a little bit of more contact with the ground after catching the ball. But nothing structurally wrong. He's going to be fine down the road. Just a little bit of a short-term contusion. 

JW: Alex Eusebio has pitched really well. What do you see in him? 

Coach Swick: Man, he's really grown. The biggest jumps I usually see in players is from the first year to the second year, and he certainly is in that category. He learned a lot about himself last year and pitched a couple outings. But his stuff's improved. His velocity's better. Just his awareness about pitching is better. So, he has a chance to be a good long guy or the fourth or fifth starter. I'm happy for his development, for sure. 

JW: Great bounce back in Game 2. Bennett Grossman and Maanav Bhatt seemed to really add a spark offensively. What would you say about their performance today? 

Coach Swick: Yeah, Maanav, he's made some really good strides. He had plenty of at-bats last year, started as a freshman. He just takes good swings - doesn't get too high or too low. I knew that putting him out there was going to be a good opportunity for us. Ben, that was his first career hit, so it's good to kind of see him get off the snide a little bit, but he's a really good athlete and can do lots of good things for us. We feel like we have lots of depth. You can put the next person out there and you feel like you can create just as much offense or stuff on the mound, so that's certainly a bonus to have. 

JW: Dame Frayne pitched really well. What would you say were the keys for him today? 

Coach Swick: He's just ultra-competitive, and he's got great feel for his stuff. He throws four pitches for strikes; pitches well with people on base. If you were to look at his numbers last year, solid ERA for a freshman, but he also pitched out of jams all the time. He's just able to hunker a little deeper and execute pitches when he needs to. And so, he's very good and he's still getting better. He has more room to grow, so that's exciting for us. 

JW: You're 3-2 to begin the season. You were 1-7 last year. How would you describe the start so far? 

Coach Swick: I think we're learning stuff about ourselves. There's some new people we're trying to kind of figure out - like freshman at short, freshman in left. We played a freshman in right today. So just some things we're trying to navigate. And then, what's the hot hand at that particular time offensively? Still trying to navigate the bullpen pieces like who's the best role, righty versus lefties and things like that. It's an interesting dynamic trying to figure out wins while also putting people in the game you think could give you a shot, and then seeing if they execute. We've played two good opponents and have been on the plus side so far. Hope to win a series tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

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