Ethan Newton, an outfielder for Ohio University's baseball team, has established himself as a leader through his consistent performance and base-stealing abilities. In his first season with the team, Newton hit safely in nearly a third of his plate appearances and had team-highs in hits and runs. This season, he needs just one more steal to break the school's single-season record. Both Newton and his coach credit his work ethic and intelligence on the base paths. Over his two seasons with the team, Newton has started in every game, demonstrating his sustainability and dedication to the team. Ohio will host Buffalo this weekend, where Newton aims to continue his impressive contributions.

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JIM RYAN
Staff Writer | jr992810@ohiou.edu
———
It didn’t take long for Ethan
Newton to acclimate to the
rolling hills of Southeast Ohio.
From the minute the Norfolk,
VA, native arrived on campus,
he did what he had always
done — everything. And he
did it at full speed.
Less than two years later,
Newton hasn’t taken the time
to take a deep breath and sur-
vey his accomplishments. But
if he did, there’d be a lot more
peaks than valleys in his rear-
view.
Last season, Newton’s first
in Athens, he showed sparks
of greatness while establishing
himself as a model of consis-
tency in the outfield. The ju-
nior hit safely in nearly a third
of his trips to the plate and
racked up 74 hits and 44 runs,
both of which were team-
highs.
And if that weren’t enough,
he stole 20 bases in 27 tries,
four off Matt Hudik’s single
season Ohio record. Even
more impressive, though, is
that the center fielder has
already surpassed his previ-
ous total in as many attempts
through 36 games this season.
With a stolen base in each
of Ohio’s three games this
weekend against Buffalo,
Newton could tie Hudik’s sin-
gle-season mark. It would only
take a pair of steals for him to
eclipse Marc Sims as the pro-
gram’s all-time sneakiest base
runner, as well.
“It’d be an amazing honor to
leave my mark here, no matter
what happens,” Newton said.
“But no matter what happens,
I need to make sure I focus on
the team first and make sure
that I put those steals ahead of
playing quality baseball.”
He also credited Ohio coach
Joe Carbone, who recruited
him out of Allegany College
of Maryland and gave him the
immediate green light to fur-
ther his career.
Carbone reciprocated the
feeling.
“For him to break the Ohio
University steals record in two
years when everybody else has
four is quite a feat,” Carbone
said. “He is an outstanding
base stealer. He has the heart
of a lion on the base paths,
gets great jumps and reads
pitchers well.”
Newton’s success this sea-
son cannot be measured in
only 90-foot intervals, though.
His defensive presence has
been of equal importance to
the Bobcats. Newton’s .971
fielding percentage is any-
thing but pedestrian and his
two errors are bested only by
left fielder Tyler Wells, who has
made only one fumble on the
season.
“He’s a great collegiate
center fielder,” Carbone said.
“He is an outstanding guy at
throwing people out at bases.
He has 13 assists — that’s just
unbelievable. When there’s a
ball hit to center field, we all
get up off our seats to see if
he’s going to throw a guy out.
Sometimes you don’t see a guy
thrown out at home plate all
season, and he’s had 13.”
As a testament to his per-
formance thus far this season,
Newton the fifth Ohio player to
be named the Mid-American
East division player of the week
Tuesday. The award was fitting,
as he went 10-for-19 with four
runs and three RBIs during the
Bobcats’ last four games.
Though his play sets an ob-
vious example for his team-
mates, Newton has been
tasked with leading his team
off the field as well through his
role as team co-captain.
“Ethan and I are always ex-
changing text messages, usu-
ally on a day-to-day basis,”
said Seth Streich, Ohio’s other
captain, who also played with
Newton over the summer for
the Southern Ohio Copper-
heads. “We really connected
last summer and he just brings
a really good aspect to the
team.”
It can be argued that New-
ton’s most valuable attribute
is not his speed, smarts or
strength, but his sustainabil-
ity. In his two years with the
program, the Bobcats have
played 90 games. And each
game, Newton’s name has
been announced alongside his
fellow starters.
And as if he thinks the
game will start without him,
Newton is always quick to
bound up the dugout stairs
and out onto the field. After
all, anything else would be
out of character.
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SPORTS Check for updates throughout the weekend.Track & Field: Bobcats to take on top talent in
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Watch the video of Jim
Ryan and Nick Robbe
trying to hit against
the baseball team’s
pitching machine.
MICHAEL STAINBROOK
Sports Editor | ms229908@ohiou.edu
———
Ohio’s spring practice session
will come to its end Saturday with
the most formal outing the Bob-
cats will have until next fall’s sea-
son opener at Penn State.
Ohio will play in the annual
Green and White spring game at
Peden Stadium. Because of some
health concerns and depth issues
at certain positions, the team will
split into offensive and defensive
units rather thandividingintotwo
teams with both components.
In their latest scrimmage, red-
shirt freshman quarterback Derri-
usVick led the offense in a steam-
rolling of the Bobcat defenders.
But that was without some key
starters on a day when everything
was going right for the offense.
With a few different bounces and
some playmakers back in the line-
up, Saturday’s matchup could tell
a different tale.
“We’ve got to perform at a
pretty high level right now,” said
coach Frank Solich, who is wrap-
ping up his eighth spring training
session with Ohio. “It’ll be a tough
go-round if one (squad) just dom-
inates the other. If our first team’s
out there, we’ll be pretty good on
both sides of the ball.”
Ohio will look to establish a
more solidified depth chart at
receiver and linebacker, where
the Bobcats are dealing with the
biggest losses from last season.
Between the two positions, Ohio
lost five of its top six performers,
including four team captains.
But Ohio also returns redshirt
junior quarterbackTylerTettleton,
who broke decades-old passing
records in his first season starting
under center. Behind him there
isn’t much depth, but for now
he’s the anchor of an offense that
returns starting tight end Jordan
Thompson and running backs
Ryan Boykin and Beau Blanken-
ship.
“We’re missing some players,
but it’s the same team,” Blanken-
ship said. “It’s just going out there
andexecuting.Wehavethepoten-
tial to be really good.”
The Bobcats’ defense might
have more to prove than its of-
fense. The defense lost another
battle against the offense during
Wednesday’s practice, resulting
in 25 pushups in front of their of-
fensive counterparts. That humil-
ity, coupled with last Saturday’s
outing, has some defenders frus-
trated but eager to prove they can
stop the potent attack.
“I think with a lot of young
guys coming in here, there’s some
young guys that need to keep
learning the package,” redshirt se-
nior nose guard Neal Huynh said.
“We’re playing well on points, but
we need to play harder consis-
tently.”
Before the intrasquad action
kicks off, Solich said he will put
his new punters, long snappers
and punt returners on the field
by themselves so that the fans can
hone in on Ohio’s new specialists.
Solich said he hopes to be able
to cook up some pressure for the
young players who will take their
first reps under the scrutiny of the
Bobcat faithful.
“We want to put as much pres-
sure on the punter and snapper as
we can,” he said. “Everybody who
comes to the game is just going to
be focused on them completely,
so they can’t hide.”
Game concludes
spring schedule
Coach: Senior has
‘heart of lion’ in
base-stealing feats
UP NEXT
Green & White Spring Game
2 p.m. Saturday
Peden Stadium
‘Inconsistent’ play haunts Bobcats entering weekend MAC matchups
CHAD LINDSKOG
For The Post | cl027410@ohiou.edu
———
With an upcoming six-game
home stand, the Bobcats are
ready to break away from their
recent inconsistent play and
get back into the win column
against two Mid-American
Conference opponents this
weekend.
Ohio (16-23, 5-5 MAC) will
host Northern Illinois and
Western Michigan for a pair of
two-game sets at Ohio Softball
Field.
“We need to come out and
compete hard every inning
and work to win every inning,”
Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek said.
“We’ve been too inconsistent to
see success one game after the
next, I know it’s there, we just
have to figure out how to bring it
to the surface everyday.”
The Bobcats, who have lost
three straight games, will be-
gin the weekend with a dou-
bleheader Friday afternoon
against Northern Illinois (18-
24, 6-6 MAC).
Northern Illinois has won
only three of its last seven
games and has a pitching staff
that has been struggling, hav-
ing allowed 170 walks and re-
cording an earned run average
of nearly four runs.
If the Bobcats want to get
ahead on the scoreboard ear-
ly, they have a good chance
based on trends thus far. Ohio
has scored 58 runs in the first
two innings this season, while
Northern Illinois has allowed
53 runs while scoring 43.
“The pitching staffs that
we’re going to see this week-
end are similar pitching styles,
so if we can just continue to
trust our game plan we’re go-
ing to have success this week-
end,” Hermanek said.
After playing the Huskies,
Ohio will next bring Western
Michigan to Athens for two
games Saturday and Sunday
afternoon.
The Broncos (19-17, 5-5
MAC) have lost five of their
last six contests and like the
Bobcats, are experiencing of-
fensive woes lately.
Western Michigan has
scored only 16 runs in those six
games, but on the season the
Broncos are still batting above
.260 and have outscored their
opponents by 20 runs. Pitch-
ing has been the team’s strong
suit as the staff has an ERA of
only 2.75.
Western Michigan will likely
toss current MAC West Pitcher
of the Week Meredith Whitney
against the Bobcats. Whitney
has received the award twice
this season as she is coming
off a week in which she went
2-1 with 31 strikeouts. She also
led the Broncos to a shut out
of No. 20 Michigan for the first
time since 1992.
“I think we are still fine in our
conference,” catcher Lauren
Gellerman said. “We have lost
some games we really should
have won and I believe we have
a really good chance against
anyone we play in the MAC.”
Gellerman has been hot at
the plate with two home runs
in the last four games, as she
now tied for the team lead in
home runs (6) and is first in
runs batted in (25).
On the hill for Ohio for the
majority of the weekend will
once again be freshman ace
Lauren McClary, who will be in
search of win number 10. She
already has 142 strikeouts in
142.1 innings pitched with an
ERA of 3.44.
KATHARINE EGLI | Picture Editor
Alexis Joseph throws the ball from the
infield during a game against Akron. The
Bobcats look to shed a string of inconsis-
tent play against conference opponents
Northern Illinois and Western Michigan this
weekend.
UP NEXT
1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Friday
OHIO vs. Northern Illinois
2 p.m. Saturday
OHIO vs. Western Michigan
1 p.m. Sunday
OHIO vs. Western Michigan
FOOTBALL BASEBALL
SOFTBALL
KATHARINE EGLI | Picture Editor
Ohio’s Ethan Newton fields his position during the second game of a double header
against Ball State. Newton’s defense and speed make him a valuable asset for the
Bobcats. Ohio’s next series is this weekend against Buffalo at Bob Wren Stadium.