For the first time in program history the Lancaster Bible College baseball team will host games in February as the Chargers will open their season a week earlier than they though as John Jay comes to Charger Field on Saturday. Lancaster Bible is hoping the 2017 season is a season of firsts as the Chargers look to win their first North Eastern Athletic Conference title and advance to the NCAA Division III postseason.

The 2017 edition of the Lancaster Bible baseball team is loaded with talent from both upperclassmen and newcomers. The Chargers were selected second in the NEAC Baseball Preseason Poll and garnered the first first-place finish vote in program history. Eight players who started 24 or more games return this season, including seniors Justin Taylor and Brian Niedergall. Senior pitchers Nate Burns and Gabe Yoder also return for the Chargers who advanced to the NEAC Playoffs for the first time in program history a season ago.

Welcome Back…Hitters Edition: The top three hitters from last season's team return as Taylor, sophomore Will Welsh and junior Braden Elliott return for the Chargers. Taylor probably should've built a trophy case in his dorm room over the summer for all of the hardware he collected last spring. Taylor was named NEAC Player of the Year, earned NEAC All-Conference First Team honors, was named a D3baseball.com Second Team All-American and was named to the Mid-Atlantic ABCA/Rawlings First Team. Taylor hit .461 a season ago and led NCAA Division III with 17 home runs and a .929 slugging percentage. His 65 hits also led the team, 31 of which were for extra bases and he had 131 total bases. Taylor already garnered one honor this preseason as he was named a Preseason All-American by D3baseball.com.

Welsh hit .415 last season as he had 39 hits in just 27 games, including 12 for extra bases. Welsh drove in 31 runs, the second-most on the team, and scored 28 runs as well. Elliott hit .365 in 2016 and collected 46 hits. Thirty-eight of Elliott's hits were singles, which led the Chargers, and he scored 36 runs.

In addition to the aforementioned players the Chargers also welcome back sophomore Jensen King (.321, 42 runs, 36 hits), junior Josh Mayer (.287, 35 hits, 30 runs), sophomore Adam Cohick (.286, 34 hits, 22 RBI), senior Brian Niedergall (.280, 28 hits, 19 RBI), senior Doug Gundlach (.320, 16 hits, 11 runs), junior JJ Sanchez (.259, 22 hits, 15 RBI), junior Jacob Schenck (.500, 5 hits, 5 RBI, 5 runs), senior Jarod Leopold (.500, 3 hits, 5 runs) and Aaron Kofstad (.600, 3 hits, 2 RBI, 2 runs.

Welcome Back…Pitchers Edition: Burns and Yoder have been staples for the Chargers over the past three seasons and each will give it one more go for Lancaster Bible. Burns was 4-3 last season with a 5.01 earned run average and struck out a team-high 35 batters. Yoder appeared in a team-high 23 games and posted a 2.56 earned run average. Yoder struck out 34 hitters and allowed just nine earned runs all year long.
Also returning to the hill are junior Zack Leonard (6-4, 5.70 ERA, 27 SO), sophomore Tyler Greenly (1-0, 0.55 ERA, 15 SO), sophomore Zach Bonick (2-0, 5.57 ERA, 15 SO) and junior Nate Staffieri (15 app., 19 SO).

Welcome Aboard: Lancaster Bible has 12 newcomers joining the team this season as Nate McFarland, Mike VanDame, Austen Smith, Kyle Ebersole, Ben Clarke, Matt Taylor, Michael Hill, Sam Taylor, Jesse Carver, Dan Zimmerman, Jacob Alvarez and Beau Heagy join the Chargers.

The 2017 Slate: In addition to the February baseball, the Chargers will look to play four games prior to heading to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for spring break on March 11. Three of the four games are home games as the Chargers welcome McDaniel for a doubleheader on March 4 and Wesley for a 9-inning game on March 7.

The Chargers will play at The Ripken Experience over Spring Break as Lancaster Bible will play eight times in six days. The last three games of the trip will be against Albertus Magnus and the Chargers will also play Rutgers-Newark during the trip.

Lancaster Bible will host four straight games following spring break as the Chargers welcome Penn St. York and Cairn to Charger Field for single 9-inning games, followed by a doubleheader with Valley Forge on March 25. After a road game at Eastern, the Chargers will open NEAC play on April 1 at Penn St. Berks. The Nittany Lions, the reigning NEAC Champions, were chosen first in the NEAC Baseball Preseason poll.

After a doubleheader with Clarks Summit on April 8, the Chargers will host their first NEAC doubleheader of the season as Lancaster Bible welcomes Penn St. Abington to Charger Field on April 11. Two days later, the Chargers will take on the Lancaster Barnstormers in an exhibition game at Clipper Magazine Stadium in downtown Lancaster.

Following a double dip with Gallaudet in the nation's capital, the Chargers host cross-county foe Elizabethtown on April 17. The rest of Lancaster Bible's games are conference games, including three straight doubleheaders against Cazenovia, SUNY Polytechnic and Penn College.  The matchup with SUNY Polytechnic on Saturday, April 22 will be Senior Day for Lancaster Bible. The Chargers close the regular season in upstate New York with doubleheaders against Keuka and Wells.

The Skipper Says: Lancaster Bible Head Coach T.J. Horn said expectations are high for this year's squad and the team has embraced them. "We have a mature group this year and we have more experienced players on this year's team than just about any team I can remember," Horn said. "The perception with the guys is that this is our year. They have taken that mindset with them through fall ball, offseason workouts and now preseason."

On the Pitching Staff: "Zack Leonard and Nate Burns will be up front for us again and we need to get good pitching from our relievers like we did last season," Horn said. "There are freshman that I think can step in and help immediately and our returners, both starters and out of the bullpen, are ready for the challenge of another season."

On the Schedule: "I like our schedule for the year," Horn said. "We have some tough early games and our spring break schedule is well put together. We get to play an NCAA Division II team in Myrtle Beach, so the guys can understand the next level and see how they need to execute all season long."

On the Team's Expectations: "We've have set an expectation that we are going to play each game like it is our last," Horn said. "We are going to pour everything we have into each game and if we do that, we have a good chance to win some games this season."

Follow the Chargers: Other than the opening doubleheader against John Jay, all of Lancaster Bible's games will be broadcast on the Chargers Sports Network. You can also follow the Chargers on Lancaster Bible's Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages.

2017 Schedule
2017 Roster