Chapman baseball opens season with win over Biola

The reigning NCAA Division III national champions began their season with a win at Hart Park over Biola University, spearheaded by a grand slam by Cooper Foard. DANIEL PEARSON, Staff Photographer

After taking two straight pitches for strikes, junior Cooper Foard found himself in an unenviable position. 

Foard was looking to give Chapman’s baseball team some momentum March 31 in their first game of the season, with the bases loaded in a 1-1 tie against Biola University. But he stepped up to the plate with two outs. To make matters worse, he found himself stuck in an 0-2 hole in the count. Yet that didn’t stop him from being aggressive. 

After checking his swing for a ball, Foard roped a fly ball over the fence on the next pitch — just foul down the left field line. Yet a sweet swing on the next pitch sent a rocket over the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship banner in left-center field at Hart Park, a grand slam that gave Chapman all the runs it needed to eventually win their first game 6-4.

“I’ve been waiting for that moment for over a year,” Foard said. “I got lucky on that grand slam. He hung a curveball right in the zone and I had to take advantage of it.”

Foard wasn’t the only one who relished the exhilaration of kicking up dirt at Hart Park once again. Grant Manning, a sophomore pitcher, started the game on the mound for the Panthers, noticing nerves reverberating through the dugout.

“It’s honestly pretty emotional,” Manning said of the team’s first game. “It was also exciting. It was nice to play in full uniforms against another team; it’s something I will never take for granted again.”

Things weren’t exactly business as usual, however, amid COVID-19 regulations. Anyone on the team not in the starting lineup was required to sit outside of the dugout, something Manning said initially affected the group. 

“In the early parts of the game, it felt a little quiet,” Manning said. “The people who were still outside of the dugout were able to bring the energy as it went on.”

Manning struck out four batters in just two innings of work, allowing three hits and no runs. Yet that sparkling ledger didn’t tell the full story; he faced a precarious situation in just the top of the first inning, with runners on second and third with two outs. However, Manning sent the next Biola hitter down swinging, and he believed working out of that jam set the tone for the remainder of the game.

“Getting out of that first inning showed our resolve as a team and our grit to our opponent,” Manning said. “We’re not going to back down from a fight or challenge. We can work out of any fight we see.”

Manning was one of five Chapman pitchers, in addition to Riley Glenn, Wyatt Thompson, Ben Ziv and Cody Turner, to take the mound March 31. The reason for such a high deployment and short outings for each pitcher, head coach Scott Laverty said, was to get them game experience before Chapman’s first game in league play April 16 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  

“Those five guys who went out there are our top guys,” Laverty said. “They’ve earned that spot and stepped up to the task.”

Despite Foard’s timely hitting and a strong pitching performance overall, Laverty believes the team needs to work on its defense, with Chapman making five errors over the course of the game. However, the coach remains optimistic. 

“The mistakes that we made yesterday … all of those things will improve as we continue to work,” Laverty said. “It’s part of working the rust off, and as long as we get out there and continue to play, we’ll be ready for the rest of the season.”

Chapman will face off against Biola yet again April 7 at Hart Park. If Laverty’s gameplan is any indication, pitchers up and down the roster should keep their arms loose.  

“We’ll probably throw nine different guys next week,” Laverty said. “It’s just great to be out there playing baseball again and we’re looking forward to next week.”