Arnold named area's top baseball player
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JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR/TIMES ARGUS FILE |
Toolbox
By Anna Grearson TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: July 3, 2009
Last season it took Spaulding baseball coach Chad Bell two games to see that infielder Garrett Arnold – then a sophomore transfer from Northfield on the junior varsity – would be better suited for the Crimson Tide varsity program.
Turns out he was right.
Arnold, the 2009 Times Argus Baseball Player of the Year, led the Tide in hits (28) and batting average (.459) and was second in RBIs with 14.
"I needed more depth," Bell said. "He's very good defensively and he had a good bat, so he was used a lot his sophomore year as well."
Arnold, who also plays soccer and ice hockey for Spaulding, played in all 18 baseball games this season (and started in 17 of them) as the Tide went 13-5 overall and bowed out of the Division I tournament with a quarterfinal loss to Mount Mansfield.
In 61 at-bats, Arnold had two doubles and a home run in addition to his 28 singles. He scored 17 runs, walked three times and struck out just three times. He stole three bases and was never caught, had a .429 on-base percentage and a .541 slugging percentage.
"At the plate he was the sparkplug for the team," Bell said. "It seemed he always got a key hit to start a big rally or put us ahead. He was always getting hard liners to left or ropes to right. He batted second in the lineup and was one guy I could always pencil in the second spot."
Arnold played second base but was willing to shift over to short when teammate Isaac Ransom came in to pitch.
"On the baseball field he was one of our most consistent players," Bell said.
Arnold is slated to return for his senior season next spring and Bell will be looking for Arnold's leadership on a team that will have lost six seniors to graduation.
"It's hard to expect a kid to have a season like he did this year, and I fully expect with his talent and athletic ability he'll be an asset defensively," Bell said. "I expect to use him again at second base, and maybe be mentioned in All-Metro Player of the Year discussion."
Following the season, Arnold was named to the First Team All-Metro for his efforts this spring.
"He's a great kid and a hard worker," Bell said. "I would love to have more of those type of players on my team, and I do have a team like that, that likes to have fun and win ball games."
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