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Ohio University outfielder Ethan Newton gives a sliding demonstration for the camera during baseball practice. Newton has become Ohio’s biggest threat on the base paths this season with a team high of 16 stolen bases. (Zach Nelson | DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY)

Safely stealing bases

Junior center fielder Ethan Newton leads off an April 15 game against Northern Illinois with a hit. As he jogs onto first base, another game begins.

He takes a two-step lead off the bag and schemes his theft of second. Like a game of cat and mouse, Northern Illinois pitcher Zach Oates repeatedly throws over to first base, forcing Newton back to the base.

As Jensen Painter waits for the pitch at the plate, Newton opens his stance and leans forward, his hands hanging just inside his knees.

Oates makes his first pitch to the plate: ball one. Oates then throws again to first base, causing Newton to retreat once more.  

As Oates prepares his delivery to the plate, Newton takes an even farther lead this time and begins to sprint toward second base.

Oates pitches out, but it doesn’t matter. Newton’s lead was too large and his jump too timely. In a matter of seconds he’s standing safely on second base dusting off his uniform.

“I’m just trying to read the pitcher and get as quick of a jump as I can because I think bases are stolen within that first step,” Newton said. “It’s all about getting a good read and a good jump.”

As Ohio’s leadoff hitter, Newton’s job is to get on base and score more runs than anyone else on the team. He has begun a game with a hit 10 times this year. He leads the Bobcats with 16 stolen bases, the second-best total in the Mid-American Conference.

Newton said his ability to get a good lead and read the pitcher is behind his base-stealing ability. And though Newton has the speed to be a good base stealer, coach Joe Carbone said Newton’s mental demeanor also contributes to his success.  

“He has no fear on the base paths,” Carbone said. “No fear of getting picked off and no fear of gambling.

You have to have the heart of a lion to be a good base stealer. He has that.”

In two years at Allegany College of Maryland, Newton stole 77 bases in 81 attempts and became the school’s second all-time leading base stealer.

When Ohio lost center fielder Gauntlett Eldemire — who led the Bobcats in steals the previous three seasons — to the MLB draft last spring, Carbone said he knew Newton would be the perfect fit to take Eldemire’s place.

“We saw him at an all-star game at his junior college and his coach

recommended him so I saw him play and I liked him,” Carbone said. “We were pretty sure we would be losing Eldemire to the draft and we needed someone else here ready to step in. He’s the ideal leadoff guy.”

Once Newton gets on base, he usually wants to steal, but first he has to get favorable conditions and a sign from Carbone.

Newton said he refrains from attempting to steal if the Bobcats are losing by a lot or are in a critical situation where they cannot afford to have a runner get thrown out on the base paths.

 “If the guy at bat is really hot or if the pitcher has a really quick move to the plate, then I’ll hold up,” Newton said. “But other than that I’m looking to go and I think I can go every time.”

Once Newton sees an opportunity, he looks across the field at Carbone, the third base coach, for permission.

“Usually I’m giving him the steal, but a lot of times I give him the sign that you’re on your own,” Carbone said. “If he feels like he’s got a good jump on the pitcher and has a good read, then he’ll give me the sign and then I’ll give it back to him and say go ahead.”

Coming from junior college, Carbone said Newton still does not fully understand the counts, and therefore does not have free reign on the base paths. In between at-bats, Newton studies the pitcher in order to get better reads and better understanding once he gets on base.

“It takes a lot of practice and a lot of work,” Newton said. “It comes with experience.”   

 

ro137807@ohiou.edu

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