After taking a tour of former Whitehall alum Chris Raber’s college alma mater, the Zephyr baseball team hopped back over to Myrtle Beach to open their season against a team from the Empire State.

Raber, a 2003 Whitehall graduate, hosted the team’s visit to Coastal Carolina where Raber played outfield and first base for the Chanticleers from 2004-06. The players got to visit the spacious facilities including the locker room that drew raves from the group.

Perhaps one of the current Zephyrs will continue their baseball careers, even turning pro like Raber did, and will look back on the experience as a motivating factor.

They played two scrimmages before their game against Liverpool on Saturday. Manager Shaun O’Boyle said that they split those two games, winning 6-2, and losing 6-5. He said those two games offered them the chance to use their entire pitching staff, helping to get their arsenal of arms loose for the upcoming season.

While they hit the ball well in those two scrimmages, O’Boyle said that their bats fell silent against Warriors starting pitcher Jeff Destefano, who went six innings for the 3-0 win. His line included six strikeouts and two walks.

O’Boyle said that Destefano was a good pitcher, but they helped him out a lot by chasing balls away and trying to pull them. He said they failed to correct their approach at the plate as they worked through the order, and that helped Destefano earn the win.

“The biggest thing we didn’t do was make any adjustments to the outside pitches,” said O’Boyle. “We weren’t trying to take them the other way.”

O’Boyle said that as the game wore on, Destefano got farther and farther outside, and since he’d been painting the corner all game, those balls became strikes.

“He was consistently hitting his spot,” said O’Boyle.

That’s why they devoted some of Monday’s practice to hitting the other way. He said they need to prevent the urge to pull the ball because they most likely just turn that outside pitch into a weak grounder.

“We got back to working on that,” he said.

The Zephs managed just one hit against the Warrior hurler. Austin Dreisbach reached first on an infield single for their lone hit of the game.

The Zephs got good pitching as well. Zach Gilbert started and allowed just one earned run. He also struck out nine and walked just three. O’Boyle said that he was encouraged by Gilbert’s outing. In fact, he was encouraged by their entire staff while competing during those three games.

“Overall, our pitching was exactly what we thought it would be,” said O’Boyle.

He also liked the way they played defensively.

O’Boyle said that the one area that really didn’t concern him was their hitting. It turned out to be the worst part of their game, at least on Saturday, but he’s still confident they’ll bounce back. They have experience and a lot of talent up and down the lineup. It just comes down to making consistent contact.

“If we hit, we’re going to win games,” said O’Boyle.

FOR THE RECORD: In last week’s edition of the Press, Hunter Kern’s name was left out of the preview story. Kern will be in the mix for time in the outfield this season.