Southeast baseball brings out family fans

Despite the cold, more than 150 Southeast Missouri State University baseball fans attended the final game in the weekend series against rival Southwest Missouri State University on Sunday. Some players were cheered on by built-in fan bases, even if not all the fans were current on the players' stats.

An energetic Eileen Guthrie, 62, of Pittsfield, Ill., watched her first Southeast game and cheered on her 20-year-old grandson, Mike Fitch, the starting pitcher in Sunday's game.

"We came here today to give him a good cheer, to give him a boost for moral support," she said.

She has devotedly followed Fitch's baseball career but is not sure of his statistics at Southeast and the community college he attended in Garden City, Kan., she said.

The family of Brady Noll, the starting catcher in Sunday's game, drove seven and a half hours Friday from McHenry, Ill., to watch their first Southeast series. The 21-year-old junior also is in his first season with Southeast.

Family members did not remember Brady's statistics at Southeast but were quick to list some of the high points of his time on the field.

"He's homered twice, we know that," said his sister, Kaylee Noll, 18. His mother, Brenda Noll, added that he has picked a few people off and is regularly hitting the ball hard.

Brady's batting average at Kishwaukee was .330, his father said, and he does remember the home runs and RBIs. "He was the No. 1 catcher of a very good pitching staff," he said.

His mother said the family's favorite baseball moment was during his senior year of high school in which he hit three home runs.

Katie Cerneka, 23, a senior at Southeast, said she regularly attends home games to watch her boyfriend, Ryan Forsyth, a 22-year-old senior from Edmond, Okla., and the starting pitcher of Friday's game.

"He loves the game, and I think it's awesome that he got a chance to play Division 1," Cerneka said, who also admitted to not knowing all of his statistics at Southeast, such as his earned run average.

"He tells me about it, but I don't remember it," she said.

Relief pitcher Matt Carter, 18, of Carlinville, Ill., was cheered on by his parents and girlfriend, who frequently attend the weekend games.

"This has been his dream to play at D1 -- Division 1 -- level," said girlfriend Emily Harris, 18, of Modesto, Ill. "He likes it and is happy to be here."

Though she does not know his statistics at Southeast, she knows that he has played relief in a few games and was 2-1 before Sunday's game.

Parents Dave and Julie Carter were ready with his high school statistics. Carter had a .84 ERA during his senior year and .24 the year before, his father said, and he pitched 120 strikeouts in 89 games.

"But with the batters at this level," his mother said, "I don't think he'll see ERAs like that anymore."

The family's favorite baseball moment for Carter was during a high school game in which he struck out 17 batters and assisted three other outs. "There was only one out in the game that he wasn't involved," his father said.

The Bears beat the Indians Sunday 6-2, and the Indians closed the series at 2-1.

jmetelski@semissourian.com

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