With all the starting positions available for next season, I almost want to see Faust channel his inner Vince McMahon and set up a pay-per-view cage match for the title of starting catcher.

Even though an opening day cage match could actually get fans out to Segnette, Faust probably doesn’t want his players hitting each other with body slams. So, these last games against Georgia Gwinnett will have to substitute for any in-ring action.

General studies business freshman Daniel Papas seems to be the logical choice at catcher since he’s played the second most games at that position this season, but with all the other catching options the competition for starter should be fierce. Not as fierce as a catcher coming off the top rope with a flying elbow, but it should still be highly competitive.

Loyola has seven seniors playing their last games this weekend including catcher Bradley Brunet and outfielder Evan Turkish. This means that any player who is looking to earn more playing time will have their last chance to make an impression on head coach Doug Faust before players come back for workouts in the fall.

In addition to the battle that will take place behind the plate, another position that players in this last series of the season should be competing for is first base. This position battle will be particularly interesting since first base is seen as a position that requires the least amount of defensive skill.

This means the position could be open to anybody who has a strong showing at the plate. This could even include players like shortstop Brandon Snow, who leads the team in errors with 18, but is batting .309. Faust may want to consider moving Snow to first and start looking for players who can hold it down defensively at shortstop instead.

With two positions left vacant via graduating seniors and players with low batting averages in the outfield, there is a chance for a lot of players to earn some starting jobs this weekend.

Georgia Gwinnett is a team that will be a good test for Loyola’s players looking to play themselves into those starting roles. The Grizzlies are slightly better in most of the major stat categories, but because they are an independent team, they don’t have to go up against the stiff in-conference competition that Loyola does.

So while Loyola was getting beat by teams like number two Lee and number four Faulkner, the Grizzlies were beating colleges named after fictional serial killers (Voorhees College is real and ironically got killed by Georgia Gwinnett when they played earlier this season).

With the combination of an even match up and a few starting jobs open for next year, this is an important series for everyone whose been playing off the bench this year.

Any player who comes off the bench for a pinch-hit or pinch run needs to try to make an impact on the games this weekend. Getting a hit or stealing a base off the bench could be the start of making a case for more regular playing time when opening day comes around next year. And even if they aren’t wrestling for starting jobs, I hope whoever starts at first base and catcher is awarded a belt for their efforts.

Hasani Grayson has been covering baseball as a staff writer for two years for The Maroon. He can be reached at [email protected]