May 16, 2009
Photo Gallery 
PHILADELPHIA - On an afternoon that ended with Jon Gyles' walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning, which sent the Explorers home for the summer with a victory, the day also started off very memorable.
Throwing out today's ceremonial first pitch was Dr. Hank DeVincent - La Salle Class of 1956 and Hall of Athlete Inductee in 1967.
An All-American outfielder for the Explorers from 1954-1956 who batted over .400 for his career, Dr. DeVincent was also a member of the track and soccer teams while at La Salle.
After graduation, he signed a bonus contract with the Cincinnati Reds and after several years retired from baseball to enter medical school.
Dr. DeVincent is one of only two people to have his baseball number retired at La Salle and is the only player. His jersey number "8" hangs just to the right of the scoreboard on the field that bears his name.
Then, before the starters were announced, the La Salle Baseball team along with the Athletic Department honored the two seniors on this year's roster.
The first senior - Drew Gerhart - put his name on the schools all-time career list in a pair of categories. His 39 career starts ranked him fourth all-time at the school and his 201.1 innings pitched is tied for seventh.
He has amassed seven victories at the school - none more impressive than his first outing of this year when he became La Salle's first pitcher to beat an ACC opponent in more than a decade in the team's 5-2 season-opening win at Duke.
He has also struck out 104 batters in his time in the Blue and Gold, which includes the final out in an 8-7 victory at Charlotte in 2009 which earned him his first career save.
A member of the 2006 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, some other notable performances for this senior include two complete game efforts, a 1-0 combined shutout win over Rhode Island in 2007, which earned him a Philadelphia Big 5 Pitcher of the Week nod, and his four six-strikeout outings.
The other senior - Justin Handler - came on strong the last two seasons, which includes hitting above .315 in both his junior and senior seasons, registering at least 55 hits, scoring at least 33 runs, driving in at least 24 runs, and having a slugging percentage over .400.
For his career, he has scored 115 runs - just seven shy of the school's top 10 list - has 192 hits - two shy of the top 10 - and his 695 at-bats is third on the school's all-time career list.
He finished the 2007 season 11th in the country in hit-by-pitch with 21 and has been hit by 46 pitches in his career - which is the most since Kevin Ibach finished his career in the Blue and Gold in 2000 with 57 total which still ranks 17th all-time in the nation.
For his career, he has had a career-long 14-game hitting streak this year and also had a pair of hitting streaks of at least 10 games last year when he was named to the All-Philadelphia Big 5 Team at Third Base.
