Marywood University’s baseball team ended the spring 2019 season with an overall record of 7-24. The men knew that something had to change as they looked toward the fall ball season.

Senior Captain Anthony Navaro used last season’s losing record as motivation to improve his playing and the team’s overall record to achieve their goal of capturing the Atlantic East Conference Championship. 

“Coming into the school year, the coaches made it a point that we were going to work a lot harder this year. We lost some guys because of it, but that is just the nature of the game,” said Navaro. 

The team started early morning runs and late-night lifting. Navaro said their practices became more organized and filled with energy as a result. 

On October 5, 2019 the men started strong in their fall ball debut, getting revenge on the Lackawanna College Falcons 7-1 after losing to them last year. The team claimed its second victory against the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Nittany Lions 11-1. 

“Most of our team has faced Lackawanna before, and we knew what we would get from them. We gained an early 3-0 lead which gave us a little confidence. Yet, it was when Alex ‘Bubba’ Klein came up to bat and hit a homerun to put us up by four runs which really ignited us,” said Navaro. “Our pitching was awesome in both games throwing a combined 18 innings, 23 strikeouts, giving up 5 hits, 2 runs and 8 walks. We couldn’t have asked for a better day out of our team and I believe our hard work this fall showed.” 

Because most members of the team had faced Lackawanna in the past, they knew what to expect and were able to gain an early 3-0 lead, which Navaro said started them off with some confidence.

When combined with strong pitching in both games, which included 23 strikeouts, and giving up only five hits, two runs, and eight walks, the team was able to walk away with two wins to start the season.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better day out of our team and I believe our hard work this fall showed,” said Navaro. 

Senior Captain Jacob Schuster said he is a big believer in team chemistry, and he feels this team is very tight-knit.

“This team just has a different feel to it. Everyone gets along and hangs out outside of baseball,” said Schuster.  I think that we have something special going this year and I’m really excited to see what this team is made of.” 

Contact the writer: [email protected]