During their annual spring break from Feb. 28 to Mar. 5, 2022, the Cabrini baseball team travels to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and secured seven out of eight wins.
They achieved impressive wins, memorable plays from players and a sense of community and togetherness from the team.
The Cavaliers started their Myrtle Beach trip by winning two games against Eastern University on Feb. 28, 2022. The first game played against Eastern on that day was a close one with Cabrini winning 5-4. and beating them again 18-6, for their second game. A player in particular that shined throughout this first game was Pat Toal, sophomore finance major. He was a part in bringing the Cavaliers a win by his pitching abilities of six strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
“Pat Toal lit it up on the mound,” Jimmie Cale, sophomore outfielder, said.
Toal wasn’t the only player who brought the heat during these two games against Eastern. Mack McKisson, senior exercise science major, had five hits and six RBIs.
The Blue and White kept up the energy by defeating Newport News Apprentice School on Mar. 1, 2022, winning 9-2. In the bottom of the first inning, the Cavaliers had a 2-0 advantage on three hits and executed the rest of the game.
Later that day, the Cavs were up against Hanover College and won 9-5 with a four-run eleventh inning.
The Cavaliers took a loss against Christopher Newport University, 2-5, on Mar. 2, 2022, but it wasn’t long until they gained back their confidence and continued to hit another one out of the park by winning twice on Mar. 4, 2022, against Purchase College.
In their first game, they beat Purchase College 6-2. There were 13 hits in total during this game and Steven Priest, graduate student, infield/first base, had his first two-RBI home runs of the day.
During the second game against Purchase College, Cabrini won 14-2. The Cavaliers scored 14 runs on 13 hits.
Finally, the Cavaliers finished their spring break strong with their last and final game against Kean University on Mar. 5, 2022, winning 7-2. The Cavaliers gave the Cougars of Kean University their first lost of the season and closed out the game with a 1-2-3 inning.
Over the course of these games, the team kept busy and had some fun taking over the Cabrini Cavs Instagram to document their game days, meals and preparation.
“Our Instagram take-over got support from the Baseball families and we got to feel closer with them by showing what we were doing start to finish. It was nice to know that our families that weren’t able to go to the games, went through the day with us,” Neil Squillante, sophomore pre-law major, said.
Since Myrtle Beach was a long travel for the families of the Cabrini Baseball team, they were able to see their energy and excitement through Instagram along with a little behind-the-scenes action. It was not only important that the team celebrated their wins but also their family and friends close to them.
“Our trip to Myrtle Beach was a big accomplishment. We all played as a team and were able to bring home some wins, winning seven out of our eight games,” Cale said.
It was refreshing for the team to rise above and build back up their strength and courage especially bouncing back from the 2020-2021 year surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since COVID took over last year, it was our first big trip we took as a team. We were able to do some bonding, talk more to the guys we don’t see and experience things we haven’t done before,” Squillante said.
Hearing from players, this trip to Myrtle Beach is definitely one for the books and it is interesting to see how the season will continue as the year goes on. The victories, memories, and experiences the team experienced together will not be forgotten.
“The atmosphere we surrounded ourselves with, got to show who we are as a team,” Squillante said.
