Brian CoaryThe Cabrini baseball club will be stepping up to the plate for their second year as a team. Led by their new coach, Will Harmon, class of ’05, the boys have high hopes for the new season.
The team is setting up scrimmages to get ready for the upcoming season against Villanova University and Chestnut Hill College. Their first game will be against Villanova’s club baseball team on April 1.
The team hopes to also set up games not only against other schools, but also against the teams they played in the adult league this past fall.
Eight players from last year’s season returned to play for another year. Though losing some players due to graduation, the team has gained many freshmen that through the year continue to show their strength and their heart in the game.
“We lost a few seniors last year, but we are so much stronger this year with the freshmen class we have,” Hadi Adam Poresky, a sophomore psychology major and club president, said. “Doug Will, our starting pitcher, has a rubber arm, and Billy Bacovin can play just about every position. All of [the freshmen] have brought a lot of heart and a new spirit of competitiveness to the team,” Poresky said.
“We have grown together as a team more than any of us could have imagined this year. We are the new stir on campus,” Anthony Vellutato, a sophomore graphic design major and outfielder, captain and vice-president of the club, said.
The boys tried to push to become members of the National Club Baseball Association for the spring season, but things didn’t turn out the way they had hoped. The team is hoping that they become members next season. Vellutato said, “The captains and coach of the team wish the program to advance and eventually become a varsity sport.”
With their new coach, the team feels unified, as if a weight has been lifted off of their shoulders. Poresky, along with Vellutato and Mark Tripolitsiotis, a senior educational studies major and second basemen and captain of the team, has led the team for the past year before Harmon took over as coach.
“He’s taken a lot of pressure off me, Trips and Ant. He decides the lineups, has all our practices planned and is an overall great leader,” Poresky said.
“Our coach, Will Harmon, has improved our endurance greatly. Having someone other than captains push the team is always beneficial. He brings a sense of balance that we did not have in the fall or last year,” Vellutato added.
“We raised money with a baseball dance and a calendar should be on sale sometime this spring and next year. We have many expenses, such as travel, equipment, dues and other fees, which continually are fronted by players, donations from the college’s clubs and recreation organization, Student Government Association, parents and fundraisers. Our goals in the grand scheme are to grow into a successful program that Cabrini students and faculty can enjoy and be proud of,” Vellutato said.
The team is looking forward to a great season and can’t wait to get underway with their hopeful triumph. With the hard practices they are enduring, they hope to have a very fulfilling season.
Posted to the web by Brian Coary
