Coming off a 14-game losing streak in 2013, the Lehigh baseball team welcomed in 11 new freshmen. Countless practices, team bonding experiences and a Patriot League Championship later, that senior class looks to enter its final season with the ultimate goal of winning another championship.
Throughout the past three and a half years, the team’s seniors have grown close with one another.
“The guys in my class have become brothers,” senior third baseman Patrick Donnelly said. “We do everything together and hang out all the time, regardless of whether we are at baseball or not.”
If the team wins the championship this year, the seniors will become the first class to ever win multiple championships at Lehigh.
Senior catcher John Scarr practices batting at practice on March 7, 2017, at Legacy Park at Goodman Campus. Scarr is one of eight seniors on the Lehigh baseball team. (Annie Henry/B&W Staff)
“Winning Lehigh baseball’s first championship in years and doing it with your best friends was a pretty surreal experience,” senior catcher John Scarr said. “We have gotten to play the game we love for four years and now are striving toward our one goal of winning a championship again.”
With a current record of 3-12, the team knows it has a lot of work to do this season, but its goal is far from impossible. Senior outfielder Stephen Fitzgerald said the team’s slow start is just a small portion of what will be a long season with plenty of time to turn it around.
One of the key times to set the tone for the season will be the upcoming home openers against New Jersey Institute of Technology, which holds a 3-14 record. The games will be held tomorrow at noon and 2:30 p.m. at Legacy Park on Goodman Campus. The players look to approach this weekend series against NJIT as a conference weekend.
“We have played well at home during our careers,” Fitzgerald said. “A successful weekend at home before the Patriot League opener will give us some momentum.”
Fitzgerald notes the talent that is rising on the team. He said by continuing to work this season and then after his grade graduates, the younger members of the team will continue to build and strengthen the program.
Donnelly said he hopes that his class’ passion for Lehigh baseball and the genuine connections they have found through bonding on the team will leave an impact on the program and the players coming up as well.
“The seniors paved the way for future classes like mine,” sophomore pitcher Anthony Morrone said. “They have instilled a culture shaped by our team principles and spent the time to teach me how to carry on that tradition.”
There were 11 members of the recruiting class that entered in August 2013. Since then, for varying reasons, some of the original group are no longer playing on the team. However, the players said they have all remained close and now have outfielder Anthony Rinaldi, who redshirted after an injury, as an additional member added to their class.
“I love these guys,” Fitzgerald said. “I could not have asked for a better experience or better group of guys. The 12 of us are constantly communicating and have the ability to talk to each other about anything at all. I would do anything for my teammates, and it’s a bond that will continue long after we graduate.”
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