Editor’s note: Campus sporting events for spring 2020 have been canceled in response to the global coronavirus outbreak.
Penn State DuBois will see both baseball and softball teams kick off their seasons over spring break. Heading south, the baseball team will spend the week at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The softball team will head to Clermont, Florida. Both teams have games scheduled on the road throughout the week, and feel confident that they’re poised for success in 2020.
“Our team is really firing on all cylinders,” said Logan Johnson, a pitcher from Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. “We’re really going to buckle down this season and have some great play in the conference.”
Coming off of two consecutive USCAA Small College World Series wins, the baseball roster has gone through a number of changes coming into this season. A total of 15 players from the championship team have either graduated or moved on to the University Park campus.
But, with 15 new players coming in this year, Toner Corl, a pitcher from Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, said the talent needed to earn another championship is still there. “We’ll be a good team, but we’ll be different,” Corl said. “We have different strengths, can take a different approach from previous years. Obviously younger guys will step into leadership roles and we’ll make it work.”
Head Coach Tom Calliari assured, “We’ll have the talent to be very good again. We have 15 core guys from our championship team who are returning, and I have 15 freshmen coming in who are really solid players.”
Brandon Orsich, a pitcher from Clearfield added, “We’ll see teams that we play every year, and with them the change in lineup could be an advantage. We could surprise teams with the new players we have that they’re not familiar with.”
The Penn State DuBois softball players are experiencing their own transformation this year. With the program just established in 2017, Coach Jason Kern has the team hitting its stride and making big gains, having earned the team’s first ever bid to the USCAA Small College World Series last year. Second base player Sam Satterlee, of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, explained, “We’re excited to be able to play and not be looked at as the underdog this year. With getting a bid into the World Series last year, we earned some respect in the conference and we’re excited to make a run in the PSUAC.”
First base player from Cabot, Arkansas, Kayleigh Huffman said, “I’m ready to start playing. We’re up for some good competition. We have a strong mind-set and we’re not going to take it easy.”
The players hope to build upon last year’s success, said pitcher Brooke Harvey, of Stillwater, Pennsylvania. “I’m looking forward to getting our games started,” Harvey said. “Hopefully we make a good run to the playoffs and make it even further than last year.”
The Penn State DuBois baseball team kicks off their 2020 season versus the College of DuPage at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 7, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Their first home contest is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 14 as they host Wright State.
The Penn State DuBois softball team will start their season at 2:15 p.m. Sunday March 8, in Clermont, Florida, taking on Rensselaer. They’re scheduled to begin home play at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 15, versus Trinity Washington University.
For full team schedules, rosters, results, and more visit https://www.psuduboisathletics.com/landing/index
