Category: Men’s Baseball

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A Look into Your ’24-’25 GCC Baseball Team

Baseabll Team

Offseason

The Grove City College baseball team is preparing to get into the swing of the spring season after returning from winter break. Over the fall semester, the coaching staff began to prepare their squad for the ensuing season.

A mix of outdoor practices and intrasquad games took up most of the offseason. The fall was capped off with a doubleheader scrimmage against D2 Gannon University who made the trek up from Erie, PA. The matchup featured many great outings by multiple pitchers on each side and amazing batting performances by players at the plate. The series was split by the two teams. The games provided valuable playing time, and it was a good starting point to allow the coaches to determine where their team is at.

The GCC Baseball team continues to have team lifts and sprinting/agility practices to ensure they are healthy and strong heading into the long season. Players also have access to the IM gyms where they use the batting cages and portable mounds.

The Squad

The team looks to get back into the PAC championship again this year and rewrite the ending. A lot of returning starters know what it takes to have a winning season and make a deep playoff push. Growing the team chemistry has been a big focal point this year. Outside of the diamond, the team gets together a couple times a month to hang out as friends and just have a good time.

The Senior class features the three team captains: Sam Distefano, Evan Umland, and Josh Minnich. Many other seniors will play a big role for this team in the field. Umland and Dave Leslie highlight the pitching staff this year and have a big task on their hands as they come together with the younger classes to help build a rotation of starters and relievers.

The Junior class is smaller in depth compared to others but makes a big impact in the field and at the plate. A couple returning starters have gained great experience in the years past and look to have another great season. A mix of outfielders and infielders will have an opportunity to come in this season and be impact players on the field.

The sophomore class is highlighted by the pitchers who make up a large percentage of the entire pitching staff. Many of those guys took the mound in their rookie seasons in starts, relief, and closing situations. These guys will play a big role for this team if they want to make it back to the championship. A few other sophomores made a real impact in their first season at the plate and in the field and look to do that again.

The freshman squad looked promising during the offseason. A few of them could have the opportunity to see playing time very early on and could cement their spot on the roster if they can compete and perform well during those moments. The freshman class has a lot of talent and athleticism which will complement this team very well.

Together these classes will make up the starting roster and rotation on the mound. So much talent is present on this team, and they have the potential to make headlines in D3 baseball as they have in the previous seasons.

What to Expect this Season

The Grove City College Baseball team will start practicing on the first day of the spring semester and won’t have much time until they play their first games that count towards their record. The coaches will have to make sure they keep the team focused and cover a lot of ground in less than a month.

From there, the team will travel to play a few games in Virginia during the middle of February. They will continue south down to Florida where they will play around 8 varsity games with a few JV games as well. They’ll look to get into a smooth rhythm before heading back north for conference games.

The baseball team will play a handful of non-conference games, before kicking off the doubleheader conference matchups. This part of the season tests many teams’ physical and mental capacities and is what separates the elite teams from the average. The squad will have to keep their spirits up, even during the low times, and work as a team to reach their goals.

PAC playoffs will ensue in early to mid-May. The GCC baseball team comes into this season with expectations of making playoffs and making a strong push to win the championship. Some guys further down the depth charts will need to step up and fill roles as the playoffs can mean a lot of games in a short span. Grove Baseball looks to get into the NCAA tourney and make a name for themselves at that next level if they are crowned PAC champs.

Final Thoughts

This 2025 season will be a time when these student-athletes make some of their best memories. The season will be action-packed and full of many intense games that will come down to the wire. The players continue to work hard so that when they are faced with those situations, they will rise to the challenge.

Make sure to come out to R. Jack Behringer field in the spring to support and cheer on the team!

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Sophomore Spotlight: Lucca Baccari

Whether you are a prospective student looking at Grove City College or you have decided to attend Grove City in the fall, college is a time for people to learn and grow. You may not know what the “college experience” looks like, but that is okay! The best advice you can get is hearing from current students who found ways to adapt to the college environment and succeed socially and academically.

Lucca Baccari, a sophomore mechanical engineer, decided on Grove City College not only because of the baseball team but because of the reputation of having strong academics and a small, tight-knit community surrounding the campus. When asked about adjusting to “college life” he said to schedule out your weeks so you know when assignments are due but also what events or activities are happening so you can go to them. This method works best for Lucca as he is very busy juggling his workload, baseball, and being in the Beta Sigma fraternity. Finding a balance between a sport and academics in college is difficult but he makes it work by planning ahead on the weekends and working ahead on assignments, especially when he is in season. His best piece of advice for student athletes is to “have good time management and not procrastinate on assignments. You don’t want to fall behind in academics or your sport because it can be hard to recover.”

When asked about the impact that Grove City College has had on his faith, Lucca said “It’s grown to a whole new level. You’re surround by people who have come from completely different walks of life who teach you different things to help you in your walk of faith.” Faith is important to campus life, but also to the community that surrounds the college. The community of Grove City focuses on “building each other up and creating a positive experience on campus, whether it be academically or socially.”

The best piece of advice Lucca has for prospective or incoming students is to “participate in campus life as much as possible. Not only does it benefit you by helping you meet people but continues to build the campus community.” Do not be afraid to get out of your comfort zone to meet people. The community at Grove City College creates many opportunities and experiences for people!

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Athletics at Grove City College

There are so many ways to find community at GCC, and one of those is by participating in varsity sports on campus. I played on the baseball team here at GCC, and that was a great way for me to find an instant community and friends on campus. A couple of the questions that I would get were if I had time for other things on campus, and what the commitment level is for sports at the Grove. I am going to try my best to give you some perspective on what it is like to be an athlete on campus and what else you can do while at Grove City.

Do you have time for anything else on campus?

As an athlete, there are many opportunities to get involved on campus, both within the athletic department and outside of it as well. While playing baseball, I participated in Greek life, Orientation Board, Homecoming committee, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. You have a lot of time throughout the season and the offseason to participate in many things on campus, that way you are not just subject to one activity during your time at college.

What is the commitment level like?

The majority of athletes on campus have a practice every day and then will have a time set to go to the gym and lift with your team. However, there are activities that each team will do for team building, which can help with gaining a great community early in your college career. As for the commitment level of collegiate athletes, I am a firm believer that you will get what you put into it. No matter what you invest in on-campus you can gain a great community and get a lot out of it. If you decide to put all of your time into your team and sport then you will get a lot out of it, but if you want to prioritize other things while playing sports that is definitely possible as well. Grove City athletics are great, and when you participate in them then you will have a community that you will cherish for a long time.

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Baseball Spotlight: John Bini

John Bini

Elementary Education Major

Class of 2020
Position: Pitcher

What has been your favorite baseball memory?
The trip every year in the spring to Florida. It’s a long bus ride, about 15 hours, so being able to hang out with the guys on the bus, watching movies, making jokes, and playing games. When we get down there we stay in a condo or a house. It’s a great experience to get away from school with the guys on the team.

What is unique about Grove City’s baseball team?
Our coach is unique, Coach Royer has been coaching for a long time, he coached both DI and DII. He knows a lot about baseball and to get someone with that knowledge with a Division III program is unique, and how much he wants to teach the human being not just the athlete, he focused on character, respect, and responsibility.

What should a perspective baseball player know?
It’s more important choosing the school over the sport. Choosing a solid school that’s not going to make you a better athletes but a better person overall is very important. Look into the school itself and not just the baseball team.

How was the program different from what you thought it would be coming in as a prospective athlete?
We had a coaching change freshman year, and he [Coach Royer] turned the whole program around. I thought it would be fun and not too serious and I’d be here to get a good education. We are a team that’s about getting better at the sport and putting the time in.

What has your baseball experience been like over the past four years and how did baseball affect your collegiate experience?
It is a time commitment, so with any sport you will have time you can dedicate to your friends, socially it has helped them a lot because you met different people, in your classes you’ll meet people from your same major. With baseball you have that commonality but you meet different people in different majors and with different perspectives. I’m better structured during baseball season, so I can keep my class schedule and my study schedule. It’s helped me be more responsible

What advice would you give to someone who is on the edge of playing baseball at GCC?

The most important thing for a prospective student is to not get stuck on the DIII tag that they are a joke. Come to the school, see how we play, talk to the coach. The team as a whole is really committed to baseball, everyone on the team loves baseball and loves to play, and the knowledge you get isn’t something to can get anywhere else.