Dave Scarnato
Assistant Sport Editor

Baseball

The Marywood Baseball team has yet to taste playoff action in their existence. Year after year, the team plays out the schedule and goes home for the offseason with a sub par record. This year, the Pacers look to put an end to this drought.

This year’s club is revamped and ready for action. Jerry Davis continues his tenure as manager, welcoming new assistant Tom Czerw, who brings a summer league championship containing several current Pacers to the table. Czerw brings forth a competitive attitude, which sets a positive tempo for the players. This is the strongest the coaching staff has looked in years.

Can the staff’s guidance help the Pacers achieve playoff contention? Josh Plisko, a Junior from Moosic believes so. “I believe our team and coaching staff is out to achieve greatness this year,” Plisko stated. “The fact of the matter is that we have the talent to make a statement in the CSAC and finally contend for the playoffs.”

Returning players from the 2010 team are seniors TJ Czerw, Captain Joe Diskin, Alex Magid, Justin Magistro, and Joe Valvano. Junior returnees are Anthony Castellano, Dan Downton, Tim Freda, Shane Miller, Nick Pasqualichio, Josh Plisko, Mike Pinelli, Mike Siciliano, John Stolan, and Steve Wade. Dave Maione and John Woytach are the returning sophomores. The rookies are Mike Diskin, Dom Loughlin, and Nick Vasto. New faces to the program are Jason Aikens, Rich Bell, Dan Capwell, Brandon Decker, Eric Tomkins, and Captain Jared Yanniello. These new faces bring strong, competitive attitudes, athleticism, and experience to the club. They are certainly an excellent addition to help the Pacers on their 2011 campaign.

It seems that all the pieces of the puzzle are there for the Pacers. Will 2011 be the year Pacer baseball finally makes a push for CSAC gold? Only time will tell.

Softball

The 2010 softball season was championship worthy. The Pacers made the playoffs with a 19-18 (15-7 Conference) record, but were eliminated early by Centenary. Last year, head coach Bob Fitzsimmons stated that the team was young. For an inexperienced team to make it into playoff contention is an accomplishment on its own. Now, that the Pacers have some experience under their belt, it is time to continue the success they had from last year.

This year, the Pacers softball program has some youth along with some experience. Captaining the team are Ashley Dommes and Miranda Sorber. Dommes was named to the First Team All-CSAC squad and was also named to the All-East region second team squad in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Sorber, a CSAC All Academic selection, started all but one game last season and was an impact in the lineup. Both are very worthy selections.

The team returns Senior Andrea Beck, Juniors Kaitylyn Brennan, Melissa Brodt, Jill Flanagan, Kim Lope, and Sophomores Katie Jones, Meghin Palmer, and Talia Williams.

The new faces on the field are Shana Blaney, Chelsea Broderick, Diana Butash, Courtlind Davis, Jaclyn Parsons, Chelsea Ryder, Alexandra Stine, and Chelsea Zimmerman. All are excited to be a part of a strong softball program. On the upcoming season, Kim Lope stated, “We are very optimistic about the upcoming season and we would like to build on our success from last season.”

With that being said, it is time to play ball in 2011. For both programs, things are looking positive.