First SHU alumni baseball game is a hit

Even though the Seton Hill University (SHU) baseball season is months away, a special game occurred on September 29 that featured alumni baseball players versus the current Griffin team.

The alumni team included Jerry Harness, Steve Long, Cory Weibel, Steve Gumpf, Damon Cincotta, Ricky Austin, Josh Pratt, Mike Iorio, Matt Ankeny, Joe Sowinski, Dan Burkintas, and Tyler Anderson.

By Katie Manni,
Staff Writer

Even though the Seton Hill University (SHU) baseball season is months away, a special game occurred on September 29 that featured alumni baseball players versus the current Griffin team.

The alumni team included Jerry Harness, Steve Long, Cory Weibel, Steve Gumpf, Damon Cincotta, Ricky Austin, Josh Pratt, Mike Iorio, Matt Ankeny, Joe Sowinski, Dan Burkintas, and Tyler Anderson.

The above-mentioned alumni team features players of the 2006 American Mideast Conference (AMC) North Division Champions, 2006 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Region IX Champions, 2006 NAIA East Coast Super Regional Champions and 2006 NAIA WORLD SERIES contenders. The team also features NAIA All-Americans and members of the Team Region IX.

In addition to the achievements of the baseball team, players from the Class of 2007 were also the first four-year team members, as head coach Marc Marizzaldi clarified.

In addition to their accomplishments under the Griffins leadership, alumni have been making their mark on the baseball fields of local and professional teams.

Steve Long played in the St. John’s Lambros of the Pittsburgh Federal League where the team finished second in the nation and runner-up National Amateur Baseball Federation.

“Baseball builds and reveals what kind of person you are,” said Long.

John Bachman, Brandon Flythe, and Rick Austin signed with professional teams after graduating from SHU while making history along the way. Austin was the first-ever SHU player drafted by a Major League Baseball team, signing with the Philadelphia Phillies in the 27th round.

“It is a common practice at many schools to keep the alumni connected to the program,” said Marizzaldi.

“Playing baseball at Seton Hill is going to be something that I will remember forever and always look back at day to day. We were part of the first baseball team ever in school history and it is great to see how far we have come and I’m curious to see how it will continue to grow,” said Jerry Harness, a member of the class of 2007 and a graduate assistant for the National Collegiate Athletic Associate (NCAA) compliance at SHU.

Cory Weibel, a graduate assistant for sports information, reiterated the same feelings Harness and Long expressed, but also reflected on the growth of the baseball program at SHU.

“It really meant a lot to me, as well a lot of my other teammates, knowing that we were the foundation of the baseball program at Seton Hill. Coming in we were all freshmen and we had to learn how to win and how to play as a team,” said Weibel.

“The program matured a lot through the first three seasons and we accomplished a lot in our third year by winning the division, conference and region on way to going to the NAIA World Series,” Weibel added.