By Kyle Wills
Monday, Aug. 24, the baseball team hosted the 2020 Youngstown State University Baseball Golf Extravaganza at the Lake Club. YSU Baseball Head Coach, Dan Bertolini, said 31 teams showed up which was an amazing turn out and helped the community.
“It was a great event. That was the first time we really ran that type of outing. It was a great experience,” Bertolini said. “We had perfect weather. It was a great day to raise some money for our program and the support from the community was unbelievable.”
The Youngstown State baseball team is looking forward to this year’s campaign as their season this past spring was postponed after 14 games. They finished 7-7, but started to heat up after finishing the season, winning five out of their last seven games.
With last year’s seniors able to return this season, Bertolini is excited and looking forward to taking the field this spring.
“I’m just excited to be back out on the field. We’re fortunate that the NCAA allowed our guys to get an extra year, so our seniors got a chance to finish out their careers in the right way,” he said. “We just started and the energy level has been great.”
Lucas Nasonti, senior outfielder and business major, is also excited to start this season after last season left the team unsatisfied.
“[Last season] left a bitter taste in our mouths. We got all the guys coming back and it’s exciting. We look forward to having a great season,” he said.
Going into this upcoming season, Bertolini will be counting on the strong senior class to be the driving force for the team.
“We are returning almost the exact same roster as last year, so hopefully the guys that we counted on last year are the same guys we’ll count on this year,” Bertolini said. “We have six seniors. Five are sixth year seniors, so we expect that senior leadership to continue to step up and really push us forward.”
To keep all players and staff members safe and healthy from COVID-19, restrictions have been implemented to help prevent the spread of the virus.
“Our guys have to wear masks and we have restrictions in our clubhouse about the number of people that can be in there. Right now we’re working in small groups,” Bertolini said. “Once we start practicing as a team, the restriction is wearing a mask. We disinfect the club house every day and our guys are constantly washing their hands and keeping themselves as clean as possible.”
