Local baseball players help power Seton Hill baseball
GREENSBURG — Seton Hill University's baseball team fell one win short of the NCAA Division II World Series last season.
The Griffins, 42-17 overall in 2013 and champions of the WVIAC, are now members of the PSAC Western Division and are the coaches' preseason pick to win the league.
“We feel like we've got something to prove and we plan on doing that,” Butler graduate and junior right fielder Cody Herald said.
Seton Hill opens its season this weekend in North Carolina and Herald — who hit .324 with 36 RBI and 18 stolen bases a year ago — is not the only person from Butler County affiliated with the program.
Pitching coach and graduate assistant D.J. Cannon is a Mars graduate who won 12 games and posted a 3.79 earned run average with the Griffins from 2008-12.
Pitcher Brett Sullivan — who won a team-high nine games and sported a 3.97 ERA — and outfielder and University of Cincinnati transfer Taylor Schmidt played for the Butler BlueSox last summer.
Preseason All-American, Golden Spikes Award candidate and junior third baseman Nick Sell — who hit .431 with 85 hits and 57 RBI in 2013 — is the grandson of Harold and Sondra Andre of Center Township.
Another former BlueSox player, second baseman Pat McCarthy, who hit .390 and led Seton Hill with 22 doubles and 35 stolen bases last year, was involved in a serious car accident three weeks ago.
“He suffered some severe head trauma,” Griffins coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “He's back in school and is recovering, but I doubt he'll play for us this year.”
But Seton Hill has plenty of talent returning, enough to earn it a Top 25 ranking on four different national preseason polls. The Griffins hit .334 as a team with 51 homers last year.
Herald is among the more talented players coming back. An infielder his entire high school career, he moved to the outfield in college and was voted his team's Defensive MVP last season, collecting four assists and committing no errors in 114 chances.“It was nice to see Cody recognized for his defensive efforts,” Marizzaldi said. “He worked hard to adjust to the outfield. He's got a strong arm and gets great jumps on the ball.“We had some injuries and he was able to see quite a bit of time as a freshman. Now, as a junior, he's one of our more experienced players and a very seasoned hitter.”Herald sets no goals as a hitter in terms of statistics.“I've never worried about that stuff,” he said. “I just concentrate on quality at-bats and try to square the ball up.“I've gotten comfortable with right field. It was an adjustment at first, but I put the time and work into the position. Now it feels natural.”Cannon has 16 pitchers to work with, including 6-foot-5 senior left-hander Alex Haines, who struck out 91 in 76.2 innings last season and returns despite being drafted in the 33rd round by the Colorado Rockies last June.“He's on a lot of teams' draft boards this year,” Cannon said. “Alex throws hard, but he's learned how to pitch in the past year instead of just relying on his natural ability.“I love coaching. This is my second year as a grad assistant, so I probably won't be back at Seton Hill next year. But I want to stay in baseball as long as I can.”Marizzaldi says that could be a long time.“D.J. has the ability to manage and motivate people,” the coach said. “He did tremendous work with our pitchers last year. He's had a quick learning curve and he's showing that he has the right tools to be a head coach some day.”While Cannon admits to being a relatively new “authority figure,” he has earned the respect of the players.“It is different ... Things I was trying to do on the mound as a player, I'm coaching other guys to do,” Cannon said.Seton Hill has enjoyed nine consecutive winning seasons under Marizzaldi.“Our potential is endless,” Cannon said. “Each year, we've gone one step deeper in the playoffs. Maybe this is our year to break through and get to the World Series.”Herald is ready for it.“The biggest strength of this team is that we're a family,” he said. “We do everything together. Players on this team would die for each other.“It's exciting, going into the PSAC. We don't feel like we got much respect in the WVIAC. Hopefully, that will change.”
