By: Diana-Nicole Ramirez
Editor’s Note: This article was completed before the decision to shut down campus and cancel all spring sports. But we wanted to make sure the athletes and coaches still got their voices out there as they intended when they agreed to be interviewed.
The Adelphi University community always looks forward to the warm weather and the rise of spring sports. Below, is the pre-season outlook that the Panthers have been looking forward to all semester-long.
Men’s Tennis
The Adelphi men’s tennis team was ranked sixth in the polls and has an overall score of 1-3. A rocky start to the season is not intimidating to former Panther and head coach Rebecca Fakas and her captain David Robres.
Fakas was very optimistic entering her first season as head coach for the team. The former Panther is one of the most decorated players in Adelphi history. She worked as an assistant coach for two seasons post-graduation and now she has the honor to lead the Panthers into this season. Adelphi men's tennis team huddled up together before a
match.
Coach Fakas expressed her thoughts about this coming season stating the following, “ It was a little bit of a tough start; we did play two very tough teams. That was scheduled on purpose for them to kind of see what’s out there.”
Fakas continued to explain the way the Panthers were taking these losses claiming, “That’s kind of motivation for us to kind of get to that level as well you know it might not be this year specifically but for the future. It's kind of somewhere we want to get to.”
Robres, a Barcelona native, had very high hopes for the conference. He also expressed his ideas for this season stating, “I think we have a solid team this year, we’re ready. I know that these last three matches have been a bit rough, but now the good part starts so we’re going to kill it for sure.”
Baseball
Finishing off their previous season strongly, the Adelphi baseball team earned the sixteenth spot in the final National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll of 2019. The team wants to continue with another historic season. Head coach Dom Scala and his three captains Larry Cicileo, Tyler Becker and Tom Ambrosino all looked forward to an unpredictable season in baseball.
As Scala entered his seventeenth season with Adelphi, he said he wants nothing more than another successful year with his Panthers to be written in Adelphi history.
Coach Scala said his team is working together for this coming season.
"Our philosophy this year offensively is getting the runs in any way we can," he said. "Our pitching has been pretty good. A pitch or two here or there one way or another would have made the difference, but we're
A few members of the Adelphi Baseball team fighting, we fight, we have a lot of
together throughout one of their games. spirit on this team."
Senior outfielder Cicileo also spoke of his ideas coming into his last season as a Panther. “We had a great season last year. We lost a bunch of key players, but we brought in a bunch of potentially key players. We’re a young team this year and we have a lot of upsides. I feel really good about the rest of this year.”
Pitcher Ambrosino, who is also entering his final season at Adelphi, stated how the team is conquering a rocky start to the season. “Everybody’s been doing great. I think team chemistry is at an all-time high. I’m not concerned about the 4-3 start. We played two of the best teams in the conference for a three-game series. It is still early for us, we’re going to keep grinding and we’re not worried, it’s going to be a good season.”
Softball
Softball ended its last season with the top spot in the NE10 Southwest Division ranking. With an overall record of 32 wins to 20 losses, the Panthers ended their season proudly coming in second in the NE10 championship.
Head coach Carla Campagna spoke about the preseason polls. “At Adelphi, we always focus on what we can control on and off the field. The preseason polls are great for our conference and it's a compliment when our fellow coaches ranked us at #2, but we always speak about our potential and how we can move forward as a unit, no matter the ranking.”
The Panthers began their season on March 1 in sunny Florida against Saginaw Valley State University where they fell short 0-3.
The beginning of the season has been a difficult start for the brown and gold team. With a current overall score of 3-7, the Adelphi softball team continues to fight to make it to the higher rankings. Currently holding the tenth spot in the NE10 rankings, it is still far too early for the Panthers to give up.
Adelphi Softball team enjoying the warm weather
on their last day in Florida.
Pitcher Ally Muller said, “The Adelphi softball team is very driven and is not afraid to put the work in. During this time that we are not together, I know that everyone is going to be putting in the work that they need to be prepared for next season..”
As senior Abbey Fortin entered her final season with the Adelphi team she shared some of her feelings for the upcoming season. “I was feeling very optimistic that we were going to do great things this year. I was not the only person who felt this way, it was a collective understanding that once things clicked we felt we would be unstoppable.”
Campagna said, “I speak for myself, my fellow coaches in the department and my coaching staff when I say how disappointed and sad that this season has been canceled. Every spring student athlete is wondering what to do next during this tough time, but like my team stated this year, ‘we are all in this together.’ Our AU family. We will come back stronger and better next year.”
Sadly, due to the current unpredictable emergency that the world is currently living through, all spring sports at Adelphi University have been canceled. The Adelphi University community hopes that all fellow Panthers are safe, healthy and remain hopeful during these troubling times.
Comments