PREPARING FOR THE PITCH: Junior Rudy Schoettle prepares for the pitch in last years game vs Bishop Chatard. “My approach when I come up to the plate is to simply just to get on base. My style of game involves working the count and going pitch by pitch, getting on base any way I can to let the big boys hit me in,” Schoettle said.

  With a new coach coming to Roncalli, the baseball team is hoping for a comeback year. Coach Tony Vittorio has a great resume with a lot of insight to bring this team to victory. Vittorio has over 25 years of experience within the college ranks, including colleges such as Wilmington, his most recent and The University of Dayton. 

 “I am looking forward to teaching our players what athletics is all about which is to teach the proper fundamentals in the classroom, community, and on the Baseball field in a sportsmanlike manner that assures success,” Vittorio said. 

 The Royals young core is expected to repeat their skills and determination on the field this season. Junior Sam Roeder who played second base last season is expected to improve his versatility on the field. He’s looking forward to improving himself at the plate as well as his defense. 

“Personally, I am looking to improve my fielding from last year. Last season, I made too many errors in the field and I really want to improve my stats next year. Another thing that I am looking to improve is the number of home runs that I hit,” Roeder said. 

As well as the younger core of the team, the upperclassmen have many commits to great colleges. Senior JJ Prendergast is an ace pitcher for the Royals, he’s committed to Taylor University. Prendergast is hoping to improve himself as this will be his last season as a Royal. 

“I am looking forward to what this team can achieve in the postseason. Our team is young and has a lot of potential to do something this year. We have a new head coach who has a lot of college experience and knowledge that is super helpful to all of the players,” Prendergast said. 

This year, the team is focused on being united as a team. They are looking forward to building off of last season and bringing home hardware. Junior Nico Amodeo plans on improving as a team this year as well as getting more wins. 

 “Something I am looking to build off from last season is being one team. I feel that this year we as a team will be more together, which will give us a good chance to win a lot,” Amodeo said.

Leadership is a big part of being an upperclassmen. These upperclassmen are ready for the challenge that being a senior brings. Senior Parker Dougherty is ready to lead the underclassmen this season to success. 

“It’s a privilege to have the responsibility of leading the younger guys along with our other three seniors and it should be a great combination of experience and youth to help us achieve success,” Dougherty said.