With the start of the season this Friday, February 1st, the University of Tampa’s baseball team is looking forward to a successful season and possibly having back-to-back SSC championship titles. This year the team has recruited a lot of young talented players that are eager to step onto the field and play. Coach Urso, who is beginning his 13th year as head coach of the baseball team is looking forward to the season and what is to yet to come.
“I can’t wait to see how the offense will come together this year and how the boys will develop as a team,” said Urso. “This year we have a lot of good players and a good mix of right and left handed batters. I am really excited for this group and they have already took to a lot of challenges so hopefully that will lead to a lot of wins and the championship again.”
Coach Urso isn’t the only person excited for the upcoming season. Left handed pitcher Ben Brown and outfielder Connor Obrochta are also prepared for what looks to be a great season.
“I absolutely think the team is prepared for our first game,” said Obrochta. “Coach Urso has been getting the position players ready; Coach Sam has been getting the pitchers ready and we have been playing in inner squads every week so I feel like we are ready to take on the season.”
“We have a lot of good returning players and a lot of good new guys especially with hitting so I think there is a good chance we can win the SSC again,” added Brown.
With another talented team this year, Coach Urso focused on keeping the players healthy during the preseason.
“This time around we worked with the pitchers slower than usual because we had a lot of injuries in the fall,” stated Urso. “We want them to stay healthy through the entire season so we have them ready to pitch 3-4 innings instead of the usual 5 innings. The coaches just want to keep the players healthy and ready for the upcoming games.”
Along with having healthy players, Urso, Brown and Obrochta all have very similar goals for the upcoming season.
“Our number one goal is to win another National title,” said Urso. “We have high expectations because we have another really strong group and a good bunch of new players.”
“My personal goal is to stay more consistent throughout the season,” added Brown. “The team wants to start off winning conference and then going on to the national championship, which is the ultimate goal here.”
Since the National championship is in reach for the Spartan team again this year, they are sticking to what they have always been doing and hope they can achieve what they are striving for.
“I don’t really have any expectations, just playing hard like we have been every year,” said Obrochta. “We have a great staff, pitchers, hitters and players so we’re just looking to play hard during every game and win another national championship.”
The first Spartan baseball game of the season is home, this Friday Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.