Mackenzie Wainwright walking off with Jesse Ponce after their first practice of the season. Photo Courtesy of Hannah Walls.
By Lilly Bouchard
With key players Jhonader Irigoyen and Brayden Woodburn leaving, head coach Joe Urso recruits 16 players in hopes of helping UTampa defend its national title.
TAMPA, Fla. –– The University of Tampa baseball team starts the week with its first practice since winning its 11th NCAA Division II national championship this spring.
UTampa baseball preaches that a team is first built on family. Urso explains how it’s consistently about building a family that creates their success, starting with the 16 new guys they welcome in. The coaches plan to take the team to the Dominican Republic while continuing team dinners at players’ houses and team Topgolf outings.
“It’s a matter if their personality is going to blend with the other guys to keep this tradition going and the family culture we talk about,” said Urso. “I brought in some really good players that can fill in some of the voids that we are going to have.”
Urso adds that he is on the hunt for replacement leadership with the new transfers as well.
As it was only the Spartans’ first practice, they looked to replace the leadership from the upperclassmen who left. They will turn to newly acquired transfers such as Ben Karpowicz, a senior outfielder, who transferred from Wingate University, to take over leadership roles.
“With three national championships in a row comes with certain pressure, especially for a guy like me having one year to keep that going before I’m done playing,” said Karpowicz. “It feels like a lot of pressure, but it’s an honor to have that pressure and be a part of this team and get recruited by them to keep this going.”
To keep it going is about knowing what your role is on the team, Karpowicz said. Successful teams are built off the coaching staff knowing when they will need certain players to step up.
“Whatever they need me to do, I can rise up and do that,” said Karpowicz. “I don’t need to do anything crazy since there is a bunch of good, talented guys on the team, so as long as I do the job I am responsible for and trust that everyone will do their portion of it, we should win again.”
One of the 16 recruits, Michael Savarese, senior pitcher and transfer from Pittsburgh, walks into this program knowing they will thrive.
“My plan is to shove all year,” said Savarese.
During his time with the Pittsburgh Panthers, Savarese has improved his statistics each season.
From Lenoir-Rhyne University, Mackenzie Wainwright, senior outfielder, joins the team with two words in mind: community and championships.
“This community has embraced me a lot early on and made me feel very welcome and made my transition very easy,” said Wainwright. “I want to win two more national championships when I am here. That is goal number one.”
“I hope to become a better man and be the teammate for everyone here and not only build as teammates but as brothers and use it outside of baseball,” said Wainwright.
With these 16 recruits and the amount of talent that was brought in, Urso still reminds the players that at this very moment they are a work in progress.
“The recruiting class was one of the strongest in the country, so on paper it looks good, but that’s just paper,” said Urso. “Let’s see what they got.”
As fall practices continue, the coaching staff will focus on integrating the new players into a program looking to defend its national title.