Sunday, Feb. 29 in West Chester, Pa, Cabrini’s baseball team was victorious after a double header against the visiting team, the Penn State Brandywine Lions. This is a significant moment in Cabrini’s history as men’s baseball has just been added this year to Cabrini’s long list of athletic teams. Being a part of something so momentous could be intimidating, but the Cavaliers were up for the challenge.
“I think coming out of the gates we started strong. A lot of people had been waiting for opening day for a very long time around here and I’m just happy we could get them two quality wins to start the year,” junior communication major, Ryan Givens, said.
“We played very well as a team in our games against PSU Brandywine. Everyone knew their job and for the most part we executed consistently. Being a young team, I was very impressed with some guys stepping up and making a big impact in our wins,” junior exercise science major Dylan Butler said.
“Joining an entirely new program is new to me and the other transfer guys. I’ve been on teams with traditions, alumni that went far in their baseball careers and have histories of winning traditions. This is new, but extremely exciting. I love it. This is an opportunity to start new, for everyone. There’s nothing in our past that tells you anything about us as a team. We can make expectations for people, and that is exactly what we plan on doing,” Butler said.
“It’s a tremendously rewarding challenge. We are the trailblazers for all the success that is to come to the program. It’s a great responsibility to lay the foundation correctly. Our current roster is at 30 players although we started out with a handful more. There has been a very positive response from current students with several attempting to ‘walk-on’ to the team,” said head baseball coach Nick Weisheipl.
Weisheipl was named Cabrini’s first head baseball coach in August 2015. Before Cabrini, Weisheipl spent two seasons at West Chester University. While there, where he aided the Golden Rams to the 2015 NCAA Regional.
“It’s a great environment within the department. The coaches sincerely care about the success of the other teams and players and the admin team behind the scenes makes everything go smoothly,” said Weisheipl.
“I’m very thankful to have been given the opportunity by Coach Nick, and Cabrini University to be a part of something so special,” said Givens.
The student body was just as happy to have baseball become part of our school. Many students went out to the game eagerly ready to kick off the start of the season.
“The support from the campus community at our first games is something that all teams here should experience. Campus will be a better place because of it. There’s no reason as the most successful athletic teams in the conference that home events shouldn’t have a loud, vibrant, and UNITED student section,” said Weisheipl.
While the team’s efforts seemed to pay off, there is still work that needs to be done.
“I think we did really well for our first game. We seemed to work well for our first time officially playing together. We still need to keep working hard and keep improving on all aspects of the game. I hope we can turn this program into a top CSAC team and national competitor,” said freshman accounting major Jesse James Murphy.
“Our goal is to win a National Championship. Plain and simple. Our efforts, our recruiting activities, our team expectations in the classroom, the community and obviously on the field are of that caliber,” said Weisheipl.
“I do not think of this year as a building year to test the waters. We have a team full of talented players who all agreed in the beginning that we have the same goal in mind that every other college baseball team has: to win a championship. To be honest, I knew from the beginning there was going to be a lot of pressure on us to succeed with how successful our athletics are.We want to make a name for ourselves right out of the gate and I think picking up two wins for Cabrini’s first baseball double header is a good start,” said Butler
“There is a lot we still need to work on but considering we haven’t had a single practice on a field I feel as if we played well. We are nowhere close to our full potential. There is no reason why we cannot succeed in the CSAC and move closer to our ultimate goal. We are humble with our beginning to the season and eager to keep getting better. We have every intention of proving everyone wrong and starting a winning tradition of Cabrini baseball,” said Butler.
“We still have a lot of work to do. We’re nowhere close to where we want to be. Our approach to every game right now is all hands-on deck, everybody ready to go. If you’re called upon to do a job, get the job done. Like I said, we’re not close to where we want to be. Just taking it day by day, one game at a time, one pitch at a time, and let everything else take care of itself,” said Givens
“The expectation of winning that exists here is very unique and motivating. It’s certainly not the case at other schools. The players played just like I hoped they would. The guys definitely earned their victories! Our next stop is the conference tourney,” said Weisheipl.
