Club Baseball at SU Brings a Special Opportunity to Students

The Syracuse Club Baseball team is one of many that use Manley Fieldhouse at Syracuse University for practice. With Syracuse not having a Varsity Baseball Team, the team has to work a little bit outside of the box to succeed. (Credit: Matt Zumbolo)

Syracuse University is the only school in the Atlantic Coast Conference that does not have a Division 1 baseball team.

As a school that is well known for sending people into the Sports industry, thanks to the Newhouse School of Public Communications and Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, there are many students that played baseball in their youth that stopped in order to attend Syracuse University and work in the sport instead of continuing to play.

However, for a handful of SU students, heading to campus is not the end of their baseball careers. SU offers a great way for students to continue playing, with the club baseball team.

Junior Will Giffin is the perfect example. His senior year of high school was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Giffin said that he never really got the closure that he needed from the game.

He tried out for club baseball his freshman year at SU, and it has been a great opportunity for him to continue his love for the game, as well as build relationships that he will have forever.

"It's just a great way to have another social scene, hang out but still play the game you love. I've loved every second of it," Giffin said.

The Club Baseball team has a nearly full roster of almost 25 players, and plays against schools from all over the country of all different sizes. (Credit: Matt Zumbolo)

Senior MP Geiss said that he expected to find himself on a collegiate baseball roster. He says he has loved the game for years and would often be the kid playing with a baseball in class.

Since Geiss joined SU club baseball freshman year, he has seen it grow into a top five team.

"Now we're really good... We're top 10 nationally. So now it's exciting because we have alumni who come back and say 'Hey, I played for SU baseball like 30-40 years ago. You guys are now good again, like, what's going on let's bring this program back to life again,'" Geiss said.

The players love Club Baseball because they are able to just relax and have fun at practice and enjoy the game that they all have grown up playing. (Credit: Matt Zumbolo)

SU Club Baseball is currently ranked 3rd in Division II of its league, the National Collegiate Baseball Association.

Senior first baseman and pitcher Lewis DeAngelis says that it was an exhilarating feeling to see that number three ranking.

"We don't really get much recognition here, it's a cold school, we don't have a varsity team here, and just seeing that ranking, knowing that all the hard work we put in, it was great to see," DeAngelis said.

The Orange start their spring campaign on April 1, with a weekend Series at SUNY Cortland, the first stop on their journey to the NCBA World Series.

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