Erie, Pa. - The Lakers hit the diamond for the first time in 2024 this Friday, February 9th, when they take on Notre Dame College for one nine inning game with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. Under new direction, Mercyhurst hopes to set the tone with a win on opening day and put together another solid season.
Familiar Faces
The Lakers return the majority of their team from a season ago with eight regulars in the 2023's iteration of the lineup coming back for another year. The majority of the arms Mercyhurst plans to run out onto the hill is a very familiar group as well, giving the team a lot of confidence going forward they can repeat last year's success. Of the returners are a trio of All-PSAC honorees from a season ago in Eric Chorba, Zachary Kourous, and Jarrett Heilman. Chorba made his presence felt in year one at Mercyhurst as he hit to the tune of a .302 batting average to go along with 15 extra-base hits and a pair of stolen bases. Kourous was also a newcomer in 2023 as a freshman, hailing from Toronto, Ont. who ended up playing a bigger role each and every weekend. He proved to have some of the best plate discipline in the conference as he had the fewest strikeouts among freshmen to have 100 or more at-bats, hitting .325 along the way with nine doubles which was good enough for third on the team. The third All-PSAC member was Jarrett Heilman who was named to the All-PSAC First Team while earning PSAC West Pitcher of the Year honors. His accolades did not end there as he ended up being named to three all-region teams and three all-american teams with both the ABCA/Rawlings and DII CCA naming him the Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year. He finished with one of the best ERAs in the entire country at 1.38 with a 1.17 WHIP, fanning 64 batters over 65 innings of work without allowing a home run all year. He, and his other all-conference honorees look for similar success this time around in hopes of making another late postseason run.
New Names
Mercyhurst welcomes 19 new Lakers to the team for the 2024 season with the majority of that group being freshmen. Only two transfers come to Erie for the upcoming campaign with Ranciel Ventura and Jason Skeen hoping to make an impact in year one. Of the 19 newcomers, 12 of them are position players while the other seven look to make a difference on the mound with each coming in ready to hit the field and make an impact from the word go.
A New Era
The Lakers also welcome a new head coach to the fold for the new year in Jimmy Latona. Latona formerly played for the Lakers in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons and was named an All-PSAC member after hitting .329 with a .463 SLG thanks to his 10 doubles while stealing 11 bases in 2016. After his playing days for the Lakers, he joined the staff and helped them to a regional championship in 2018 as well as a College World Series appearance. Latona has been in the dugout for five seasons in total for Mercyhurst and hopes to use his experiences learning from former head coach Joe Spano to propel the team into a new era.
Scouting Notre Dame
The Falcons have yet to play a game so far this season and look to add a notch to the win column on the road in game number one of the year. Notre Dame comes off a season in which they finished 12-32 with all of their wins coming within conference play in the MEC where they finished fourth in the North Division. The team retruns their top position player from a season ago in utility Tyler Shadle. The redshirt senior hit .297 a season ago to lead the team while adding eight doubles and one home run to his line to go along with 11 RBIs and 13 runs scored and hopes to take another step forward this time around.
Next Game
The Lakers are scheduled to be back on the field on February 23rd when they take a trip to Glenville, WV to see D'Youville at 6:00 p.m. before matchup with Charleston on the 24th at 2:30 p.m. while wrapping up their time on the road with Glenville State at 11:00 a.m. on the 25th.
