Penguins await NCAA bid

NILES -- The Youngstown State University baseball team made believers out of everybody in the Mahoning Valley this past weekend with its tremendous four-game sweep of the Horizon League Tournament at Eastwood Field.
The Penguins will find out today whom they will play in the NCAA regional tournament. The Horizon title marks the first time in the Penguins' 50-year baseball history that they will participate in the Big Dance.
All season, YSU coach Mike Florak has been telling anyone who would listen that his Penguins were a much better team than they had been showing.
But going into the tournament, only Florak and the YSU baseball family believed the Penguins could win it.
The university deserved a big pat on the back for the outstanding effort it put forth in putting on a first-class tournament.
Tournament praise
Athletic director Ron Strollo assembled the staff, which, according to Horizon League officials, was one of the best-run tournaments in league history.
Strollo put Dan O'Connell, associate athletic director, in charge of running the event. He, along with associate athletic directors Rick Love, Elaine Jacobs and Judy Richards, all had a big hand in the tournament's success.
Sports information director Trevor Parks and his staff (assistant Jamie Hall, student assistants John Vogel and Terri Ramunno, and secretary Cindy Blevins) did an outstanding job.
Another round of applause has to go to the hard-working grounds crew at Eastwood Field. The playing conditions were the best, and the field was prepped between every game.
I still think the Penguins are paying way too much money for the right to use Eastwood Field, but it certainly was a great place to hold a tournament.
And how about the fans that turned out for the championship game? More than 1,000 were on hand -- most of them for YSU. Florak and the Penguins felt that the backing was just another reason they came through with a victory.
Pitching was one of the key reasons the Penguins won the crown. YSU's starting pitchers -- Justin Thomas, Eric Shaffer, Chris Dennis and Kevin Libeg -- averaged nearly seven innings in the four games they started.
Thomas, Shaffer and Libeg are sophomores while the team's top reliever, Andy Svitak, is a freshman.
Add that to the fact that the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Justin Banks, is only a sophomore, and five other starters returning will make for an exciting future.
Florak will be the first to tell you that his seniors are the backbone of the team. There were seven on this year's team, led by top hitter Kendall Schlabach, along with power hitters Jim Lipinski and Adam Cox.
Clint Ford, who homered in the championship game, was hampered by injuries for most of two seasons. The other three are pitchers Frank Santore, Paul Yates and Mike Hosterman.
"I can't say enough about my seniors," Florak said. "They fought through a lot of adversity this season, but they never gave up and this is the end result."
When asked about his thoughts on the NCAA tournament, Florak responded, "I don't even want to think about that right now, but I'll tell you, the way our pitching staff has been throwing, we could give anybody a lot of trouble in the tournament."
Other Penguin news
Strollo said that he's still working on YSU's 2005 football schedule, but there could be a change already.
The Penguins are scheduled to make a trip to Florida International in 2005. The two teams play in Youngstown this season.
"Florida International is moving up to I-A and will be joining the Sun Belt Conference," Strollo said. "They would like to get out of the contract so they can schedule Sun Belt teams, and we'll probably let them out. It's a pretty big expense to go to Florida to play."
Strollo said that he's been talking with several other I-AA opponents, including Villanova, about playing the Penguins in 2005.
Football coach Jon Heacock was all smiles when asked about the latest rumor that a 6-3, 240-pound tailback from South Carolina was transferring to YSU.
There are reports that the tailback is a Cleveland native. South Carolina coach Lou Holtz said he's one of the best backs he's ever coached. The player will have three seasons remaining if he comes to the Penguins.
XPete Mollica covers Youngstown State for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.