Baseball gets new locker room

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State baseball program has 10 new student-athletes and a new locker room for the 2009-10 academic year, both of which has coach Rich Pasquale excited for the future.

The Penguins, who began fall practice on Sept. 6, welcomed the 10 newcomers to a squad that already features seven returning starters to the lineup and all three of its weekend starters.

“The locker room really gives our guys a unique and private place to bond as a team,” Pasquale said. “It means a lot that our administration supported us by giving us such a great area.”

The locker room features 39 wooden lockers with hanging and storage space, tiled flooring, a leather sofa, a 50-inch television, a pingpong table and Youngstown State artwork. The locker room is located on the first floor of Stambaugh Stadium near the Jermaine Hopkins Academic Center and the weight room.

Pasquale kept the locker room a surprise for the team’s first official meeting as a group on Aug. 23. Its completion was one of many projects inside Stambaugh Stadium over the summer.

Early signees Zac McFarland (infield; Cincinnati) and Bill Turosky (pitcher; Cleveland) were joined by eight more newcomers: pitchers Blake Aquadro (Memphis, Tenn.), Alex Frey (Washington, Pa.), Kevin McCulloh (Boardman), Erik Okleson (Painesville) and Nick Sutherland (Eden Prairie, Minn.); infielders Neil Schroth (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) and Padraic Williams (Yorktown, Va.), and catcher Craig Goubeaux (Springboro).

“We brought in a bunch of quality individuals — not only on the field but also in the classroom,” Pasquale said. “I’ve always said that good people make good programs, and that certainly is an accurate description of this class.”

Sutherland is a transfer from Viterbo University and must sit out the 2010 season to meet transfer requirements. Senior Alex Oles (Austintown) also rejoined the squad and will be eligible to pitch this season. Oles, Aquadro, Frey and Turosky are all lefties, which will bring balance to a staff that had just one southpaw in 2009.