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Gators won 6 more in second season
Eastern Gateway changing leagues
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
Eastern Gateway completed its second baseball season with an 18-21 record, a six-win improvement from 12-19 in 2018.
As a Division III entry in a predominantly Division II junior college conference, they finished sixth (10-16) in the eight-team Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC). The Gators finished ahead of established programs Cuyahoga Community College (12-43, 7-19) and Lakeland (7-35, 6-18).
Next season, they’ll look to continue their improvement, only it will come as members of the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference. John Zizzo, head coach and athletic director, says that league is more suitable to his program’s needs.
“In three years of planning and two years of play, I credit EGCC president Dr. Jimmie Bruce and our entire administration for their support,” Zizzo said. “Never did I think that we’d progress as much as we have in such a short period of time.
“The OCCAC had eight teams and we had to travel to places like Dayton and Toledo with multiple overnight stays,” Zizzo said. “There are five schools in the WPCC and all of our travels are now game-day commutes. Not only will we save on travel expenses, but we’ll be more competitive with an opportunity to now play some of the top-ranked independents in Division III.”
Other WPCC conference members are Community College of Allegheny County Boyce Campus, CCAC-South Campus, Butler Community College and Pittsburgh’s Westmoreland Community College.
Zizzo called the second season a success despite a pitching staff that was limited to seven.
“It was an excellent year because we improved in many areas,” Zizzo said. “Gus Hlebovy did a great job in his first year as our pitching coach and we finished the season healthy, which was most important.
“We’ve had an excellent recruiting year and hopefully that will translate into more wins next spring.”
Freshmen Evan Knaus, Noah Laster and Jeremiah Papa led the way and all are expected to return.
Knaus led the OCCAC in hitting with a .445 average, belting seven home runs and knocking in 38 runners. Jeremiah Papa, a skilled defensive center fielder, hit .352y.
Laster, who played second base when not pitching, started seven games and went 5-0 in 12 appearances. He toiled 53.1 innings, had two complete games and struck out 69 batters while sporting a 4.05 earned run average.
“In addition to Evan, Noah and Jeremiah, all of whom performed at a high level all season, several other players had noteworthy seasons,” Zizzo said. “We batted .295 as a team and that was very important because our bats kept us in a lot of games due to our lack of pitching depth.
Zizzo said third baseman and corner infielder Grant Williams hit .300.
Shortstop Doug Painter, who hit above.300, left fielder Hayden Kristophel, catcher Zach Johnson and starting pitcher Josie Ayala won’t be returning.
Of the 13 recruits and incoming players for next season, 10 are pitchers and that excites Zizzo as he readies his squad for fall practice.
“We expect to contend not only for a league title but regional berth and crown as well,” Zizzo said. “I thought our players this season all did an excellent job.
“They were a hard-working, dedicated group and directly responsible for our overall improvement from 2018.”
New to the staff in the fall will be former East Palestine head baseball coach Carmen Nocera, who will serve as associate head coach and athletic academic adviser.