Incredible start for Clarke Baseball

The Clarke Baseball team has started off the 2025 spring season strong with phenomenal stats and players to look out for. There is hope and excitement in the air for this new team that carries a powerful intensity this year. The start to their season reflects success and only leads to bigger and better things for the program. Clarke split their last games against Morningside on February 25, making their current record 5-2.

The season opening weekend for Clarke Baseball was victorious as they started with a bang, going undefeated all weekend! It was their first-time kicking things off with energy with a 3-0 start since 2020! First game opener was a success, defeating Sterling College 17-11. In the first two innings of the game, they proved a point scoring a total of 13 runs for a hot start. Dante Maietta was the starting pitcher for the Pride, only allowing four hits, with seven strikeouts, and one earned run. Jaxon Brooks, a new transfer from Southwestern Community College, hit a three-run home run in the second inning, and a solo home run in the third inning, pushing the lead to 16-1 during that inning. The success of every player contributed to a full throttle win for the team’s first game.

The weekend stayed hot for the Baseball team, as they won two more games over Oklahoma City University, ranked 23 in the nation for NAIA Baseball. The team’s success was heavily relied on their offense, which allowed Pride pitchers to throw comfortably with the leads they held. The team holds a lot of confidence in their defense, allowing no errors on the field for the whole weekend. Oklahoma scored one run in the first inning, however, that didn’t stop Clarke baseball from scoring seven runs in the first four innings. They ended up conquering the ranked team 9-4. Dean Ormonde hit a two-run bomb that brought the energy up on the field. Cole Swartz, Randy Lopez Acosta, and Dean Ormonde had bats on fire with multiple RBIs and a triple from Swartz. Ethan Hefel, a junior from Galena, Illinois, pitched for the Pride, only allowing two earned runs on three hits and three strikeouts in only five innings! The following day, feeling the sensation and high of starting the weekend and season with a 2-0 start, the baseball team carried their intensity and caught an even bigger win over Oklahoma. Their offensive stats were impressive showing 13 hits, 12 walks, and only 3 strikeouts, climbing to a 17-5 victory. The Clarke Baseball team showed out successfully for their opening weekend.

However, the success they had comes from more than what they showed on the field that weekend. This season, the team is fortunate to have many players to step into their roles and possessing players to fill in roles that were feared to be lacking in the past. Not only that but their chemistry plays a big role in success, demonstrating what playing together like one looks like. There is also an immense amount of credit towards their instant and consistent training they have put in from the beginning of the fall semester until winter break. Head Coach Brian McCabe, Assistant Coach Anthony Razo, along with the rest of the coaching staff take much recognition as well.

This is a special year for Coach McCabe as his new addition of players this 2024-2025 season is his first recruiting class at Clarke. Coach McCabe and Coach Razo are both Clarke baseball alumni and their players feel like they are very passionate about making this program successful and are currently in the process of performing auspiciously. They are working towards changing Clarke baseball to how it used to be. There are high hopes to make it to playoffs and make it far. Conference tournament is a big goal for the team as well, seeing success for the long run. There are foreseen victorious for this new, different, and improved year for the Clarke Baseball team.