After missing the playoffs last season, the young NC State Club Baseball team looks to regroup and make a run at the postseason this year.
During the past weekend, the club baseball team at State held its first tryout of the fall season. The actual season starts in the spring, but the fall season is where the team is able to work out the kinks and prep for when it really matters, according to pitcher and Club President Hunter Lohr.
“None of the games [in the fall season] count,” Lohr said. “But it’s nice to win the games, get the guys going, get some momentum going into the spring season.”
State plays in the Mid-Atlantic South Division of the National Club Baseball Association. It pits its talents against the likes of UNC-Chapel Hill, Elon, Appalachian State, Wake Forest and archrival East Carolina.
“[East Carolina’s] club program is really big,” Lohr said. “It’s definitely a real big series for us every year.”
The team competes in about 40 to 45 games in the spring season with the goal of winning the division and making the playoffs. The Mid-Atlantic Conference is split into three divisions: North, South and West. The winner of each division reaches the playoffs, and then the NCBA selects a wildcard team from one of the three remaining divisions to compete in a double-elimination tournament at the end of the season, with the winner advancing to the national tournament.
Lohr, a senior in technology, engineering and design education, said even though State didn’t make the postseason last year, the team still finished the season strong, winning seven of its last eight games.
“Our conference was really strong,” Lohr said. “ECU was third in the nation, and they went to the playoffs for our conference.”
But that has not deterred State’s spirits. Lohr, a three-year veteran pitcher, is excited about the upcoming season and what it has in store for the team.
“We had tryouts over the weekend, and the freshmen looked good coming in,” Lohr said. “I saw some really good pitchers coming in, so they’re definitely something to look forward to.”
The team lost its starting shortstop and third baseman from last season after he graduated. Lohr and the two other starting pitchers from last season are returning, bringing some much-needed experience to a young and eager team.
“We definitely have a lot of guys coming back,” Lohr said. “The team will already be a lot more mesh this year, so we don’t have to go through learning to know each other and how to play baseball together. It is a team sport for sure.”
Like many other students at NC State, the players on the team did not want to stop playing baseball just because they weren’t offered an athletic scholarship.
“I really didn’t want to stop playing baseball,” Lohr said. “I had some offers to play, but I didn’t want to lose the education. Baseball isn’t forever, so I would like an education that I want.”
The team is still inviting players to try out. For more information about the tryouts, students can email the official baseball-club@ncsu.edu. For now, Lohr and the club baseball team look toward the future and the young talent pool that is eager to prove itself.
