By: Delaney Crawford
Blazer Athletics is starting its 2021-22 season.
Men’s lacrosse and softball teams had their opening day matches on Saturday, Feb. 19. The baseball team traveled to North Carolina for a double-header on Feb. 12 and the women’s lacrosse team had its first game Tuesday, Feb. 22, against Bridgewater College.
Men’s lacrosse won a season opener against SUNY Delhi 9-7. With a large roster for this spring, the team is older and more seasoned with seven seniors and 11 juniors.
The team has nine more games until it is in conference play, where the Blazers hope to make a run for the championship.
“I am excited to have a full schedule this year and to be able to compete with my best friends every week,” senior goalie Alex Dudziak said.
Hood softball started practices three weeks prior to its first game and was able to practice on its own field several times. The team dropped both of its games on opening day, one against nationally-ranked Salisbury University and the other against DeSales University.
The softball team has three returning seniors this spring, Angie Acampora, Brandi Davidson and Cailyn Barthlow. With a younger team this year, these three will provide leadership to the underclassmen.
Ten more games are scheduled for the team before its spring break trip to Florida, and then MAC play begins soon after the women return.
“Our goal is to compete with the best teams in the MAC and return to the playoffs again this year,” head coach Terry Burdette said.
The baseball team traveled to Fayetteville, N.C., for its double-header season opener against Methodist University on Feb. 12.
The team lost both games but came back the following weekend and split with the Nittany Lions in another double-header held at Frederick Community College.
With only five seniors, Nick Rampone, Matt Schopf, Sam Wheeler, Jacob Cutter and James DeProspero, the men’s baseball team is also younger this year.
The team will head to Florida over spring break to compete and conference play will begin that following weekend.
“To go out there and compete every single day is what gets me up in the morning,” DeProspero said. “I’m excited to be playing with this extremely talented group of guys.”
Women’s lacrosse started its season a few days after the other spring sports. Opening day was a home game on Tuesday, Feb. 22, against Bridgewater College, where Hood dominated 14-8 for a strong start to the season.
“I think everyone will be surprised with our team this year,” senior captain Laura Skorobatsch said. “We have a lot of talent on our team, and we are pulling everything together in practice to come out and compete with the other strong teams within our conference. We will come out and leave it all on the field each and every game.”
All of the spring athletes have been working hard since the fall, with team weight-lifting, captain practices and limited play.
Now that their seasons are taking off, players are excited and want to make conference playoffs. Check out the schedules and game times for each team here.
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