Baseball team hopes to increase the number of wins this season

By Aden Sievert

Hood’s baseball team looks to improve once again this spring.

In 2023, the team increased its total wins by six games, jumping to a record of 18 wins and 20 losses on the season after going 12-27 in 2022.

This year, head coach Michael Impellittiere brought in six first-year athletes and has 33 athletes returning to his squad.

During the fall, the team practiced two days a week and was in the weight room with the strength and conditioning staff three times a week. 
Impellittiere said the team handled the preseason well and the emphasis was on bringing the younger players up to speed and building a good team culture.

“When we practice, we do a lot of things that are based on challenging you to fail and we feel like doing things that test you in that way makes it easier to not end up failing in the game,” sophomore Quade Gannon said.

“I think practice is a very competitive environment and that always gives good results,” first-year Easton Kite said.

This season, the team will face four schools that no other Hood baseball team has competed against before: Elmira College, Ursinus College, University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg and Immaculata University.

“The goal is to face better competition to enhance the performance of the team,” Impellittiere said.

“Immaculata is a very solid club, so that’ll be a fun game,” Gannon added.

The team has both short- and long-term goals over the stretch of the season.

They want to improve daily and focus on the micro-level progression, which will allow the team to reach its long-term goal of evolving into a competitive playoff team by May.

“I’m very excited to not only see what my own role is but to see us succeed as a family,” Kite said. “I think we’re going to do really good. I think we’re going to make it to the playoffs and go from there.”

Impellittiere said he is very enthusiastic about this year’s team and looks for the athletes to exhibit outstanding character, academic achievements and community involvement.

“The culture on the team this year is different than last year, in a good way, and it seems like it’s only going to get better,” Gannon said.