More than halfway through their season, the SUNY New Paltz baseball team has been earning wins and hitting home runs for the chance to win the SUNYAC championship for the second year in a row.
Last season, the Hawks claimed their first SUNYAC title in program history, beating SUNY Cortland 11-3 and 15-11 in a doubleheader championship and gaining a bid in the NCAA tournament, where they won their first game before exiting after two consecutive losses in the first round. Comingoff of a record-breaking season and welcoming many new players into the roster, the Hawks had a lot of pressure on them, as described by head coach Thomas Seay.
“It’s been a blessing and a curse, a little bit of a double-edged sword,” Seay said. “We had a great year in 2024, and we had a lot to be excited about coming into this year.”
The Hawks opened their season with a strong momentum, managing a roster of returning and newly recruited players and figuring out ways to combine their collective strengths together. Though they secured some good victories, they were met with a few losses too. However, as the season progressed, they began to secure more consistent wins, bringing their record to 17-8 overall and 6-2 in the SUNYACs.
“From a macro standpoint, since spring break, we’ve played much more consistently. We’ve pitched much more consistently,” Seay said. “We were walking and hitting too many batters and we just weren’t pitching very well. As the season progressed, we’ve done a much better job with throwing first pitch strikes, getting leadoff outs, not giving the other teams scoring opportunities with guys on base that shouldn’t be on base. We’ve made the teams earn their runs instead of giving them the run.”
As the Hawks clinched many more wins, players also received recognition off the field. Third-year infield captain Fabian Apicella earned his first SUNYAC Baseball Player of the Week honor earlier in March. Outfielder Anthony Pericolosi was selected D3Baseball Team of the Week following his recognition as SUNYAC Baseball Player of the Week. Fourth-year infielder Tommy Kreider was named SUNYAC Athlete of the Week earlier this month.
Seay also described the team’s game against SUNY Cortland last month as the turning point for the team, saying “The game two win against Cortland at Cortland was a really good win. I felt like that was the day that we finally put 2024 behind us and really solidified the 2025 season.” In solidifying the season, the Hawks also brought home victories against SUNY Oswego, the University of Hartford and Vassar College. They face off SUNY Plattsburgh this weekend and Ramapo College on April 15, with their Green Out Game bringing them back to Vassar on April 16.
Moving forward, Seay recognizes that the Hawks still have a lot of games to go, but said that the best way they can keep sight of their goals is to “take it one game at a time.”
He continued, “I know that’s super cliche to say in athletics, but honestly it’s the truth. If we start focusing too much on the big picture and we don’t take care of the day-to-day stuff, then we’re not going to be there at the end. So the message day-in and day-out is [to] execute the day and once the day is done, get ready for the next time.”
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