The Hilbert Hawk’s baseball team was on the road for the second series in a row to start the young season, taking on Wells College in Aurora, NY.

Hilbert would start the day of hot when Misael Guzman would launch a two-run homerun over the right field wall giving the Hawks a 2-0 in the top of the second. Wells would respond quickly in the bottom of the second tallying 5 runs on 3 extra base hits. The Hawks would try and rally back scoring two more runs in the first game but couldn’t hold Wells from tacking more runs on the board. Misael Guzman would give up 8 earned runs on the day giving him his first loss at Hilbert in a 4-8 defeat.

The second game was a great pitching duel, as Josh Mctigue would make his first start since the 2020 shortened season. The Hawks would only score 1 run on 3 hits, two coming from the freshman Colton Davis.

Mctigue threw four innings only giving up two earned runs. Hilbert would drop game two with a score of 4-1.

The Hawks(1-3) will be traveling to SUNY Fredonia(1-0) Saturday to play a double header march 27^th, with first pitch at 12:00 pm.  

The Hilbert Hawks baseball team is fired up after their first win of the season and hopes to keep the momentum going forward.

The team claimed its first victory of the season last Tuesday against their rival D’Youville College in their double header played at Gowanda high school. With their season being canceled last spring because of Covid-19, their last game played was over a year ago in Myrtle Beach. These men were eager to get back to the game they love to play, and it showed in their first game back. Even after losing the second game in the double header, they are not hanging their heads.

“I thought both games went well even though we went one in one… it felt amazing to finally play a real game again with all my friends,” the returning junior James DiSanti said.

DiSanti had the first run of the season on Tuesday during the first game and had some pretty other remarkable plays throughout the duration of the game at third base.

“ I really felt the best I’ve felt all year long… this had to of been one of the best days of the year to finally be able to step on the field again feeling like that,” DiSanti, who missed time last year with a knee injury last year, said.

The whole team did their best both games despite the shortcomings they experienced last year.

Misael Guzman Caez, a new player to the team, had good things to say about his teammates. “I think both the team and myself did good,” Guzman Caez said. “We could have done better things as a team like hitting the ball better… It feels great being out there again playing baseball.”

On the offense side of things, the hawks held their own in both games posting up ten combined hits after being sidelined the last year due to Covid-19.

In Game 1, Aydan Rolph shined in relief facing eight batters giving up only one hit and no runs earned. On the defensive end, the hawks kept the mistakes to a minimum while posting up only two errors in 14 innings on the field.

Leadership plays a huge role on this team. “There are plenty of leaders on our team, and our leadership will improve,” Guzman Caez said.

Just like every year, the Hawk’s main goal is to win the AMCC championship at the end of the season. “We have a tight group and with what we have, there is a good chance we can get there,” said DiSanti.

The Hilbert Hawks are fueled up and ready to play a full schedule of games this spring.

With their season being cancelled last spring due to Covid-19, the men’s baseball team are ready to get back in action. They played a total of 11 games and went 6-5 down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Ripken Experience tournament. They were eager to see how they would do during conference play before all sports were cancelled due to the pandemic.

When asked about the current roster in comparison to last spring, head coach Drew Fittry sounded quite optimistic, even after the long break.

“I thought we saw a lot of growth last spring that was our best start to a season that we have ever had, the first winning season,” Fittry said. “We only lost 4 seniors and we have a pretty solid incoming class that came in. I see some guys making immediate impacts on the program just having another year under our belt with a lot of guys that understand our system.”

The shortened season adds fuel to this spring’s fire on the diamond. Fittry is hopeful last year’s start has given the team the ingredients to develop a winning attitude on the field, he said.

“Now that we have seen that success, we know what we’re capable of doing and we’re expecting even more this year.” Fittry said.

The Hawks still have seven out of nine players that were on the starting roster from last year as well as the same pitching staff.

“Having that many returning starters always helps,” Fittry said. “Whenever you can kind of have that chemistry in place to begin with makes this a lot easier as a coach and when you are out there playing.”

The Hawks have unfinished business to do this year in the AMCC.

“We’re looking at this year as a redemption season. We fully expect to turn some heads within the league” Fittry said.

Fittry prioritizes the health and safety of his athletes and assistant coaches in order to give the boys a full season that they have been waiting for. Each week 25% of the roster gets rapid tested to ensure the health and safety of the team and is mandated by the conference.

Now that Hilbert baseball has a brand-new field, the athletes and coaches are excited more than ever to play on the diamond. Will the fields be ready by opening day? Maybe, it depends on the snowfall and if the finishing touches are done. Their first game is March 9 vs D’Youville at D’Youville. Their first home game is March 27 vs. La Roche University. The first home game has possibilities of a ribbon cutting ceremony for the brand-new field.

The Hilbert College baseball team is getting ready to start their 2021 season, with the  team hungry to start playing games again after their 2020 season was ended short due to the Covid 19 pandemic that took the world by surprise.

The season is set to kick off March 9^th at D’youville college, in a doubleheader. The team has been practicing for about a month now and is doing its best to make sure they are prepared for the upcoming game and season while still dealing with protocols in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Hilbert College Head Baseball Coach, Drew Fittry, said the team has been preparing for the season despite the challenged that covid protocols present.

“Covid made it tough for a lot of teams to prepare the right way,” Fittry said. “We have done a great job adapting and we are in a better spot than the Pennsylvania schools in our conference because we got to start practicing almost a month before them due to Covid.”

Covid has brought many challenges to the college sports world but the Hawks have had better opportunity to gear up for the season because of the different restrictions by certain states.

The team has a set of goals lined up for their upcoming season, hoping to make history within the Hawks Athletic program, and believe they have a great chance to do so, Fittry said.

“We need to take baby steps throughout the season and make sure were doing the little things right,” he said. “I want to make it to the postseason and make a run there, we have a great group of guys and a great chance of achieving this goal.”

The Hilbert baseball team would make program history by winning an AMCC postseason game this year. Out of the 17 years that the baseball team has been in the AMCC, they have not won a postseason game, but the coach and his players believe they have a great shot to win one this season.

This season for the Hawks baseball team will take a lot of work to get through. The games early in the season will have to be planned around the snow and rain typical to a Buffalo spring. Also, there are many Covid regulations that the team has to follow like testing the whole team when they play a school in Pennsylvania. On top of all of this, the team has to remain focused and shut out distractions in order to reach their goal of being at the top of the Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference.

Still, Michael Contini, a pitcher on the team said he sees this year as a great opportunity. “We have a great group of guys with a lot of talent, as long as we work hard and play up to the standards that we know we are capable of, we will have a great season,” Contini said.

Editor’s Note: Zack Panfil, the article’s author, is a member of the Hilbert baseball team