Sinclair baseball team finished third place at the NJCAA Division II College World Series, making it the best season in school history.
“Getting to the World Series was an accomplishment in itself being the schools first ever visit and the first Ohio team since 1989,” Coach Stephen Dintamin said. “Once we got there, we stayed hot and made it to championship Saturday as one of the three best teams in the country.”
The previous year, the Pride made it to the regional final so he said the team knew the next step for the program was to win a regional and get to the World Series, since it had been 25 years since an Ohio team made the trip.
“Before the season started, that was the mindset and the mission,” Dintamin said. “We went 2-6 in last 8 big conference games and didn’t hit very well at all. Because of that, we finished 3rd in the conference and had to do things the hard way.”
The Pride won the Sub-Regional on the road at Vincennes University and was the #8 seed in the regional Tournament in Battle Creek Michigan. The team beat the #1 seed Jackson in Game one and went on to beat Kellogg twice, the home team.
The team was set back mentally and physically at the beginning of the season because of the loss of a few key players, but played well until they lost third basemen and 3 hitter Alec Turner.
However, Dintamin said the biggest contributing factor to the season was how mentally motivated the team was throughout practices and focused on the process.
“They really did a good job buying into the mental game and being resilient. We have a palm tree in the dugout and we talk about palm trees bending but not breaking. That was this team, we were bent many times but they never broke,” Dintamin said. “They stayed with the process, played the game one pitch at a time, and every game it seemed like we had a different hero.”
The goals for the team are the same every year: win the conference, win the regional and get to the World Series. Now that the Pride has accomplished their goals, Dintamin said the next step is winning the National Championship.
Turnover rate is high and the team has a range between five to 15 players who return each season. Dintamin said next year nine players are returning including LHP Ryan Falls, LHP Cole Quillen, and starting 3B/RF Nick Massey.
“We have a strong class coming in, a lot of very good student-athletes—mix in a few Division I transfers and we will be ready to make another run to Enid,” Dintamin said.
Dintamin said after all the adversity he had a few doubts about making it to the World Series, but after the Sub-Regional Tournament he felt confident in his team and their mental and physical capabilities.
“The guys seemed focus, they brought great energy and adopted the mantra: why not us,” Dintamin said.
Although they didn’t win the World Series, the Pride had a record-breaking season of 53 victories.
For more updates about the Sinclair athletics, visit www.sinclairathletics.com.
Gabrielle Sharp
Executive Editor