Baseball: Panthers end successful season with a loss

Despite ending the season with a loss, Pitt’s baseball team reflected on an overall successful… Despite ending the season with a loss, Pitt’s baseball team reflected on an overall successful year and remains optimistic toward next year.

The Panthers finished their season last week with a loss to West Virginia in the Big East tournament. The 20-8 mercy-rule loss was a disappointing end to the Panthers’ season and hopes of capturing a Big East crown, but it was also a positive reminder of a season that broke expectations.

In a preseason poll, coaches in the Big East picked the Panthers to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the conference. The Panthers utilized key newcomers to put up a 28-19 record and bounce back from last season’s disappointing 19-34 mark.

“We bounced back from a tough season last year, and we did a lot better,” senior catcher Morgan Kielty said. “That’s a tribute to the guys’ characters on the team.”

One addition to the team was second baseman Chris Sedon, who led the team in most offensive categories.

“All in all, the season was a success,” Sedon said. “With the new coaches and players we got, everyone started buying into the idea of winning.”

In his first year after transferring from Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., Sedon became the 16th player in Pitt history selected to the all-Big East first team. He finished with a .398 batting average, 22 home runs and 62 RBIs. Sedon has made the most home runs in a year by a single player in Pitt history.

After having a self-defined “pretty crummy fall,” Sedon credited his work ethic with helping him improve his game and ease his transition from Lackawanna, a Division II school, to Pitt’s Division I program.

“I put in a ton of time [practicing] at Lackawanna and here I put in more,” Sedon said, “I was just looking to break [into] the starting lineup, and the first game I saw my name on the lineup and I said, ‘Sweet!’”

Sedon’s seamless transition to success at Pitt wasn’t just a testament to his work on the field, but to Pitt coach Joe Jordano’s research while recruiting.

“During our recruiting process, we spend a good deal of time making certain that we are bringing in the right type of player,” Jordano said.

Along with Sedon, former Pitt football quarterback Kevan Smith, infielder Frank Mercurio and catcher Cory Brownsten were newcomers who helped the baseball team this year.

With the influx of new players, Pitt easily could have had a down year as the teammates got accustomed to playing with one another.

But Jordano said the team’s chemistry started solid and remained that way all year.

“When you are successful recruiting these types of players — a kid that wants to achieve in the classroom as well as on the field, it makes team chemistry easier to achieve,” Jordano said.

The Panthers returned key players from last year’s team, as well, including infielder Joe Leonard, shortstop Danny Lopez and Kielty.

Kielty said the 12-run loss to West Virginia in the Big East tournament was a tough way to end his career at Pitt.

“It wasn’t very fun going out that way and losing that badly,” Kielty said. “At the end of the game, it was pretty emotional because it’s the last year that this group will be together.”

Jordano shared Kielty’s disappointment.

“I believe we were better prepared and ready to make some noise at the tournament,” Jordano said. “However, we made some mistakes that we did not make all year. We were the best fielding team in the conference and one of the best in the country. We did not play well defensively in the tournament and at critical times made mistakes that cost us.”

But Jordano also said it was important his younger players got the exposure to the tournament, as he feels next year’s team will be a talented bunch.

“The core of the team is intact, and we had a very solid recruiting class,” Jordano said, “Depending on the MLB amateur draft, we could have one of the most talented teams we have ever had moving into the new stadium.”