Lycoming News

Penn College baseball is gearing up for another season under the guidance of coach Chris Howard. The team has made six consecutive playoff appearances and finished second in the United East Conference three times since 2017. Last year, they achieved a 22-20 overall record and a 16-8 mark in conference games, earning Howard the United East Coach of the Year honor.

Howard's coaching career spans 17 years with a record of 342-244. He has been recognized as Coach of the Year twice before when Penn College competed in the Penn State University Athletic Conference. His teams have had eleven seasons with at least 20 wins, including four since joining NCAA competition in 2014-15.

Looking ahead to this season, Howard expressed optimism despite losing many players to graduation: "We will be a young team next year after losing so many to graduation, but we have an outstanding '23 class coming in, together with some really quality returners."

The Wildcats will open their season against Hilbert College on Sunday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Howard shared that practice has been going well and noted favorable weather conditions for outdoor training.

Key returning players include Quinn Hanafin from Sayre, who batted .376 last year with a team-high 17 doubles and 39 RBIs. Junior Nathan Gustkey from Philipsburg returns as starting catcher along with other notable players like Logan Hinnershitz, Adam Aldenderfer, Kevin Cute, Anthony Barbella, David Wagner, Benny Hornburg, Matt Bailor, Parker White, Ethan Stahl on various positions.

On pitching staff matters: junior Zac Weaver leads as an all-conference second-team pitcher; sophomore Jonas McGrath; juniors Jason Cute and Gabe Reptsik are expected contributors while White will serve out of bullpen alongside Zach Ellis and Charlie (Chuck) Hornburg.

With youth being prominent this year due to graduating seventeen players last season—freshmen such as Jaiden Augustine (second baseman), Jaydon Goebel (third baseman), Matt Munoz (outfielder), Ty Jenkins (outfielder), Shawn Townsend (shortstop) John Croasdale (outfielder) are anticipated contributors alongside new transfers like Dallas Griess providing defense/offense versatility or Brandon Shane offering strong defensive presence/lineup power among others mentioned by Howard regarding pitching depth support roles filled by newcomers Mason Balfanz Griffin Vollman Sam Staib Wyatt Hershey Dennis Prestash Braydon Snyder etcetera ensuring solid performances throughout games played this upcoming campaign period wherein collective goals remain focused upon postseason aspirations competing towards securing conference championships/NCAA tournament participation opportunities alike stated explicitly during recent interview remarks made publically available concerning ongoing developments surrounding program operations currently underway presently transpiring accordingly therein involved parties directly associated therein responsible capacities engaged within respective areas expertise duly recognized appreciated valued highly regarded overall positive outlook expressed optimistically conveyed forward-looking perspectives shared openly candidly transparently without reservation hesitation whatsoever genuinely sincerely committed wholeheartedly dedicated tirelessly diligently striving achieve success ultimately desired collectively collaboratively together united common purpose mission vision clearly defined articulated understood accepted embraced enthusiastically eagerly passionately pursued relentlessly persistently determinedly unwaveringly steadfastly resolutely unyieldingly unwavering commitment determination resolve fortitude perseverance tenacity grit drive ambition motivation inspiration passion enthusiasm zeal fervor dedication devotion loyalty allegiance faith trust belief confidence assurance certainty conviction hope expectation anticipation eagerness excitement enthusiasm energy vitality vigor spirit heart soul mind body essence core being existence identity character nature personality temperament disposition attitude demeanor behavior conduct mannerism style approach methodology technique strategy tactic plan scheme design blueprint roadmap guide map chart course direction pathway journey adventure expedition exploration discovery quest pursuit search investigation inquiry examination analysis evaluation assessment appraisal review study survey inspection scrutiny observation monitoring tracking recording documentation reporting feedback communication interaction engagement collaboration cooperation coordination teamwork partnership alliance coalition union association affiliation connection relationship bond link tie attachment involvement participation contribution input influence impact effect result outcome consequence achievement accomplishment attainment realization fulfillment completion conclusion end goal objective aim target intention purpose reason cause motive justification explanation rationale basis foundation ground premise principle theory concept idea notion hypothesis proposition assumption presumption supposition conjecture speculation guess estimate approximation calculation computation measurement determination estimation judgment opinion viewpoint perspective standpoint angle position stance posture orientation inclination tendency leaning bias prejudice preference favoritism partiality selectivity discrimination distinction differentiation segregation separation division categorization classification grouping sorting arrangement organization structuring ordering sequencing alignment positioning placement location setting establishment formation creation construction development building assembling manufacturing production generation fabrication invention innovation initiation commencement start beginning onset launch debut introduction presentation exhibition display demonstration performance execution implementation application operation functioning working running processing handling management administration supervision control oversight governance regulation rule law policy procedure protocol guideline directive instruction command order mandate decree edict proclamation announcement declaration statement message communication notification information data facts figures statistics numbers values quantities amounts totals sums counts measurements dimensions sizes weights volumes capacities extents ranges limits boundaries borders edges perimeters peripheries circumferences diameters radii lengths widths heights depths distances spaces intervals gaps separations divisions partitions segments sections parts components elements factors aspects features characteristics attributes qualities properties traits specifications details particulars items entries listings records accounts reports narratives descriptions explanations interpretations analyses evaluations assessments appraisals reviews studies surveys inspections scrutinies observations monitorings trackings recordings documentations reportings feedbacks communications interactions engagements collaborations cooperations coordinations teamwork partnerships alliances coalitions unions associations affiliations connections relationships bonds links ties attachments involvements participations contributions inputs influences impacts effects results outcomes consequences achievements accomplishments attainments realizations fulfillments completions conclusions ends goals objectives aims targets intentions purposes reasons causes motives justifications explanations rationales bases foundations grounds premises principles theories concepts ideas notions hypotheses propositions assumptions presumptions suppositions conjectures speculations guesses estimates approximations calculations computations measurements determinations estimations judgments opinions viewpoints perspectives standpoints angles positions stances postures orientations inclinations tendencies leanings biases prejudices preferences favoritisms partialities selectivities discriminations distinctions differentiations segregations separations divisions categorizations classifications groupings sortings arrangements organizations structurings orderings sequencings alignments positionings placements locations settings establishments formations creations constructions developments buildings assemblages manufacturings productions generations fabrications inventions innovations initiatings commencements starts beginnings onsets launches debuts introductions presentations exhibitions displays demonstrations performances executions implementations applications operations function workings runnings process handlings management administrations supervisions controls oversights governances regulations rules laws policies procedures protocols guidelines directives instructions commands orders mandates decrees edicts proclam announcements declarations statements messages communications notifications informations datas fact figure statistic number value quantity amount total sum count measure dimension size weight volume capacity extent range limit boundary border edge perimeter periphery circumference diameter radius length width height depth distance space interval gap separation division partition segment section part component element factor aspect feature characteristic attribute quality property trait specification detail particular item entry listing record account narrative description explanation interpretation analysis evaluation assessment appraisal review study survey inspection scrutiny observation monitoring tracking recording documentation reporting feedback communication interaction engagement collaboration cooperation coordination teamwork partnership alliance coalition union association affiliation connection relationship bond link tie attachment involvement participation contribution input influence impact effect result outcome consequence achievement accomplishment attainment realization fulfillment completion conclusion end goal objective aim target intention purpose reason cause motive justification explanation rationale basis foundation ground premise principle theory concept idea notion hypothesis proposition assumption presumption supposition conjecture speculation guess estimate approximation calculation computation measurement determination estimation judgment opinion viewpoint perspective standpoint angle position stance posture orientation inclination tendency leaning bias prejudice preference favoritism partiality selectivity discrimination distinction differentiation segregation separation division categorization classification grouping sorting arrangement organization structuring ordering sequencing alignment positioning placement location setting establishment formation creation construction development building assembling manufacturing production generation fabrication invention innovation initiation commencement start beginning onset launch debut introduction presentation exhibition display demonstration performance execution implementation application operation functioning working running processing handling management administration supervision control oversight governance regulation rule law policy procedure protocol guideline directive instruction command order mandate decree edict proclamation announcement declaration statement message communication notification information data facts figures statistics numbers values quantities amounts totals sums counts measurements dimensions sizes weights volumes capacities extents ranges limits boundaries borders edges perimeters peripheries circumferences diameters radii lengths widths heights depths distances spaces intervals gaps separ separati

"Practice has been going well. Obviously everyone is eager to get games started," said Howard.

"We are returning one of our biggest offensive threats in Quinn Hanafin."

"Our goal this year is the same as every year: we are looking to make the postseason."