Point Park enjoying ‘privilege’ of success
Tri-State Sports & News Service Pressure is a privilege. These words have served as motivation for the free-swinging, hard-throwing Point Park University baseball team, a group that is ranked 15th nationally and not shy about its chances of making a run to the NAIA Division I College World Series.
“Absolutely we can get there,” said senor center fielder Stefan Mrkonja, a Hopewell grad who’s hitting .336 with 5 homers, 46 runs,15 doubles and 26 RBIs. “Everyone is confident. When you have confidence and conviction, man, those are some great traits for a team. And then when you add talent on top of that, it makes us a hard team to beat.”
Coach Loren Torres’ Pioneers are a stunning 41-7 (.854 winning percentage). They rank No. 2 nationally in ERA (2.59) and No. 11 in batting average (.336).
Talent-laden and tested (the team features 12 seniors), their games often take on the look of track meets. They’ve racked up run totals of 20, 18, 18 17, 17, 14 (three times) and 13 en route to finishing tied for first in the Rivers States Conference with a 23-4 mark.
The Pioneers average nearly eight runs per game.
All this, and they’ve practiced outside only twice due to unfavorable weather conditions. Twice. “It’s been difficult,” said Torres, who has led Point Park to the NAIA tournament three times, including a trip to the World Series in 2012. “But we’ve handled it well, and we’re still trying to make a run for it.”
Point Park’s quest for postseason success began Thursday vs. Midway University in the opening game of the RSC tournament in Chillcothe, Ohio. The Pioneers would earn an automatic berth to the NAIA tournament by winning the title. If not, they are viable candidates for an at-large bid, given their national ranking.
Fueled by a roster mixed with six WPIAL alums, seven international players (three hail from the Dominican Republic and two from Puerto Rico) and four from Florida, expectations are high. This explains why the Pioneers have adopted the mantra, “Pressure is a privilege,” which was introduced to them by former Point Park and Major League Baseball player Don Kelly.
A member of the Detroit Tigers’ 2012 World Series finalist, Kelly spoke to the group prior to the season.
“When the Tigers went deep into the postseason, Donnie said they talked a lot about pressure being a privilege,” Torres said. “There’s a reason that you get the chance to be in a pressurized situation; it’s because you earned it. So, we go into each big moment with the understanding that it’s a special time.”
Special. It is an apt way to describe a Point Park team that authored a 20game winning streak earlier this season and has currently won nine in a row.
Mrkonja and fellow fifth-year senior Jake Horew of Chartiers Valley have been instrumental in the run. Roommates early in their careers, they’ve formed a solid one-two punch in the middle of the defense — Mrkonja in center and Horew at shortstop.
Horew is hitting .286 with 3 homers, 40 RBIs, 25 walks and 8 doubles.
“He is, without question, one of the best shortstops in the country,” Torres said.
Other WPIAL alums who have contributed are sophomore Cole Horew of Chartiers Valley (.362 average), senior Joe Spalick of Shaler (.357), senior Ben Herstine of Beaver (.320) and junior Nick Bucci of Allderdice (6-0 pitching record, 3.27 ERA).
For Torres, he said he saw the makings of a championship-level team in an early season series at then-nationally ranked Judson University in Florida, where he once coached. Up 4-0, Point Park yielded four runs in the sixth inning. The blown lead could have devastated the group, but instead, the Pioneers bounced back to win in the seventh.
“I saw the team come together right there,” Torres said. “No one was hanging their head; they fought through it. That was a big moment because our seniors led the way and made certain that we fought until the last out.”
Added Mrkonja, “That game set the tone for the season. It said who we are as a team, and it’s been growing ever since.”