The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Benedictine alum seeking new college
Sinclair suspends athletics for 2020-21
College baseball teams’ seasons ended not long after they began due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Some schools already moved to cancel athletics for the 202021 season, too. Benedictine baseball alumnus Daniel Keenan is among many student-athletes seeking a new home after learning his program won’t resume competition until at least the fall of 2021.
Sinclair Community College suspended athletics through the 2020-21 season on May 4, a decision coach Steve Dintaman shared with Keenan and his baseball teammates.
“I could have kind of saw it coming just with everything going on,” Keenan said. “Nothing’s too surprising at this point, but it was definitely a bummer. I had a lot of things I was looking forward to with the guys and stuff, just being back in Dayton.”
Alongside baseball, the Tartans’ men’s and women’s basketball, softball and volleyball teams will not compete next school year.
Keenan redshirted his freshman season at Sinclair, located in Dayton. As a senior at Benedictine in 2019, he hit .506 and drove in 37 runs to rank among the area’s top hitters. He helped lead the Bengals to a regional final berth following the program’s first district championship since 1986.
Before his freshman season was canceled, Sinclair went 9-5 in 14 games. Keenan redshirted this season, but appreciated his time with the program. “It was awesome,” Keenan said. “Being a part of a team and finally living on my own, it was just a cool experience. College baseball is what I’ve dreamed of my whole life, so that first year it was a tough experience but it was super enjoyable. We had such a good group of guys, a super talented team which was what made it a lot easier to be a redshirt as a freshman.” Keenan now hopes to find a spot at another school for the upcoming school year. He planned to join Benedictine teammate John Bufford at Mercyhurst North East before the Saints also suspended athletics for next school year.
Keenan is studying accounting and plans to pursue a career in real estate. He completed his spring semester courses at Sinclair online and attained a 3.0 GPA.
The Cleveland Heights native said he’s received interest from other junior colleges, NAIA and D-III programs as well as a postgraduate team in Minnesota. Keenan added he’s grateful to have support from Dintaman, Benedictine coach John Ellis and Matt Rosinski, his summer ball coach at Release Baseball.
When the country is able to move past COVID-19, Keenan hopes to continue his dream.
“I’m looking everywhere,” Keenan said. “Right now, I can’t really say where I’ll end up, it’s open. It’s something new every week.”