By Douglas Kidd
Despite a tough start to the season, the William Peace baseball team looks poised to take the USA South by storm once again this spring. The Pacers are looking for revenge after their defeat in last year’s USA South championship series to North Carolina Wesleyan.
The Pacers have started this season with a 2-5 record despite playing tough opponents such as Virginia Wesleyan, Christopher Newport, and Roanoke College. This record does not concern the Pacers as last year the team also went 2-5 in their first seven games.
“The goal of the team this season is to win the conference tournament and go on to win the National Championship,” said Jake Dacunto, a senior on the team.
Although no silverware was earned, the Pacers had a very successful season in 2023 with a record of 25-21 and a USA South championship appearance.
The Pacers also racked up many individual awards last season, including three first team selections in Brett Kemp, Cam Butler, and Patrick Rogan. Peyton Howard was also selected for the second team all-conference, and Nick Tyler was recognized for all-sportsmanship.
Dacunto and Rogan were also awarded second team all-region while Kemp was awarded this same honor plus third team all-American. Kemp is the first and only male athlete to be selected for all-American honors in school history.
“The message from the coaching staff is to be resilient the whole season. We pride ourselves on four traits: dependable, determined, humbleness, and selfless,” said Dacunto.
This message will carry the Pacers through the season as they have many tough games ahead, including defending champions North Carolina Wesleyan, University of Mary Washington, and Brevard college.
“We are looking forward to playing a top ranked CNU twice in the season,” said Dacunto. “We are also looking forward to playing our conference rivals NC Wesleyan, who knocked us out of the Conference Championship last year.”
With the individual success Dacunto has had since joining the Pacers in 2020, he is looking to finally help bring that championship that the Pacers have been longing for.
“The progression of our program has been growing every year since my freshman year. Every year we have set records for most wins in a season in program history as well as many other records,” said Dacunto.
It seems that the Pacers have the culture of a championship winning program when it comes to dedication, culture, and standards that the team looks to create.
“The culture of our team is very strong due to our head coach Charlie Long. He has high standards for our team that has not only made us a better team but better men,” said Dacunto. “We have been in the weight room getting our bodies ready for the long season. Every day we got to be on the field. We worked on fundamentals and have been conditioning and doing a lot of agility work.”
If you want to catch the Pacers in action this spring, they still have 16 home games remaining including senior day on April 28 against Pfeiffer. The Pacers also look to rematch Christopher Newport at home on April 14.
The Pacers will also look to get revenge against North Carolina Wesleyan as they travel to Rocky Mount to face the Battling Bishops in a series on April 5-7.
All information from William Peace Athletics and USASouth.net