After two straight regional trips in 2022-23, University had high expectations in 2024. But the Preppers fell in a district semifinal. The early exit a season ago lit a fire under the team going into this season. During spring break, many of the players stuck around and had an intrasquad world serie s. It’s a welcomed sight for Coach Rob McNerney. He said the team had the talent to go on another run last season, but now the Preppers can set a higher goal. “It’s all a learning experience regardless, win or loss, and I kind of compare it back to losing to Louisville a couple of years ago at Thurman Munson in a similar situation,” McNerney said. “And then looking at how we attacked the following offseason, how we responded, how we learned from that loss and then we went on a great run. With that 2023 class, you know, going to the regional semifinals. So, you know, we certainly can draw from that experience a little bit again. The good, the bad, that kind of repeated that again here in 2025 in terms of making it back to regionals, but we know that’s not going to be easy.” University, after bouncing between Divisions I and II, is in Division III in the new seven-division format. The Preppers are joined by several Northeast Ohio powers. University has 10 seniors, and eight of them have played significant roles over the last three years. Aaron Moss has been a starter all four years and is coming off of a .357 season at the plate. Moss impacts the game from the hot corner and on the mound. Last season, he pitched 44 2/3 innings, went 5-1 with a 0.94 ERA and struck out 33. Moss said he is prepared to be a team leader. “I think they may be ready for the challenges, but we have so many guys that can kind of do both on the mound and in the field,” Moss said. “And it just shows we got a bunch of versatile players that have the ability to get on the mound and do very well. Everyone can throw strikes but also show off their baseball IQ in the field and use good situational IQ to make good plays.” Among the deep group back are fellow seniors Bryce Fielding, who hit a team-high .370, Justin Gilbert (.350) and Deacon Nelson (.311). Moss, Slater Schoaf and Crew Bellan will handle the majority of the pitching duties. While the Preppers have sky-high goals, they aren’t putting extra pressure on themselves. It’s more of a relaxed excitement in Hunting Valley. “Yeah, just very excited one last time,” Moss said. “It feels like I was a freshman last week. But just excited to get back at it. We’re pretty senior heavy team, so guys that have gone to school with us for at least four years now, some even more, we all want to have that one final run going this season.” University has two college signees, Moss to Kenyon and Tucker Greer to Case Western, but the Preppers aren’t the flashiest team of the bunch. That doesn’t mean that they can’t turn heads, either. McNerney looks to the run the Preppers had in the 2022 season, when it was the school’s first time ever. Outside of now Ball State sophomore Evan Shapiro, there were many juniors and sophomores trying to make their names. He views this year’s squad in a similar light, with some established names plus players including Jack Nelson and Lucas Clavijo having a bigger impact than many might expect. “I think when I look back at my time here, there’s always going to be those one or two big name guys,” McNerney said. “But I think what our coaching staff has done a great job of and what our players have done a great job of is kind of being getting the most out of those guys that fly out of the radar. The guys that aren’t the big names but the guys are good athletes, the guys that love baseball then like to compete. And our staff has always done a phenomenal job of squeezing the absolute most we possibly can out of somebody. I think about last year, somebody like Bryce Fielding, who, first year as a junior, arguably had a co-MVP season. He won our most improved award. He played a tremendous left field, settled into the lead off spot just fabulously.” ...read more read less