The baseball team will be upgraded from a club status to a varsity team. Archive photo by Ben Fraser.
Manager Howie Schwartz says extra money will help scouting
The Concordia Stingers baseball team is inching closer to receiving varsity status. Baseball head coach Howie Schwartz said the team, currently listed as a club on their website, will be upgraded to a lower-tier varsity status, similar to McGill’s baseball team.
“We’re in the process of getting things organized right now, a lot of things are getting revamped,” Schwartz said. “It’s on the queue to be done.” It may take time for the team to be officially deemed varsity, but Schwartz assures it is on the way.
“We will achieve varsity status at some point in the near future,” Schwartz added. “D’Arcy [Ryan] (Concordia’s director of Recreation and Athletics) is 100 per cent behind my project and is very much supportive.”
Schwartz, who spent the summer heavily recruiting in both the United States and in western Canada, said that varsity is a huge factor in the team’s ability to recruit. “We need to be considered varsity in order to recruit the way I want to recruit,” the head coach said.
With varsity status, the baseball team can receive up to $10,000 in funding. Archive photo by Ben Fraser.
Schwartz had his eyes on four players in particular, however all four decided to go to other schools with better offers, including a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) junior college in Kansas.
In addition to gaining interest from recruits, varsity status, regardless of the tier, brings more money into the program, and that is something Schwartz welcomes.
“I’m looking at the program and building it to the level I think it can go,” Schwartz said. “We’re a stronger program because the money’s there.”
In addition to the varsity status, the Stingers baseball program, through various fundraisers, can take in anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 every year.
The team will use the money for various academic financial awards, and to cover travel expenses. Schwartz also said the money will be put to use in order to schedule a series of exhibition games against NCAA opponents in the United States.
In the meantime, Schwartz is focused on the current season and the ultimate goal, as they want to “go deep into [the Canadian University World Series] and win.” The Stingers’s cross-town rivals from McGill, who are striving for their fifth-straight Canadian University World Series title, don’t concern Schwartz. “I think we have a team that can win it,” he said.
The Concordia Stingers baseball team gathers after a game this season. Photo by Ben Fraser.
Howie Schwartz says team’s pitching impressed him the most this season
The Concordia Stingers baseball team wrapped up their season after playing at nationals in Fredericton, N.B., from Oct. 19 to 22. The Stingers finished the tournament tied for fifth place.
It was a mildly successful season for the Stingers. Even with 13 rookies, the team managed to finish 9-7 in the regular season—good enough for second place in the division behind eventual national champions, the McGill Redmen.
In the playoffs, Concordia lost to the Carleton Ravens in the division semi-finals, before winning the wild-card series against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. This secured their spot at nationals, where the Stingers went 1-2 in the round robin before losing to the Acadia Axemen in the tie-breaker game.
This season, outfielder Miles Arecchi-Schuh led the team in batting average, posting a .419 average over 39 at-bats. Second baseman Kyle Hazel—who manager Howie Schwartz said impressed him the most over the season—and first baseman Stefan Brady tied for the team lead in hits, with 14 each. Third baseman Michael Makarios led the team with 14 runs batted in (RBIs).
As a whole, the team struggled to click behind the plate, only hitting a .236 average and scoring 87 runs during the regular season. To compare, rival McGill scored 151 runs. Schwartz said he hopes to improve on this for next season.
From left, Vincent Rivard, Kyle Hazel, Liam Hatheway and Shane Laverty, watch play during a Concordia Stingers baseball game. Photo by Ben Fraser.
“We underachieved at the plate,” he said.“Our season was won and lost based on what we did at the plate.” Schwartz added that the team’s entire hitting outlook needs to change, and this will be worked on over the winter at the Stinger Dome.
The Stingers pitching, which Schwartz described as the “weak point” coming into the season, impressed him all season long. The team had an earned run average (ERA) of 3.39, led by pitcher Shane Mullen, with a team-best ERA of 2.03. Thomas Loubser Munn and Sam Blondeau led the team in innings pitched, both with 18 1/3. Loubster Munn made his opponents swing and miss the most, posting a team best of 18 strikeouts.
Schwartz was happy with how his pitchers performed this season. “Our pitching stood out. They played way beyond what I expected of them.”
Despite the struggles behind the plate, Schwartz praised the team’s ability to come together when it mattered most.
“It took a while [to develop], but the chemistry on the team was extraordinary,” he said. “The team started to come together around playoff time.” According to Schwartz, nationals was a wonderful experience, but it was an event to build on. “Winning is very important, but [the team should have] a quality baseball experience,” he said.
There are high hopes for next year’s nationals as well. Schwartz said the goal is “not just participating in nationals, but winning nationals.”
To prepare for next season, Schwartz is already scouting players to fill roster spots. Schwartz said he has secured three players for next season, and he is also scouting “very heavily” for new talent in British Columbia and the United States.
The 2017 Stingers team both surprised and disappointed this season, but in a rebuilding year with 13 rookies, it was a year that left Schwartz hungry for next season.
Concordia improves to a 8-6 record with 2-1, 13-3 wins
The Concordia Stingers baseball team earned two wins in a doubleheader against the Carleton Ravens on Sept. 24. They have now won four consecutive games and hold a 8-6 record.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Stingers and Ravens battled through sun glare and temperatures that reached 31C. The Stingers defeated the Ravens 2-1 on a walk-off in the seventh and final inning when second baseman Michael Makarios scored off an error.
Starting pitcher Shane Mullen played six innings, allowing five walks, two hits and only one run. Pitcher Justin Benoit relieved him at the top of the seventh and collected the win.
At the plate, the Stingers’ bats were unusually quiet. Catcher Dario Vincelli was responsible for the only run batted in (RBI), which came on a fielder’s choice in the second inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the game tied and runners on first and second, outfielder Chandler Philippas struck out on a ball in the dirt. The catcher’s throw to first was over the first baseman’s head, though, and into right field, allowing Makarios to score from second base. This secured the 2-1 win for the Stingers.
The score was not as close in the second game as it was in the first game. The Stingers’ bats exploded for a 13-3 win. The 10-run mercy rule was called after the fifth inning. Several Stingers had great games offensively, including first baseman Stefan Brady with three hits and two runs scored.
The Stingers scored three runs in the first inning, five in the third inning, one run in the fourth inning and another four in the fifth.
A Stingers player talks to a coach at the baseball game on Sept. 24. Photo by Ben Fraser.
Sam Blondeau pitched in the second game, going four innings and allowing three runs on four hits, with a walk and two strikeouts. Pitcher Jackson Morgan replaced him in the top of the fifth inning, but by then the game was all but over.
Brady said playing in hot conditions like they did was a mental challenge. “[The first game] was a hard battle the whole way,” he said.
Concerning the second game, Brady commented on how Concordia wore down the Ravens.
“[The Ravens] were a little bit taken out of it,” he said. “We just had to wake up the bats and put the pressure on them.”
Errors were a major focal point of both games, and with serious sun glare, it becomes very hard to track the ball. However, Philippas said defence is always a priority for the team.
“Defence makes the team. Offence can always bounce back in the end, [but] defence runs the game,” the first-year player said.
Manager Howie Schwartz was happy with the way his team played, especially in the second game.
“Once we got three runs early, they sort of packed it in,” Schwartz said. “They were counting on [their] pitcher to shut us down.”
With the Stingers in a position to make the playoffs, the focus now turns to the next two games against the McGill Redmen. Schwartz said he is sure the team will be ready to go.
“They want to beat us, we want to beat them,” he said. “We’re just going to go out there and play hard, aggressive ball and make it close.”
The Stingers finish the 2017 regular season with games against McGill on Sept. 27 and 28.
Schwartz has been with the Stingers since the team’s inception in 1995. Photo by Alexander Cole.
Coach Howie Schwartz talks about his career with the team, as well as the upcoming season
During the entire 21-year history of the Concordia Stingers baseball team, the club has only had one coach, and that man is Howie Schwartz. In 1995, Schwartz went from coaching his children to coaching university baseball and he hasn’t looked back since.
“In 1995, I was at a social function and met one of the players that was playing for Queen’s [University] and he told me they were looking for a coach for Concordia,” Schwartz said. “He put me into contact with the guy who was putting the team together and after a few interviews, I found out I was the coach.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t smartened up and got rid of me,” Schwartz added jokingly.
Schwartz’s love of baseball began even before the Montreal Expos came into existence in 1969. Schwartz said watching baseball with his brothers got him engrossed in the sport and he eventually took up playing it.
While playing in little league, Schwartz would lie about his age so that he could play in multiple leagues at the same time, he said. When his junior career was over, Schwartz played softball for a few years until his children were born, and that’s when he started to coach. Including his time with the Stingers, Schwartz has been coaching baseball for 30 years.
Schwartz, who is also a sports psychologist who worked with the Montreal Expos, said that the first few years with the Stingers involved a rough adjustment period.
“Oh, it was brutal. To go from coaching teenagers to adults who have a history of playing elite baseball made me feel completely out of my element,” Schwartz said. “Despite how much I knew about the game, I was totally intimidated by their skills and knowledge of the game. I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared going into something.”
Once getting into a rhythm with the team, Schwartz said he quickly realized that his fears and anxieties were unfounded and that he should have had more faith in himself. When he would reflect after each game, he felt that he was doing his best and did in fact belong as manager of the team.
In terms of his approach to coaching, Schwartz sees himself as a players coach.
“I don’t like to run the team with an iron fist or in a militaristic kind of way,” Schwartz said. “I like to get a lot of input from the players and I give them a lot of leeway. I just believe that that is how people respond best to being managed.”
In his 21-year career with the Stingers, Schwartz has two moments he is most proud of. The first being the team’s national championship win in 2009, and the other being the 2014 national championship finals, where the team lost 1-0 to the McGill Redmen.
For Schwartz, the 2009 national championship team was a special team that carried themselves well, both on and off the field. He said he had a feeling they would go all the way that year and felt it was one of the most talented teams he had ever coached. Meanwhile, Schwartz said that he was proud of the 2014 team because of how much heart they played with, especially in the end at nationals.
Schwartz added that throughout his two decades of coaching the team, the Stingers program and the league itself have evolved immensely.
“At first the school told us that we could use the Stingers name but they said not to embarrass [the school] and they wouldn’t give us a nickel,” Schwartz said. “It’s gone from that to being a varsity club team where we have tremendous financial and moral support. We’re part of ‘Stingers United’ now, and we definitely feel like we are a part of the athletics department.”
However, Schwartz also said that when it comes to baseball, there is a huge difference between the skill level of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) players and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) players.
For Schwartz, this is because the NCAA teams in Division 1 have more finances to recruit great players, and that the leagues are more known. Schwartz said if the Stingers were in the NCAA, they could probably compete at the Division 3 or Division 2 level.
“We make do with what we have, but there is no way we can compete against the Americans,” Schwartz said.
When speaking about recruitment, Schwartz said he has brought players in from British Columbia and Ontario to play for the team. However, baseball isn’t what he sells his players on.
A Concordia Stingers hitter during a game against McGill. Photo by Michael Maclean.
“Concordia has established itself as a bonafide university with quality programs to offer to compete with McGill,” Schwartz said. “Nobody is going to come to Concordia to play baseball, and I really try to stress that they will come to continue their studies in a strong program while getting to play baseball at the same time. I’m selling the university, not the baseball program.”
In the last few years, the Stingers baseball team has found success with six appearances at nationals in the last nine years, including a championship in 2009 and a national final in 2014. Despite that, last year was a rebuilding year for the team with many veterans graduating and new players coming in to fill those shoes.
Last season, the team finished with a record of 12-4, however, they were forced out of the playoffs in the semi-finals after losing their best-of-three series against Carleton University 2-1.
Schwartz explained that when a team gets a high influx of new and young players, it can be quite a challenge to integrate everyone into the system.
“What I’ve found historically is that if you only have a handful of new guys every year with a strong returning team, it’s easier to meld everyone in and get their feet wet,” Schwartz said. “When you have a large number of new players in one shot the challenge is much more [evident].”
“Last year we got upset in the playoffs because we couldn’t handle the pressure and didn’t have the maturity to play up to that level,” Schwartz added. “This year we have a lot of returning guys and they seem intent on making this a productive year. We’re seeing a lot of leadership this year.”
Schwartz said that going into this season, the expectation is to do better than last year in terms of wins. He said the new players are already integrating well and that the team has the potential to go far.
Schwartz added that there are no standout superstars on the team, but the talented and balanced roster bodes well for the upcoming season.
In order to win a national championship, Schwartz said that playing smart and playing great defense is how they are going to get there.
“Pitching is the key and it looks like we have a lot of talent there. I like what we have up the middle [outfield], and in terms of offense, we need to stick to the fundamentals. We have a lot of speed on the team,” he said.
“It’s such a short season so we can’t afford to get into a slump,” Schwartz added. “We have to be on top of the game at all times.”
