Just two games into the Bucks baseball season and esteemed head coach Lou Pacchioli resigned leaving his team to assistant coach, Robert Fravel.
Fravel had only been with the team for two days when he got the call that Pacchioli resigned.
“I got promoted my second day on the job,” said Fravel.
This was no giant leap for Fravel who played four impressive years of Division III baseball at King’s College and coached there.
Fravel brought along with him assistant coach, Ed Conrey, who had a successful career playing baseball for Duke University and coaching at the University of North Florida.
Devin McDermott, 20-year-old catcher for the Centurions said, “The new coaching staff brought with them an entirely different set of expectations that made it feel more worthwhile going to practice and putting in work.”
“I’d leave practice each day feeling as though no progress was being made toward the overall goal of revamping the program and it was difficult to take it seriously. With Fravel and Conrey coming in the switch was night and day,” added McDermott.
The Centurions surely had a rocky start to their season, struggling at times to even get runs on the board, but improvement has already been seen since the coaching change.
Fravel said that the players to thank for that change have been Luke Hendricks, Devin McDermott, Ryan Mager, and Michael Naylor.
“They’ve kept us in a lot of games, they’ve been spot on,” Fravel continued.
All of these players are expected to return next season along with most of the Centurions’ roster.
“My assistant coach, Ed Conrey and I have already started doing some pretty heavy recruiting for next year,” said Fravel.
Fravel also talked about the excitement for next year’s season saying, “I’m optimistic about our season next year, I fully intend on competing for a playoff spot.”
McDermott seems to share the same expectations for next year saying, “The next few weeks we have left are considered a tryout for next year. Not many wins are expected, but emphasis is being placed on individual effort and attitude and every player has to earn their jersey for next year.”