Lasell Welcomes Baseball

By Nicholas Dubay

GNAC Correspondent, Lasell College

This year the Lasell College baseball team has become a Division III varsity sport and even though they are a new team, they plan on making big noise in their division this year.

Senior Stephen Vanderwerken has been a part of the team since they were a club team last year and is now a co-captain this year.  Vanderwerken has been playing baseball since he was a very little boy and brings lots of experience and knowledge to the team.  He is currently the starting 1st baseman and has very high hopes for the team this season.  One of the many goals is to make either the NCAA or the ECAC post season tournament. “We have a good chance to make it if we play up to our potential,” says Vanderwerken.

Vanderwerken does admit that being a first year program will not make those goals easy to obtain.  One of their main challenges will be the youth of the team.  “One of our biggest weaknesses could be our youth,” said Vanderwerken. “We have a very young team that has 2 seniors and the rest sophomores and freshman.  And we need to stay healthy. We don’t have the depth to survive if we get a few injuries, especially to pitchers.”

Co-captain Herb Chappell also believes that the teams youth and inexperience maybe a challenge.  “We are such a young team. This is our first year as a varsity team and we have a lot to learn,” said Chappell.

Chappell is a sophomore who was highly recruited by Lasell when he was playing baseball at Massbay Community College.  He has been playing since he was about five years old and loves every second of it.

The season started in the beginning of March when the Lasers traveled to New York City for a weekend and then spent the following week in sunny Fort Myers, Florida for spring training.  They just competed in their first ever home game in the pouring rain, but the support from the school was remarkable.  They are currently 3-7 and 0-2 in conference play, but have shown signs of greatness. 

The expectations are extremely high for a first year program, but nothing out of reach.  The season is still young and they are about to get into the swing of things with conference play beginning.  If they are able to put the slow start behind them and focus on making an impact in the GNAC then many people will be surprised to see the Lasell Lasers baseball team near the top of the standings.

GNAC correspondents are selected by their institution to write feature stories for the GNAC website.