By Allison Covey (@allisoncovey):
Most of the players on the San Jose State club baseball team thought their baseball careers were done after their high school season.
When they got the opportunity to come play on the club team, it was seen as a second chance.
“They are not in school to go play baseball; they didn’t get offered to play a sport,” said SJSU Sport Club Manager Dominic Ackerman, who formed the team in the summer of 2015. “They chose to go here, and by virtue of being a student here they found an opportunity to find a niche that fit their interest.”
With one season already under its belt, SJSU’s club baseball team is putting itself on notice across California.
Competing at the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) Division II level, the Spartans (6-3) are currently third among seven schools in the Pacific-North Conference. They sit behind Menlo College and Sacramento State — who they’ll face in the coming weeks — while are ahead of University of San Francisco, Humboldt State, Stanford and UC Merced.
In its first season last year, the team placed second in its division behind Chico State. Now that the Wildcats moved up to Division I, the Spartans are aiming to take the No. 1 spot.
“We have some high expectations this season after coming in second during our first-ever season playing,” Garrison Wong, junior outfielder and club president said.
The club team has to improvise for the lack of facilities by using CEFCU Stadium for practices and PAL Stadium, which is owned by the San Jose division of the Police Athletic League for home games.
“We practice four times a week and have a rigorous training schedule,” said senior catcher Adam Lopez. “It is almost the same time commitment as the school team, except we are in the National Club Baseball Association.”
When Ackerman founded the club, it was also when he met current club president Wong.
“We never had a club baseball team (at SJSU) and at my previous institution, I started a club baseball team there,” Ackerman said.
As president of the club, Wong makes sure everything runs smoothly and the team has a good experience.
“Garrison brings good chemistry to the team. He knows how to keep the guys fired up,” Lopez said.
One of the factors that makes this team compelling is that all the players on the team are there for one reason: their love for baseball.
“The way I have always appreciated the club sport level is that the students are interested in playing whatever sport it is,” Ackerman said. “In this instance, it is baseball, for the true love of the game.”
Lopez loves being part of the team for more than just his love for baseball.
“We have a great group of guys out here who love to compete and who didn’t have the opportunity to play at the NCAA level” Lopez said.
For the guys, it is more than a second chance to play collegiate baseball. It is a second chance to take first and with their chemistry, potentially take it all.
