SCRANTON, Pa. — A year removed from an NCAA Division III Tournament berth, the University of Scranton baseball team is once again playing well.
The Royals are 20-6-1 on the season and in 2nd place in the Landmark Conference. Newswatch 16 stopped by practice this week - indoors, due to the weather. Head Coach Mike Bartoletti led his Royals to a conference title last year before the NCAA tournament trip. They'll have the chance to do that again, thanks to plenty of local talent -- guys like Wallenpaupack's Tyler Kirsten and Hazleton Area's Corey Zientek, both hitting over .400 this season.
"Both of those guys are really really good players and they work really hard at the game," Bartoletti said. "Both of them have really made themselves better players since they got here and it's stuff that they do on their own. They both are really good hitters. But they work at it. They work at it and they we're coached well in high-school and travel and it just carried over to here."
"Having that really nice field gives us the opportunity to get better everyday," Zientek said. "Like we have another really good chance at winning it again."
"No, it's awesome," Kirsten added. "You know that it's nice to see my family to be able to come to games and it's nice to be home in case I need that and you can't beat the University of Scranton academically. School came first in my decision to come here but again it's awesome to be here and have my parents in the stands and be close."
