Pitchers and catchers reported to Pirate City in Bradenton on Wednesday with the rest of the squad set to begin workouts Monday.
But Seton Hill and other district college baseball teams in Western Pennsylvania will get a jump on their MLB counterparts as their seasons are set to begin.
The Griffins open the season against the University of Findlay at Wingate, N.C. They are scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.
Pitt-Greensburg, Westmoreland County Community College, Cal (Pa.) and IUP have games over the next few weeks, and Saint Vincent will play its first game on its Florida trip in early March.
The Griffins, like the other district college teams, have been cooped up inside for more than a month because of cold temperatures and more than a foot of snow.
“We were able to get on the turf on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “That was unusual that we were not able to get outside. You really cannot simulate the game action in the batting cage.
“We have been stuck in the cages at Sullivan Hall. We also were able to utilize to local facilities: D-BAT (Export) and Industry Sport (Mt. Pleasant). We will be ready.”
Seton Hill finished the 2025 season 40-18. The Griffins were NCAA Division II Atlantic Region winners before falling to East Stroudsburg in the Super Regional.
The preseason polls have the Griffins ranked high.
They are the preseason favorites in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. In Division II, they are ranked No. 9 by Perfect Game College Baseball, No. 28 by the American Baseball Coaches Association, No. 19 by D2 Baseball and No. 20 by the National Collegiate Baseball Association.
“I believe we are overrated,” Marizzaldi said. “A lot of it is my previous success. We graduated all our starting pitchers.
“We do have all our relief pitchers back and seven position players back. We will see how things play out.”
Those returning include four who received preseason honors: sophomore third baseman Brady McGuire (Shaler), junior shortstop Owen Henne (Pine-Richland), junior catcher Jakob Haynes (Penn-Trafford) and junior relief pitcher Zach Herb (Shenango).
Henne batted .375 with 14 doubles, eight home runs and 54 RBIs last season; McGuire hit .317 with a team-high 24 stolen bases; Haynes hit 12 home runs and had 40 RBIs; and Herb was 3-2 with a 1.52 ERA and eight saves.
Others back are senior center fielder Jack Whelan (Norwin), senior second baseman Joe Fiedor (Hempfield), senior first baseman Colin Ahr, junior corner outfielder Owen Mandler (Upper St. Clair), graduate student relief pitcher Christian Zilli (Hempield) and senior relief pitcher Evan Rossi (Mt. Lebanon).
Senior Jack Pletcher, redshirt junior Luke Deschenes and sophomore Sean Williams will get a shot at starting this season.
“Some of these guys saw limited action as starters,” Marizzaldi said. “But it was difficult with the starting staff we had.”
Ian Korn graduated but still had a year of eligibility remaining and decided to transfer to West Virginia.
“We have three weeks to figure out where we will slot people,” Marizzaldi said. “While we do that, we still want to win every game. These games are important regional games.”
Seton Hill will travel for games against Charleston, W.Va., on Feb. 20-21 and then head to Florida.
Cal (Pa.) and IUP open the season Feb. 20-21, Westmoreland County Community College starts Feb. 22 against Community College of Allegheny County and Pitt-Greensburg starts Feb. 25 at Westminster.