By Andrew Reever 

WITH the springtime blooming, York College welcomes back the returning 2021 MAC champion men’s baseball team. With the season underway, the Spartans are off to an 8-10 start with more than half the season left to go.

They will play at Lebanon Valley on Friday afternoon and then play two games Saturday at home against Widener, at noon and 2 p.m. It’s York Little League Day at Jaquet Field.

This year is a little different as the team went two years without any fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now they are joined once again by friends and family in the stands to them on cheer on. Following those friends and family will be the new green and white student section, scheduled for an April 26 game against the Hood College Blazers. Organizing this student section is aimed to create more involvement with York College sports teams and getting more students to come to games. 

With there not being much involvement from students attending games this is a hopeful shot to change that. When asking head coach Michael Scappa his opinion on the lack of students that attend games he had this to say, “When it comes to attendance at games it can be because of the weather. No one wants to come to a game early in the season when it is still cold out.”

Adding to that he said, “The location of the field being that it is on the other side of the campus where you have the juniors and seniors, so it makes it farther for them to walk.”

Scappa also said that COVID-19 played an obvious role in the attendance at games.

Asked about his thoughts on a Green and White Out student section he said, “I am all for that idea, and the more the crowd the better. I like to have fans and students watching and get them excited from plays throughout the game and create a good atmosphere.”

Scappa said there’s a connection between the crowd and the guys playing better. “With the crowd, I feel it gives the game some energy and I like that baseball feel, however, without the fans, I don’t feel it hurts them in any way negatively,” he said.

Scott Guise, director of Athletic Communications at York College, said he felt pretty similar to Scappa. “I think students have many options for how they spend their free time on campus and that can sometimes take away from the general student population attending games.”

He said overall “there is a great sense of community with all of our student-athletes and they are very supportive to our teams.”  

Guise said he also felt that having an energetic crowd helps add to the enjoyment of watching a game.

“When we have good, enthusiastic crowds, it makes for a great atmosphere. We love providing our student-athletes with great experiences and when we get great crowds, it’s something that gives our team a little boost,” he said.

With the Green and White Out game taking place on April 26, Guise  gave his thoughts on this idea by saying that he strongly supports any type of event that would bring more fans out to game. “When you can give the fans more reasons to come out and support the teams, it’s something we should do,” he said, adding that he’s in favor of any efforts to increase attendance and make the games more energetic for the athletes to soak in. 

Everyone has a little take-me-out-to-the-ball-game feeling in them and this is the best way to get involved with the baseball team.

Why would you not want to come dressed in your YCP colors and get wacky with the rest of your friends and classmates? After the hard times we have all endured, let’s all go and support our Spartan baseball team and make our visitors fear the green and white Spartan wave!

Andrew Reever is a junior who is majoring in Sport Management.

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