MEMORY LANE
Baseball diamonds Club team players re l i ve precious days By Kris Dreessen Above: center, Mudcats Rookie Robert Siciliano ’13 meets Dr. John Keene ’98 on the field.
Visit go.geneseo.edu/ alumsport to see more alumni sports photos.
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geneseo scene
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he first organization Justin Swackhamer ’05 joined at Geneseo was the baseball club. At the time, he was having trouble adjusting. He wasn’t fitting in. He wanted to go home and attend community college. “I joined the club baseball team and everything changed,” says Justin. “They were like big brothers. I could count on them and they gave me encouragement. It was a team. That’s what I needed.” His involvement with the Mudcats made all the difference, he says, in turning around his college experience and finishing his biology degree. Last September, he again suited up in Mudcat blue to smash line drives and play the field with current and former ball players. For three years, Mudcats alumni have organized a reunion game versus current Geneseo baseball club members. The club plays other colleges in the region and is now
part of the National Collegiate Club Baseball Association. Every Mudcat since the team’s inception in the early 1980s is invited to the reunion. Attending this year were 16 alums who graduated between 1994 and 2009. Several, like organizer Dr. John Keene ’98, gripped the steering wheel, b l e a ry-eyed at 5 a.m. to drive from Long Island. Others came from Westchester, N.Y., Washington, D.C. and Delaware. Justin flew in from Denver to relive the team spirit. “It was all about the good times we had at Geneseo,” says John, a three-year member and 1997-1998 captain. “It was more than just playing ball. Your teammates ended up being your best friends.” They spent more time together off the field than on. John remembers the proud initiation rite, when older players rounded up the newbies for a game. Instead of opponents, they found a surprise — uniforms. “We’d parade every o n e
around town to show everyone who we were and introduce new members,” recalls John. On the diamond each September, Mudcats experience a time warp. “We sat in the dugout looking at each other,” says John, “and it’s like time hadn’t passed. It just seems like yesterday that we were having the time our life. Myself, and most of the guys, would say that our times at Geneseo were some of the best times of our lives. It’s nice even for a couple of hours to go back and have that feeling again.” Mudcats captain Dan Nagorski ’10 always looks forward to the alumni game — which is also the season opener — so he can play ball with former teammates and those who came before them. He looks forward to returning after he’s graduated, too. John and Justin will probably be at the dugout to welcome him. “I bled blue for four years,” says Justin. “I still do.”
B ASEBALL PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE CUSANO ’10; FILMSTRIP PHOTO: BIGSTO C K P H OTO; PHOTO ILLU ST R ATION: CAROLE VOLPE ’91