A Seamless Transition

As he had for the past 16 years, Saint Vincent College graduate student T.J. Dailey spent the summer playing baseball.

This year, however, he traded in the sandlots of suburban Pittsburgh for stadiums across the southwestern United States.

Following a successful tryout, the five-year Bearcat standout spent the summer playing for the Weimar (Texas) Hormigas of the Pecos League, an independent professional baseball league with teams located in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, and Arizona.

Dailey, a right fielder, made the leap into the pros after a stellar 2022 season in which he batted .341 and ranked among Presidents’ Athletic Conference leaders with eight home runs, 43 RBIs, 40 runs scored, and a .645 slugging percentage, earning All-PAC honors for the second straight year. His presence in the middle of the lineup helped the Bearcats to a 2414 record and the #2 seed in the PAC Championship Tournament.

After ending his collegiate career in such fine fashion, Dailey had no intentions of hanging up his cleats and glove for good after the Bearcats’ final game this spring.

“After the last couple of years,” he said, “I thought about professional baseball. I thought I had the talent to at least give it a shot and say that I tried.”

With the Bearcats’ season extending into mid-May, Dailey was forced to forgo the bulk of the professional tryouts traditionally held across the country throughout April and into early May. But, he continued to search for opportunities until coming across the Pecos League.

“I learned about the Pecos League tryouts online,” he explained. “With our season at Saint Vincent stretching out as long as it did, a lot of the tryouts

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for other leagues and teams had already taken place. This was one of the last ones. I just wanted to give it a shot and see what happens.”

The tryout consisted of a timed 60-yard dash, throwing from the outfield, traditional batting practice, and a seven-inning scrimmage. Dailey estimated that 15-20 players took part in the tryout, and he didn’t have high hopes when the day wrapped up.

“I flew into Houston on Monday,” he recalled, “did the tryout on Tuesday morning, and flew right back on Tuesday night. I had no idea whether I made the team. The next morning, Wednesday, I got a call from the coach, and he offered me a spot on the team.”

Dailey hardly had any time to savor the news, as he was then ordered to join the team in Austin, Texas, for its first game that Friday evening, meaning that he had less than 24 hours to make the trip from Pittsburgh’s South Hills.

“My dad and I immediately packed everything up on Thursday morning and started driving. We drove all day Thursday and Friday, and then I played in my first game on Friday night in Austin. I pretty much got right out of the car and was in the starting lineup. It was crazy, but it was fun.”

Not only was Dailey in the starting lineup for game one, but he smacked a solo home run in his second at-bat. A day later, he would go deep again, this time launching a grand slam.

“It was a good start,” he said, modestly.

Dailey ended up being a fixture in the lineup for the Hormigas during his first professional season. He finished the year having started 41 of 47 games and ranked second on the team in home runs (3), RBIs (28), and runs scored (42), while he also drew 20 walks and stole 16 bases.

Though at first glance, it would appear as if it was a seamless transition for Dailey to go from Division III baseball to the pros, he said that it was anything but.

Instead of playing with classmates aged 18-22 who resided in Bonaventure Hall and ate most of their meals at The Shack, Dailey spent the summer playing with and against players ranging

in age from 22-32, most of whom were scholarship athletes at the Division-I and -II levels and had previous professional experience.

Dailey was impressed by the talent level of players across the Pecos League, saying that he routinely faced pitchers throwing 95 miles per hour.

“Pitching is definitely a step up,” he said, “and hitters are way more advanced. There are a lot of newcomers like me who came right out of college, but there are also a lot of guys who had played affiliated ball [for a Major League organization] or in other independent leagues and are working their way back up. It was a melting pot of ages and skill levels, and it was very cool to experience.”

Dailey didn’t hesitate when asked what the most difficult aspect was of his first professional season, one in which the Hormigas played 48 games in 58 days across six different states.

“The travel was absolutely a grind,” he said, “and took a long time to get used to. It seemed like we were always driving through the night and playing the next day without much sleep. We’d eat after the games, around 11 p.m. or midnight, when pretty much everything was closed. We got stuck eating McDonald’s a lot, which got pretty old.”

After Dailey batted .377 with 13 home runs, 18 doubles, eight triples and 76 RBIs in 70 games over his final two collegiate seasons, it wasn’t a surprise to Saint Vincent head coach Mick Janosko that his pupil was afforded the opportunity to play professionally. The veteran head coach cites Dailey’s drive and work ethic as the reasons for his success.

“T.J., first and foremost, deserves all the credit,” said Janosko. “He transformed himself as a player. Five years ago, he came in as a primary pitcher and struggled a little bit with that. Then, we saw some progress with him offensively, and the rest is history. Once he fully committed to the outfield, he took it and ran with it. The biggest compliment I can give him is that he worked for everything he got. He earned it. There were no shortcuts. It’s a credit to him. He just worked exceptionally hard. It’s proof of what we tell all of our players— once you truly commit to getting better, results will show.”

Janosko beamed when describing the impact that his star right fielder had on the SVC program.

“He was huge for us. There’s no question he will be extremely difficult to replace. He was such a steadfast presence in the middle of the lineup. Every time he came to the plate, it seemed like there were guys on base. You ask your middleof-the-order hitters to drive in runs, and that’s what he did. He had a tremendous last two years for us.”

Dailey, meanwhile, credits his time at Saint Vincent under Janosko for preparing him for this new opportunity.

“The work ethic that Coach Janosko instilled in us, all of the hard work that we put in over the offseason, and just the consistency that he instilled in us definitely gave me a leg up on a lot of the guys from what I saw,” Dailey said. “The preparation and the mindset of having confidence in yourself that the coaches gave us at Saint Vincent are extremely important here at this level.”

Now that his first professional season is under his belt, Dailey will switch his focus back to academics. After earning a B.S. in finance at Saint Vincent, he enrolled in the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence program in the McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government; however, he is still far from closing the door on his professional baseball career.

“I’m going to continue my master’s, and after that, I’m just going to see where baseball might take me. In the Pecos League, nothing is really set in stone. We’re all on one-year contracts, so it’s not like we’re locked up with a team for multiple years. As far as next year, if I do come back to this league, I’ll probably have to try out again.” There are some other leagues that I’ll look into, as well, and weigh my options. “Looking back on it, I’m proud of what I’ve done, making it in the league and being able to stick for the whole season.”

As far as advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps?

“It’s cliché to say, ‘work hard,’ but that’s what it takes. Have confidence in yourself and your abilities. Oftentimes, you forget how talented you are, even playing at the Division III level. “Use your talent, work hard, and you never know what may come your way.” F

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WEIMAR HORMIGAS