Team: Northeast Community College Hawks
Conference: ICCAC
Level: JUCO
2021 Overall Record: 37-24
Location: Norfolk, NE
Head Coach: Marcus Clapp
Assistant Coaches: Pete Sitorius and Landon Briscoe
Key Returning Position Players
Sam Manwarren – C – Sam received the 2021 National Gold Glove Award last year and will hit in the middle of the order.
Zane Zielinski – SS – Zane was a 1st team All-Conference selection and is one of the tops SS in the Region.
Parker Dorrance – 3B – Parker was a 1st team All-Conference selection and will be a key middle of the order bat.
Key Returning Pitchers
Preston Tenney – RHP – Preston was a 1st team all-conference selection and lead the league in innings pitched and strikeouts. He signed with the University of Nebraska-Omaha!
Matt Dreher – LHP – Matt will be our closer and had 42 k’s in 28.1 innings. He signed with the University of Nebraska!
Christian Carew RHP and Chris Mazzini LHP will also have big roles and will get a lot of innings.
Impact Freshman/Transfers
Zach Chiolis – LHP – transfer in and will be a big piece of our rotation. I expect big things from him.
What was the focus during the fall for the team?
We spent the fall like every fall and just focused on the development and trying to put guys in the best position both physically and mentally to get better every day. We talked a lot about staying hungry and understanding that we must stay the course to reach our goals. This fall we wanted guys to compete more with themselves and challenge themselves more on the field and the weight room. When the fall is over we will shift our focus to the team and playing for each other and winning for each other.
What are the expectations and goals for the team entering the season?
We have a lot of returning players from last years 37 win team and I have high expectations from this group. I’m really excited to watch this group continue to develop and see how far they can go.