Campus Connection

[caption id="attachment_11668" align="alignright" width="368" caption="UW-L men's Baseball player Jay Fanta"][/caption]

But team still needs support

About three years ago UW-L senior Garrett Scray didn’t know if his baseball team would play another game. By the end of April, Eagles Baseball had an 11-game winning streak, following victories over some of the highest-ranked Division III teams in the nation. Scray, a pitcher, was a freshman when the men’s baseball team heard the news that its program would be cut after mandated university-wide budget cuts in June 2009. Soon after, a grassroots fundraising effort began with the help of players, coaches, families, alumni and community members. To date supporters have raised $200,000 and the team has enough funds to continue playing the next three seasons. “We’ve been here and we’ve fought through it. It brought us closer together,” says Scray. “It actually gave us a little boost because we wanted to prove ourselves.” The team’s winning streak is the best they’ve performed since an 11-game winning stretch in 1979. Among Division III colleges across the country, the Eagles are ranked No. 19 in the American Baseball Coaches Association poll and No. 22 on d3baseball.com. Coach Chris Schwarz says the team is fortunate that all six freshman from the 2009 season stuck with the program and are now seniors. “I think one of the main reasons we are playing so well is that we have a lot of trust,” says Scray. “We’ve built up trust — trust we have in each other, trust in the coaching staff and trust in our own abilities.” Yet, the financial future of the team is still uncertain, says Schwarz. “I have great respect for what the team has been able to do with such precarious funding,” says UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow. “It’s a reminder of just how generous the donors who are supporting them have been.” The huge support has been encouraging, says Tim Larson, a UW-L senior on the baseball team. “When I saw everyone come together to want to save this program, it made me believe in UW-L and people in the community who care about this university and the students here,” Larson says. The support has also helped the team turn its focus toward the game, he says. “It’s kind of behind us and we just wanta play baseball,” says Larson. To contribute to UW-L men’s baseball contact Coach Chris Schwarz at 608.785.6540 or cschwarz@uwlax.edu