DePaul’s club baseball team has come a long way—from non-existence to starting their first full season. For many of the guys who took interest in the team, the lack of a team was a gap that needed to be filled.

“I was extremely angry that we didn’t have a club when I joined, another guy tried to start one my freshman year but he gave up on it. Luckily Kevin had the tenacity to get the job done,” saidTyler Hendry, junior short- stop.

Whether it was tenacity or just a pure love for baseball, president and founder of the team, Kevin Crittenden, certainly worked hard to put the team together.

“When I applied to DePaul I was told there was a club baseball team. That must have been the group of guys in the spring that couldn’t quite get off the ground. So I decided to change that after my first quarter here,” he said.

It wasn’t an easy road to be a club sport. After drumming up enough interest there were still many proverbial hoops to jump through for the school to allow them to be recognized.

This is a team run by students, ready for their first full season as a DePaul club sport and on Sept.17, their first tryout because just because they exist doesn’t mean they are complete.

“After last season our outfield and rotation really need some help. Our infield has really come together over the summer but we still have those two holes,” Crittenden said. “I’ve been talking with a lot of our prospective players and it looks like all our needs will be met for the start of the season.”

Even though this is only their first full season they have set a pretty high bar for themselves. “We want to win conference and basically go undefeated, this year I have no doubt that we can,” said Hendry.

Crittenden concurred that they are ready to be competing at a pretty high level for newcomers to the club baseball scene.

“My goals for this season are to win our division and get the opportunity to head to Florida in May for the NCBA post-season,” he said.

Kyle Capone, captain and senior center fielder has goals outside of just playing great baseball.

“I would like to become the club team that is the most acknowledged on campus,” he said.

And with all the paperwork and challenges of just getting a baseball team behind them they have a lot to look forward to this season.

“Honestly, I could not be more excited. I love the game of baseball so much and I am stoked to still be playing with a great group of guys,” Crittenden said. “After scouting our conference opponents, I believe we really have a great shot at winning our division, even though it’s our first year in the NCBA and we’ve only been an organization for eight months.”