A pair of former Norwin baseball players from the class of 2022 are changing college programs.
Both tested the waters of the NCAA transfer portal.
Ty Stecko, who began his college career at Mount St. Mary’s, recently announced a commitment to Eastern Michigan. The rising junior infielder leaves the Metro-Atlantic Conference for the Mid-American Conference.
Noah Czajkowski, meantime, a rising junior pitcher, is leaving St. Bonaventure after two seasons.
Stecko hit .226/.352/.330 in 43 games last season with eight doubles, 18 runs scored and 22 RBIs.
He has 23 career starts.
“The enthusiastic coaching staff showed great interest in helping me develop and excel as a player and are very innovative in their use of advanced technology and training,” Stecko said of Eastern Michigan. “I really connected with them, and they conveyed their belief in me and my potential to make a big impact.”
The Eagles’ stadium and climate-controlled bubble and turf practice field were pleasing to Stecko.
“Plus, playing in the MAC and traveling south in the spring for multiple weeks to play elite competition was very appealing,” he said. “I really loved my teammates and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Mount, and I’m thankful for my two years there. I believed it was time for me to broaden my horizons and pursue new growth as a student, player and individual.”
Czajkowski, a right-hander with 12 career starts and 27 appearances, went 4-6 last season with a 7.26 ERA. He struck out 48 in 53 1/3 innings.
“St Bonaventure has been very good to me, but I wanted to explore my worth and see if bigger schools may be interested,” he said. “I didn’t pitch lot in high school, so I’m kind of a late bloomer. Things went really well down in Tampa last month, and I felt it was time to bet on myself.”
With his sinker reaching 94 mph in the pen and his fastball clocking in around 92, Czajkowski is showing velocity and control.
He said his phone has been “blowing up” since he announced his career move.
This summer, he is running a baseball camp for 8-year-olds.
Men’s basketball
Saint Vincent: Kyle Pope, a former Bearcats assistant coach, was hired as a video coordinator for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA.
An SVC alum, Pope played basketball and lacrosse for the Bearcats. He is from Martinsburg, Va.
He served as a student assistant coach for basketball as a senior.
Pope worked with Hoop Group in 2021 as a recruiting coordinator and later became a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team at East Stroudsburg.
More recently, he was the director of basketball operations at William & Mary.
Coaching
Saint Vincent: Omar Ward was named strength and conditioning coach for Bearcats athletics.
Ward is a former baseball standout at Seton Hill and a Derry native who played baseball and football at The Kiski School. He worked at Innate Fitness in Latrobe for two years, a role that afforded him the opportunity to train SVC teams in men’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s swimming last school year.
Ward has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science.
He began his college baseball career at Division I Canisius.
