HENDERSON, Nev. (May 31, 2022) – Adversity has been a central theme in college sports over the past few years, particularly away from competition.
 
The College of Southern Nevada Baseball team has navigated all of these rough waters, overcoming a variety of factors to continue being one of the Scenic West Athletic Conference's elite programs. Still, CSN is looking back at a season that was just off the mark.
 
"It wasn't the exact ending we were hoping for but we rallied the team until the end of the season and gave ourselves a chance in the end to continue our season," said Coyotes coach Nick Garritano. "That is a credit to our coaching staff and players working week-in and week-out on the little aspects of the game that are often overlooked."
 
The 2022 season saw Southern Nevada go through periods of feast and famine, posting a third-place finish in the final Scenic West standings. CSN's sophomore class, which featured Gavin Amelburu and Fabian Torres, experienced that same effect repeatedly throughout their time with the Southern Nevada program, experiencing the disappointment of a canceled season in 2020 and the thrill of a Region 18 title in 2021.
 
"This sophomore class will mostly be remembered for enduring the COVID crisis over their time here and fighting through adversity this season as we dealt with multiple injuries and some deaths in immediate family member's lives," he said. "This club leaned on each other through the good and bad, and were always there for each other when individuals needed it most."
 
Looking forward to the offseason, Garritano said he is working on building a recruiting class.
 
"Our goal in recruiting is to identify and sign as many student-athletes that we feel will fit into our system," he said. "There is a lot more that goes into recruiting than just going out and signing the best players that we can find. We take pride in making sure they succeed in the classroom and off the baseball field in their personal lives as much as they succeed on the field for their HS programs. 
 
"We address our recruiting needs as a staff on the baseball side of things, and then we do the best job we can identifying those young men to represent CSN on-and-off the field. We lost a big part of our pitching staff, middle in-field, and our catching position. We feel fortunate to return some key position players, as well as key arms that played significant roles for us this past season."
 
In looking towards the 2023 season, one where Southern Nevada is looking to return to the top of the Scenic West, Garritano noted how a successful season in 2023 will start with conditioning now.
 
"We have had our exit meetings and each player has a goal of a certain body weight and strength level they want to be at coming back to camp in August," he said. "Our players have multiple options of where they can get their offseason work done. We look forward to seeing all of our returners and newcomers come in to fall camp in the best shape they can possibly be. We will do everything it takes to get back to the top of the Scenic West Athletic Conference in 2023."