Final phase
Encapera guides Roaring Lions into penultimate baseball season
Penn State Fayette kicks off its penultimate baseball season on Saturday and head coach Ryan Encapera has one main goal in mind as the school无毛视频檚 closing looms after the 2026-27 school year.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a difficult time at Fayette and I无毛视频檓 trying to keep everything in line and keep everybody together,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淚 take a lot of pride in the baseball in Fayette County with the County League and the tradition that Fayette Campus has had. It无毛视频檚 really sad that it无毛视频檚 going to go away.
无毛视频淏ut we want to go out on a positive note and give our guys a good college baseball experience. I feel we无毛视频檝e been able to do that whether we won or lost since I无毛视频檝e been there, and hopefully we can keep that up two more seasons.无毛视频�
Encapera, entering his fifth season as head coach and seventh with the program overall, was determined to build his team back up after a rare disappointing season in which Fayette was 4-34 overall and 2-18 in the PSUAC.
He feels he无毛视频檚 done that.
无毛视频淚 brought in 11 new players last summer knowing after August 2025 I was limited to recruiting players who were on campus and I got a nice group,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淚 had seven who played last year that were returners and two others were on the team but were injured and couldn无毛视频檛 play last season. We have 20 guys and it无毛视频檚 a pretty decent looking roster at this point.无毛视频�
Encapera sees last year as a season where whatever could go wrong did.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檝e been good pretty much every year except for last year,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淲hat was weird was that team had a lot returning from the year before from a team that was right on the cusp of the playoffs. We took some tough losses. A lot of things didn无毛视频檛 go our way. It was a difficult year.
无毛视频淏ut our fall was good and we无毛视频檝e got some pretty good athletic players that are really going to make us much better. I really feel we无毛视频檝e improved a lot. Our morale is there. The challenge for us is we have a lot of young players who are new to college baseball and our job is to get them adjusted.无毛视频�
The Roaring Lions face Christendom out of Virginia in their first two games with a doubleheader Saturday at Mylan Park in Morgantown.
Fayette will follow that up with a six-game trip to South Florida in the Palm Beach Challenge at Santaluces Complex in Lantana. Roaring Lions opponents will be Atlantis University, Mellenia Atlantic University, Daytona Beach Christian and Florida National University, all of which, like Fayette, are USCAA teams.
The Roaring Lion then come back to Pennsylvania and play a six-game Eastern Pa. trip against three more USCAA squads: Manor College, Bucks County Community College and Central Penn.
Conference play begins on March 27 with a doubleheader at Penn State DuBois.
One of the key returning players for the Roaring Lions is catcher Frank Macioce out of Plum.
无毛视频淔rank was kind of in a tough spot last year because we only had two primary catchers and he caught probably 80 percent of the games,无毛视频� Encapera pointed out. 无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 kind of the heart and soul of our team, the guy everybody looks to. He无毛视频檚 almost like another coach.
无毛视频淭he same with outfielders Manny Stitch (Serra Catholic) and Jimmy Knapton (South Allegheny), those guys are third-year players here for me and they know what I expect as a coach. It无毛视频檚 good having guys like that because they echo everything I want our guys to do and they无毛视频檙e good, solid people.无毛视频�
Fayette无毛视频檚 pitching staff will be led by Brandon Bieler (Souderton) and two Ringgold graduates, Remington Lessman and Ashton Ray, who pitched 25 innings in 10 games in 2025.
Adding depth to the pitching staff are Tyler Marra (Notre Dame, W.Va.), Brogan Meighen (McGuffey), Josh Hammer (Canton Central Catholic, Ohio), Josh Vacha (Latrobe) and Todd Kowalcyk (Phillipsburg-Osceola).
The two players returning from injuries are first baseman/pitcher AJ Segarra (Mt. Lebanon) and catcher Hunter Smiley (Uniontown). Encapera is counting on Segarra to provide power at the plate and consistency on the mound. He views Smiley as a good contact hitter with defensive versatility.
Among the newcomers are Connor Perry (Bald Eagle) and Alex Weber (Shaler) who Encapera said will 无毛视频渋nject the lineup with athleticism and consistent hitting.无毛视频�
Other first-year players, who will all get opportunities to contribute, according to Encapera, are Lucas Vilchez (Matewan, N.J.), Josh Gonzalez (Bishop McDevitt) , Johnathan Vasbinder (Brownsville), Jadyn Reese (Morgan, Ohio) and Brayden Chambers (Gateway).
无毛视频淚 do have a new coaching staff this year,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淕reg Beucher from Connellsville who used to play shortstop at Cal U 无毛视频� he was on their 2004 PSAC championship team 无毛视频� is our hitting and infield coach. Our pitching coach is Ryan Novotney who is from Brownsville and was a pitcher at Cal U.无毛视频�
Both coaches, as well as Encapera, played for the Vulcans under Brownsville graduate and legendary coach Mike Conte, who recently retired.
无毛视频淲e also have on our staff working with the outfielders, I call him the energy coach, that无毛视频檚 Dennis Stitch who is from Charleroi,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淗is son Manny is on our team. He was a Hall of Famer at Pitt, played back in the 70s. He无毛视频檚 just a real positive personality who gets our guys motivated. He无毛视频檚 a good guy to have around to try to mentor our players and help them go from boys to men.无毛视频�
The Roaring Lions will compete in a six-team conference that also includes Penn State branch campuses from DuBois, Greater Allegheny, Beaver, Shenango and New Kensington.
无毛视频淚 would say, based on who they had in the past, Dubois, Shenango and Greater Allegheny are the top teams,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淒ubois, they无毛视频檙e always tough but they无毛视频檙e closing and so is Shenango which had some very talented players. Great Allegheny is a rival of ours at McKeesport and those guys have a solid program as well.
无毛视频淣ew Ken had a decent team but they had a coaching change and lost a lot of their guys. Beaver will probably be about the same.无毛视频�
The conference scheduling format puts a strain on pitching staffs.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a challenge because our conference plays four-game series (two consecutive days of doubleheaders) so you really have to have pitching depth,无毛视频� Encapera said. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a grind.
无毛视频淏ut I feel we have a good, solid team. We无毛视频檒l compete.无毛视频�
Encapera noted you can watch the Roaring Lions play on the web.
无毛视频淥ur games are live streamed on FAN (Fayette Athletics Network) with Don Bell and Josh Scully,无毛视频� Encapera said.
You can find a link to FAN on the Penn State Fayette athletics website (psfathletics.com).