With the upcoming baseball season, players on Dulaney baseball are preparing to compete, but with an extra stressor to think about. On Jan. 19, 2022, the former baseball coach, Andrew Fava, stepped away to put attention towards his rising business. Fava had one full year of Dulaney baseball under his belt, leading the team to a deep semi-finals run, with past hopes to repeat that this year. The sudden news of a missing coach for the young team left them in a scramble. 

Just a week later, players received relieving news. Former Junior Varsity Gilman baseball coach, Zach McElroy, was announced as the new head coach for Dulaney. McElroy, growing up just minutes away from Dulaney, is more than excited to create a bright future for our baseball team. 

In a recent meeting with his new team, McElroy made it clear that winning will be happening. 

McElroy said, “I’m a players’ coach for sure and I want to win. And we can win a lot.” 

McElroy is a proud alumni of Gilman, but his sister is a very avid alumni of Dulaney. Growing up, he said that the Dulaney baseball program was always that program every time strived to beat. When given the opportunity to coach the team, decades later, he could not pass it up. McElroy, being a coach and an alumni, will always support his former school, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to win when the two face off on April 4. 

He makes it clear that he plans to coach Dulaney for many years going forward, which is relieving to hear for the young players, considering the upperclassmen have had three different coaches in their high school career. The baseball team is well known across the state as a top program, and McElroy plans to continue that legacy. There has been doubt county-wide about the upcoming performance of the baseball team, considering their starting lineup last year was extremely senior heavy, but the promising new coach is well aware. 

“I am aware last year’s team was full of seniors. But we still have loads of talent and I’m excited to use it,” McElroy added.

McElroy not only showed signs of being a promising players’ coach, always pushing to improve his players, but he also showed a good balance of intensity and integrity. Second year varsity player, Matthew Dow, likes what he heard at the meeting.

Dow said, “He knows what he’s doing. I think we’re gonna be a successful team with Coach McElroy as our leader.”

With the sudden loss of two very experienced coaches, the Dulaney baseball team still feels confident in their future success with this, yet another, new coach. Maybe another deep playoff run in the near future?

Facebook

Twitter

Email

Print