By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

MONT ALTO, Pa. – Coming off arguably one of the most successful seasons in program history, Terry Clark and the Penn State Mont Alto baseball team are set to begin the 2018 season. Mont Alto is the reigning Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) Champions after going 14-24-1 and qualified for the USCAA Small College World Series Tournament for the first time since 2012.

The Nittany Lions return 14 players from last season's squad including a senior and a pair of juniors leading the way as captains: outfielder Joel Clabaugh (Landisburg, Pa. / West Perry), outfielder Jeremiah Younker (Hagerstown, Md. / Williamsport) and pitcher Lowell Singer (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring).

"Veteran leadership is key to continued program growth," said head coach Terry Clark. "Quality depth is how a program is able to sustain and develop success and we believe we have that this year with a mix of younger guys and veteran returnees."

The Mont Alto lineup will be featuring two of the three players that were All-PSUAC honorees a season ago in infielder Brady Topper (Littlestown, Pa. / Littlestown) and Jeremiah Younker (Hagerstown, Md. / Williamsport). Younker is a two-time USCAA First Team All-American, two-time First Team All-PSUAC selection and is one of the premiere power hitters in the conference as he led PSUMA with a .462 batting average, ranked second in the PSUAC with 15 extra-base hits; including five home runs and led the league in RBI's with 34. Sophomore Brady Topper (Littlestown, Pa. / Littlestown) was an All-PSUAC Second Team selection and he made it two-straight years in which a Mont Alto athlete after he also was named PSUAC Newcomer of the Year. The Littlestown, Pa., native hit .369 in 103 at-bats and displayed a slick glove with a fielding percentage of .945. Topper finished the season with seven doubles, 23 runs scored and contributed 18 RBIs, which tied for 10th in the PSUAC.

Looking to build off impressive freshman seasons are slick fielding shortstop Colby Black (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring), catcher Landon Richards (McConnellsburg, Pa. / McConnellsburg) who slashed .222, and pitcher Spencer Meyers (Greencastle, Pa. / Greencastle Antrim) who was the winning pitcher of the conference championship. Junior's Nate Reiner (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) and Nick Jacoby (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) join the fold as well and will be expected to see plenty of playing time after transferring to PSUMA from Penn State Schuylkill.

"It's always going to come down to pitching and defense," said Clark. "This season we will hopefully see our pitching staff make a notable improvement in not only the number of quality collegiate starting pitchers, but also have enough support arms in the bullpen to keep them rested throughout the grind of the season"

The 2018 schedule features a 39-game slate compromised of 17 Penn State University Athletic Conference games and 22 non-conference matchups with local NCAA Division III opponents and USCAA institutions.

"We embrace having a schedule filled with very competitive games against local Division III programs as well as our USCAA and PSUAC college programs," said Clark. "Our early spring games set the table for our season as well as allows our newcomers to get adjusted to speed of the game, which helps them knock off any early season jitters so that were primed to play our best ball during the conference slate."

Penn State Mont Alto travels to Virginia to begin the 2018 campaign in a doubleheader with The Apprentice School on Sunday, February 18. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m.

Follow the Mont Alto baseball team all season long at www.psumontaltoathletics.com.