Bridget Haller, Special to The Denisonian–
Coming off a historic season, the Denison baseball team is ranked No. 5 in the 2025 D3baseball.com/NCBWA Preseason Top 25 poll. The team made its furthest postseason run in program history in 2024, finishing with a 42-8 record while being ranked No. 2 in the country.
Senior outfielder Eric Colaco contributed majorly to this success, where he was selected as the D3baseball.com Player of the Year because of his success on the field.
Colaco led the Big Red with a .420 batting average and was second in home runs (6) and RBI (59).
Colaco stands as the only Division III baseball player in history with over 200 hits, 200 runs, 150 RBI, and 100 steals through his junior season.
“What excites me about this season is the group of guys we have,” said Colaco. “We are all so close and it will make it so much fun. Every year I’ve been here we have had a better and better season, so [I’m] hoping last season fuels this one.”
Coach Mike Deegan also was named to the American Baseball Coaches Associations as well as given the ATEC Division III Region VII Coach of the Year award. Deegan said he is excited for this season.
“New challenges… with this group because they work really hard and do a lot of things right. This team has the resolve, the tenacity, and the resilience to thrive in the face of adversity.”
When speaking about the importance of the upperclassmen’s experience to help develop the younger players, Deegan has high hopes that success will continue
“[The upperclassmen] have been through multiple championship type games and played in big games in big arenas,” said Deegan. “There will be a calmness about them and how they approach it that I think rubs off on others. They should be good people who take care of the younger players and just show them the way on how we operate.”
Because adversity is common in all sports, and setbacks and mistakes are inevitable, Deegan coaches his athletes on how to deal with adversity and challenges during competition.
“We focus on our systems and processes and try to get better every day. There are going to be setbacks, there is going to be bad weather… we’re just going to try and get better.”
Deegan coaches the team on the basis that adversity can make athletes stronger and propel them into success.
“We need to… stay connected, stay selfless, and focus on the small things. [We need the] competitive stamina to be really good today and waking up and doing again tomorrow and [the next day]. That’s how you end up becoming the best version of yourself,” said Deegan.
Similarly, as a senior leader, Colaco wants to use his role in a similar way to help the team to success.
“I’ve stepped into a senior leader role, where I just try and get the most out of my teammates every day,” said Colaco.
All the philosophies Deegan puts into place when leading his team of joy and selflessness creates a positive environment, where players are able to develop meaningful connections with the game as well as with each other.
“The love I have for my teammates will help maximize our potential for this season,” said Colaco.
With consistent team core values put into place by Coach Deegan and upheld by players, when put into practice by leaders like Colaco, the team will have a true chance to make a deep postseason run in 2025.
The team will open the season in Greensboro, North Carolina on Feb. 21 to Feb 23 in the DIII College Showcase.
