Penfield baseball shows GRIT on the field

PENFIELD, N.Y. (WHEC) — Gratitude. Resiliency. Integrity. Togetherness. That’s the Penfield baseball motto.

“I wanted to have core values for the program,” said head coach Nick Marcin. “I wanted something that was very real and tangible that we could try to model for the players and for them to live up to.”

Marcin’s been on the Patriots’ staff for 17 years and is in his eighth season as head coach. He came up with GRIT a while ago, and the current roster understands the importance of that culture.

“The first practice of the year was a little rough. It was in the gym,” said senior Tommy DeFranco.

But despite the early season obstacles and disappointment of not being able to practice on the diamond, the Patriots stayed the course.

“No one was really standing around and we were really working hard to become better as a unit,” DeFranco said.

Showing that GRIT has shined through. As of April 7, the Patriots are 1-1, taking down Webster Schroeder late in their last game.

Penfield chooses to take it game by game though. They carry a championship mentality, but that isn’t the talk of each practice. Rather, it’s about getting better every day, especially on a team that lost 14 varsity players from last year.

“We can prove a lot. No one’s expecting (us) to do what we did last year, but we’re expecting it,” said senior Robbie Wing.

The next step to a repeat title is Friday against Webster Thomas.