Winning Becoming a Habit for Collingswood Baseball

After a rookie campaign, in which his team wasn't very successful, Collingswood head baseball coach Rob Skowronek is instilling a winning attitude into the minds of his players—right from the get-go this season.

The team is 3-0 in 2011's preseason competition and, with wins over West Deptford, Cinnaminson and Moorestown, the young team doesn't appear to show any signs of slowing.

"The thing that has kind of stood out to me," said Skowronek, "is that we're getting work done but the kids are having fun doing it. It's cool because it makes practice fun for them and for us, the coaches, too."

Skowronek, who claims that almost all aspects of his team's practices are being turned into "friendly competitions," doesn't have huge expectations for his team this season, but knows that the Panthers will be much better than most people might anticipate.

"We're going to be a spoiler," said Skowronek. "We can definitely finish the season better than .500. With this conference, we're going up against teams like West Deptford, Sterling, (Haddon) Heights and Haddonfield. They're all pretty strong, but we can definitely surprise some people, though."

Aside from senior captains Taylor Venanzi, Derrick Gibbons and C.J. Coakley, this year's edition of the Panthers is one that exudes plenty of youth and, unfortunately, a lot of inexperience.

"We're asking some guys to play positions they haven't played before," said assistant coach Matt Genna, who works as a Collingswood High School English teacher. "We've got some younger guys without any varsity experience and they're stepping right in this season."

Among the younger players expected to assume increased roles in 2011 will be sophomores John Capelli, who will likely start the team's season opener at third base, outfield Alex Irwin and his twin brother, a utility player, Scott Irwin.

While the unassuming Panthers may pleasantly surprise fans this season, their goal remains the same regardless of expectations—to win.

"The team's attitude is really good so far," said Genna. "They're getting used to winning. We want them to expect to win every time they play."