TAMPA, Fla. – Joe Urso says flying into Raleigh this time of year never gets old. Why would it? After all, the hunger to win a national championship persists with as much vigor as it did 20 years ago. Indeed, it was 2006 when Urso won his first title as head coach at his alma mater, the University of Tampa.
Urso has since guided UT to six more titles and there is an opportunity to claim yet another beginning this weekend at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, which is about eight miles from where the Spartans landed Wednesday evening at Raleigh-Durham International.
The Spartans will take the field against Northeast 10 Conference member Bentley (Mass.) University on Saturday (6 p.m.) for their first game in a double-elimination series that includes eight teams divided into four-team brackets. A champion will be crowned next Saturday.
There have been many highlights this season for the top-ranked Spartans, who check in at 46-8 (.852). Leading the way has been the performance of a trio of starting pitchers who have combined for a bevy of regional and national honors.
“We’ve relied on three big-time starting arms all year,” said Urso, in praising junior lefty Robert Satin (12-2, 2.53 ERA), graduate southpaw B.J. Bailey (13-0, 2.08) and senior righthander John Luke Glanton (12-2, 2.87), while also complimenting the work of a man who knows something about pitching, associate head coach and fellow UT alum, Sam Millitello. “We are pretty spoiled with two big-time lefthanders in the one-two role, and Glanton is a proven All-American type. We have three horses and who have pitched deep into games.”
Urso will hand the ball to Satin on Saturday. The Tampa native and Plant High product, who began his collegiate career at Florida in 2024, was a swingman for the Spartans last season (15 appearances, 5 starts) and joined the rotation fulltime this year.
One of the keys against the Falcons (44-15) is to prevent Tommy Bolton from setting the tablet. A teammate of Satin’s at Plant, Bolton is only hitting .242. However, he has drawn an NE10-leading 50 walks, a total that places him among the nation’s leaders. Bolton is also 10-for-10 in stolen bases.
“Keep the leader off hitter off the bases and hope that Satin can execute pitches like he has done all year,” said Urso, of the potential recipe for success Saturday. “(Bentley) also has a lot of power in the middle of the order.”
Regardless of challenges posed by the opposition, Urso knows his Spartans have an excellent shot at a third straight national title if they tend to their business. That was evident the past couple of weeks, and especially with the bats.
“I don’t know what it was, but the offense clicked as soon as the regional tournament started and things turned around,” he said of a team hitting .313, but was inconsistent in putting pressure on the opposition. “We got bunts down, got the hit-and-run working and we got the two-out hits.”
Good timing for a team seeking a three-peat.
“We look like a team that is capable again,” said Urso.
READ: Longo’s Legacy: No. 3 Heading To The Rafters In Jam-Packed Rays Celebration
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox
