Baseball Names 2025 Team Captains
12/4/2024 12:14:00 PM | Baseball
Quartet set to lead Pios into inaugural MAAC season
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (December 4, 2024) – Head coach Pat Egan of the Sacred Heart University baseball team has announced the team's captains for the upcoming 2025 campaign. The senior quartet of reliever Charlie Costello (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), first baseman Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.), center fielder Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) and corner outfielder Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) will lead the Pioneers into their initial season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
"Dante, Alex, Charlie and Zack have all been chosen by their teammates to be the captains of our program for the 24-25 year," said Egan. "All four of them are exceptional young men who have garnered the trust and respect of their peers to lead our program. I am proud of each one of those guys, as I have seen them all go through tremendous growth on and off the field. I know they will be great representatives of our program."
Costello has been a steady fixture in the Pioneer bullpen over the last three seasons. He was at his best as a sophomore in 2023, when he logged an impressive 60 innings across 24 appearances and held opponents to a .252 batting average, on the way to six wins, two saves and a 4.35 ERA. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in 61 games for SHU, logged 127.2 innings and recorded 84 strikeouts.
D'Amore took big steps forward across the board last year with a .324/.424/.599 slash line, good for a 1.023 OPS across 142 at-bats, as he was limited to 39 games. He homered 11 times, at a clip of 12.9 at-bats per home run, to balloon his career total from six dingers to 17. D'Amore reached the 100 career RBI plateau during his junior season and cut his strikeout rate down from 33.9% as a sophomore to 14.8% in 2024. A solid senior campaign could see him join SHU's 200-hit club, which currently contains just 10 members in the Division I era.
Kovalchik had a decorated 2024 campaign as a junior, as he was named to the All-Northeast Conference First Team, selected as the NEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and landed on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Third Team. He went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle against Le Moyne on April 12, just days after hitting a walk-off solo home run in the 10th inning against Coppin State on April 7. Those were two of the highlights in a career-best season which saw him hit .315/.401/.514 with 13 doubles and nine home runs across 222 at-bats. A similar year in 2025 could see Kovalchik knocking on the door of the 200-hit club as well.
Last season was Ungar's first with SHU after transferring in and he hit the ground running, playing in 53 of 58 games and slashing .314/.390/.471 for an .861 OPS across 191 at-bats. He tied for the team lead with 17 stolen bases and scored 42 runs on the year, while clubbing 14 doubles, five triples and two home runs.
SHU opens the 2025 campaign Feb. 14-16, with a three-game trip to take on two-time national champion South Carolina.
"Dante, Alex, Charlie and Zack have all been chosen by their teammates to be the captains of our program for the 24-25 year," said Egan. "All four of them are exceptional young men who have garnered the trust and respect of their peers to lead our program. I am proud of each one of those guys, as I have seen them all go through tremendous growth on and off the field. I know they will be great representatives of our program."
Costello has been a steady fixture in the Pioneer bullpen over the last three seasons. He was at his best as a sophomore in 2023, when he logged an impressive 60 innings across 24 appearances and held opponents to a .252 batting average, on the way to six wins, two saves and a 4.35 ERA. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in 61 games for SHU, logged 127.2 innings and recorded 84 strikeouts.
D'Amore took big steps forward across the board last year with a .324/.424/.599 slash line, good for a 1.023 OPS across 142 at-bats, as he was limited to 39 games. He homered 11 times, at a clip of 12.9 at-bats per home run, to balloon his career total from six dingers to 17. D'Amore reached the 100 career RBI plateau during his junior season and cut his strikeout rate down from 33.9% as a sophomore to 14.8% in 2024. A solid senior campaign could see him join SHU's 200-hit club, which currently contains just 10 members in the Division I era.
Kovalchik had a decorated 2024 campaign as a junior, as he was named to the All-Northeast Conference First Team, selected as the NEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and landed on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Third Team. He went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle against Le Moyne on April 12, just days after hitting a walk-off solo home run in the 10th inning against Coppin State on April 7. Those were two of the highlights in a career-best season which saw him hit .315/.401/.514 with 13 doubles and nine home runs across 222 at-bats. A similar year in 2025 could see Kovalchik knocking on the door of the 200-hit club as well.
Last season was Ungar's first with SHU after transferring in and he hit the ground running, playing in 53 of 58 games and slashing .314/.390/.471 for an .861 OPS across 191 at-bats. He tied for the team lead with 17 stolen bases and scored 42 runs on the year, while clubbing 14 doubles, five triples and two home runs.
SHU opens the 2025 campaign Feb. 14-16, with a three-game trip to take on two-time national champion South Carolina.
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