Last fall, Rachel and I took the short drive over to Newport News and the campus of Christopher Newport University. I had a great email conversation with a representative of the CNU Club Baseball program, Zachary Wu, who encouraged me to check out the campus and baseball field. The field, Captains Field, was in fantastic shape, the stadium was clean, and I was very impressed by the entire Christopher Newport experience. I made a mental note to reconnect with the CNU baseball program heading into the 2025 season.

This past week, via the Christopher Newport University baseball page, I took a closer look at the team’s roster, schedule, and coaching staff. I located an email address for Head Coach John Harvell (quite a resume I might add!) and emailed the HC to see if I could make a connection. Coach Harvell returned my email and was good enough to included a detailed preview of the 2025 CNU Captains Baseball season:

We return all starting 9 positions led by Jr  SS- Josh Reinhold (All Region in 2025) as well as  Sr C- Lincoln Lubsen (All Region 2025) Gr OF Scott Crosson (ABCA All Defensive Team 2025) and  Jr. OF-Ayden Stuffel. Gr – DH Zach Darnowski  Team High 28 walks.  Sr.- UTL- Doc Daniels was hitting .324 with 37 RBI’s before an injury knocked him out of the Regional Playoffs. We will also have the sure handed INF Justin Liakos back for his Senior Year.

Pitching (we lost 280 inns on the mound)  All American LHP Dylan Weber is now pitching at UNC- he led the country in strikeouts last year – we will also miss Kyle Lewis (closer) who is now pitching his grad year at North Alabama. We will have Jackson Baird back after an injury kept him out of rotation in 2024 (he was our #2 in 2023) We have 2 transfer arms that will make an immediate impact-  Jr. RHP- Chase Hustead (JMU) and  Jr RHP- Cooper Newell (JMU/Paul D Camp).

Transfer Position Players that will make an impact- John Blanco INF and OF Andrew Hearn (Quinnipiac). Freshmen who will make an impact-  RHP-Charlie Gunn and RHP/INF Caleb Ammons.

Injuries plagued us most of the year but we were able to grind through it! I feel even though we lost a ton of innings on the mound, we are still in great shape there. IF we can stay healthy, we should be battling again for that spot at the College World Series.

Huge thanks to Head Coach John Harvell (did you see his resume, I told you it was impressive) for the detailed preview of the 2025 Christopher Newport University Baseball season. The CNU Captains are scheduled to begin their 2025 season at home (Captains Field) on Friday, February 14th vs. Messiah University. And as you can see from the photo above, per the website d3baseball.com, the CNU Captains are beginning the 2025 season as the number 11 ranked D3 Baseball program in the NCAA’s. Very impressive and I can’t wait to get back over to Newport News this Spring to catch a CNU Baseball game.

For more information, photos, roster news, schedule of games, and everything else Christopher Newport Baseball, head over to www.cnusports.com/sports/baseball.