The men’s baseball season started on February 2. The team has played 19 games so far this season, with a positive record of 13 and 8.
The team has a number of newcomers to the team, losing a large portion of players from last season. Last season, the team made it two games before the championship.
Harry Vargas Segura (‘24 ) is a player on SNHU’s baseball team. Segura was recently awarded NE10 Player of the Week. He has been on the team since last season, coming on last spring.
Segura has been playing baseball since he was 4 years old. When he was a little kid, he played baseball in the Bronx, where he grew up.
“It’s been a journey for sure. I’ve been playing since I was about four years old, so it’s been a while. I’m 23 now, so close to 19 years. I’ve been playing since I was a little kid, back in the Bronx. My father is Dominican. That’s all they play, it’s baseball, nothing else,” said Segura.
One of Segura’s favorite professional players is Yankees pitcher, Mariano Rivera. He takes parts of games and brings it into how he plays.
“Growing up, I watched Mariano Rivera a lot. I never knew how much into his faith he was. I remember reading his book, and it just resonated with me, because I’m always praying when I’m on the baseball field, and even praying weeks before. I pray 24/7, every day of my life since I got baptized and got closer to him, and Mariano Rivera was a big guy for me growing up. Now in the game, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are the two players that are amazing to me. I like to take parts of their game and add it to mine,” said Segura.
The team is led by Head Coach Chris Shank. With his past seasons with the team, he makes sure they don’t repeat the same mistakes, so they know how to do better for future seasons.
“Our head coach now has been here before; he was the Assistant Coach under Scott Loiseau, so he knows how this needs to be ran, and I think that’s a big factor too. Having someone that’s experienced, learning from their past mistakes over the past 5 to 10 years, allows for the little avoidable things to be attacked right away because of how much knowledge he has,” said Segura.
Segura saw a change in his faith, turning to Jesus Christ, which changed his life and the way he played baseball.
“The biggest change is honestly when it comes to having faith in Jesus Christ. I was lost and I really didn’t have an identity, and it was just coming closer to God that was helping me through moments that I was very low in. I am able to pray to him and he’s able to help me through it,” said Segura. “I learned that Jesus is everything, he’s the one that fulfills us and once you move forward in life with that, it changes how you play. All those things go into winning baseball games, and I am able to truly be myself and just be guided by something higher than me, which is Yahweh,” said Segura.
For Segura, it’s all about chemistry, the only way a team can win is with the right chemistry and communication. It takes a team to win a championship, no one player can do it.
“One thing I’ve learned myself is I’ve been able to play great and was able to win championships, but the whole idea is the chemistry and learning how to build that chemistry. I’ve seen teams that aren’t as talented that have chemistry that win the whole thing, because they know how to communicate. This game is individually played, but it’s played as a team at the end of the day to win a championship, not one guy could do it, that’s one thing I’ve learned,” said Segura.
To follow updates on SNHU Baseball, follow their Instagram @snhubaseball or SNHU’s sports page @snhupenmen.
