The arrival of spring can only mean one thing: the start of the John Carroll Baseball season. The Blue Streaks are coming off a 15-24 record from last year, and seek to significantly improve to make a run at the OAC title for their final season in the conference.
JCU will start the season at home to play a double header with Allegheny on Feb. 22. This will be the team’s last home game for almost a month as their next 12 contests will be on the road.
Nine of the twelve road games will be played in Florida over spring break from March 2–8. Catcher Sam D’Amelio ’26 told The Carroll News, “the team is excited to get down to Florida and compete on spring break, while getting closer together as a group before OAC play begins.” After their trip to Florida the Blue Streaks will head to Fredericksburg Virginia to take on Mary Washington in a three game series.
OAC play will officially begin for John Carroll on March 22 when they travel to Westerville to play a double header against Otterbein, a team that defeated the Blue Streaks in both matchups last year. After playing Otterbein, John Carroll will play 16 more conference games over the next 6 weeks of the season.
Each of these games will potentially have major implications on the postseason for the Blue Streaks and others in the conference. When asked about the mood surrounding the disappointing 7-11 OAC record from a season ago, D’Amelio said that “the seniors are setting a high standard for the team by holding everyone accountable every single day and are trying to get back to what made the team successful when they won the OAC tournament in 2023.”
The 2025 regular season is scheduled to come to a close at Case Western on May 4. Barring cancellations due to weather or other reasons, John Carroll will play a total of 40 regular season games, 22 of which will be nonconference matchups. If any postseason exists for the 2025 John Carroll Blue Streaks it will be determined between now and then one game at a time.
When asked what makes this group special D’Amelio stated, “Right from the beginning, some of the vets reached out to the new guys and asked them to hangout with the rest of the team outside of organized practice/workouts. This meant especially a lot to me as a transfer student, and made me feel like I fit in right away. As a result of this, the entire team bonded together early in the year. From a playing perspective what makes the team unique is everyone’s competitive nature, and the fact that everyone is working hard towards a common goal of winning the OAC in the final year.”