Steubenville, Ohio

NCAA baseball returned to Franciscan Athletics during the Spring of 2020 after a 11-year hiatus. In just 4 years as a revived program, it has seen a handful of players receive all-conference honors, make the all-region team, and rewrite the Barron Baseball record books.
 
While all these accomplishments are testaments to the hard work and sacrifice put forth by these athletes, they have also built a legacy that has laid the groundwork for a culture of grit and grind for years to come. This year we honor six seniors who, as freshmen, were the founding members of the revived Franciscan Baseball program.
 
#1- Jesse Izzo
 
Izzo's baseball journey began in a backyard with his brother and him playing makeshift baseball games against each other. Izzo never won once until he got older.
 
Izzo wasn't going to originally play baseball for Franciscan because they had no team, but one night his brother's wife ran up to him after a holy hour and said, "Franciscan just hired a baseball coach". At the time she was a resident director for the college, and it turned out that the hire was current Baron's Head Coach Richard Carver.
 
In Izzo's first stint with the Barons he played in six games in the 2020 season while making one start in the shortened season. Izzo collected one hit through five at bats and drove in one run. On the mound, he appeared in three games and pitched 4.2 innings and striking out three along the way.
 
Currently, Izzo's 16.1 innings pitched this season is second best on the team as he sits as the second man in the Barons starting rotation. Izzo also plays outfield, middle infield, and 3^rd base.
 
Through Izzo's time playing Franciscan Baseball, he's learned that the only thing you can control is your effort and attitude. To him he feels that attitude was very hard to control but he feels he's gotten better.
 
After college Izzo plans on working for his dad as an arborist climbing trees and staying in the family business.
 

 
 
#4- Jacob Watson
 
Watson's baseball journey began whenever he was about 2 years old. The earliest memories he remembers have involved his mom and dad getting him a toy Tee-Ball set and swinging and hitting the ball in the backyard.
 
Watson got an amazing opportunity to come to Franciscan for schooling, and the fact that baseball was returning was a bonus.
 
In Watson's freshmen season, he appeared and started in two games as a pitcher for the Barons posting a 1-1 record with a 4.38 ERA, second best on the team among pitchers. During that same season he pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout.
In Watson's second year with the team, he appeared in nine games this season, including eight starts. The sophomore led the Barons with three complete games. Watson led the Barons with four wins this season and held a team-low 3.64 ERA. His last two starts of the regular season were both nine inning complete games. These performances bolted Watson to a 0.72 ERA over his last three outings of the season. Watson earned PAC Pitcher of the Week honors once this season for his complete game shutout against Geneva. He also struck out a season high seven that night. Watson also had a nine-inning complete game against Waynesburg as well. Watson earned 2021 PAC All-Conference Honorable Mention for his efforts this year.
In Watson's Junior year as a Baron, he appeared in 12 games starting in 11 for a total of 72.1 innings pitched. His pitching record was 5-6 with an ERA of 3.24. Watson had 1 shutout and a team high 54 strikeouts. This season he pitched a 7-innings shutout allowing only 2 hits and striking out 9 batters. Watson's efforts from his performance that week earned him the PAC Pitcher of the Week. Watson ended up being named a 2022 PAC All-Conference Second Team player for his performances.
Now Watson currently leads the team with a 4.00 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 27.0 innings pitched. Watson also features a team leading WHIP of 1.41. This season Watson has earned PAC player of the week after his 7-inning shutout performance in the first week of the season.
Over the years, he has learned that your career and your life is a journey. "You're always going through something, whether it be good or bad. It's how you respond to these challenges that really matters most. I've also learned that if you put in the work, you're going to succeed."

Watson plans on attending graduate school for Sports Psychology and using the last 2 years of NCAA eligibility for baseball.
 
 


 
#15- Brody Hynes
 
Brody's baseball journey began in Riverview, Florida because both of his parents played Division 1 sports.
 
After high school, Hynes came to Franciscan because he wanted to grow further in his faith and because he received an opportunity to play baseball.
Although Hynes did not appear in a game in the 2020 season, he made seven pitching appearances in 2021 for the Barons, all in relief this season. Over that time, Hynes pitched in 14.1 innings and had a 4.40 era with a 1.67 WHIP while striking out seven and walking only nine. Hynes was named AMCC Academic All-Conference in 2020 and made the PAC Academic Honor Roll in 2021 for his efforts in the classroom.
In Hynes's Junior season he appeared in 6 games on the mound with 6.27 ERA over 18.2 innings pitched.

Hynes has currently appeared 2 times with 7.50 ERA over 6 innings pitched while having a 1.83 WHIP.
 
Through his time playing, Franciscan Baseball he has learned how much a group of men care about one another and look for them to push each other in all aspects of life.
 
After college Hynes plans to become an Enterprise trainee, start a business, join the military, become the manager of a bar, run a baseball facility, and teach history. Then after he retires, he plans on becoming a deacon.
 

 
 
#10- Kyle Ferrance
 
Ferrance's baseball journey began when he was five years old playing little league and moving on to club ball by the time he was 9. He gained many learning experiences playing club ball, especially when he played for an ex-major leaguer in the eighth grade. 
 
There were multiple events that led him to play baseball at Franciscan University. During his recruitment journey, he was researching for Catholically authentic universities and fell upon Franciscan University starting up their program once again. A family friend that coaches at the major league level coached Richard Carver and sent a letter of recommendation to Coach Carver and he ended up calling to say I am going to play for the Franciscan Barons!
 
In Ferrance's inaugural season with the Barons, he played in all 11 games of the shortened season while making 10 starts for the Barons and batting .241 as he collected seven hits, two of them being doubles and driving in six runs while scoring four more himself.
Ferrance had a breakout sophomore season as he played and started in 34 games. He didn't waste any time proving himself at the plate this season, as he batted .556 through the first 16 games this season. He ended the year with the second-best average on the team at .381. He held a team best .415 batting average with two outs. He collected 45 hits, including six doubles and a triple. The sophomore scored 30 runs and drove in 27 this season. Ferrance led the team with 22 walks and held the second best on base percentage at .486. Ferrance's performance landed him 2021 PAC All-Conference First Team honors and was an instrumental part in the Barons making the PAC tournament for the first time in the program's history.
In Ferrance's junior season he appeared in 24 games starting in 15. He batted .130 with 9 runs, 7 hits, and 4 RBIs on 54 at bats. 
Now in Ferrance's senior season, he has currently started 14 games in the outfield and at the plate has hit .256 with 10 hits and 3 of them being doubles.

Ferrance has learned many valuable lessons such as the value of leadership and what it means to be mentally and physically tough moving on to the next stages of life. After college Kyle plans on continuing his training for baseball and taking on business endeavors. 
 

 
#22- Dylan Robb
 
Dylan's baseball journey started when my dad started throwing ping pong balls at me when I was 6 months old and evolved into him throwing me wiffle balls in the front yard, which led to me playing tee ball when I was 6 and haven't had a single year after then that baseball hasn't been a part of my life.
 
His mom had always wanted him to go to Franciscan and when they announced that they would be bringing back baseball for his freshmen year of college he became the first official recruit of the revival.
 
In Robb's freshmen season, he played and started in eight games for the Barons while batting .375 in 24 at bats as one of those hits was a double and one a triple. Robb also scored five runs and had two RBI's.  Robb also had a .977 fielding percentage behind the plate, as he threw out 3 of 7 attempted stealers in the shortened season.
 
In Robb's sophomore season he played in 18 games while earning 11 starts for the Barons this season. Robb batted .190 in 42 at bats while having five doubles and one home run. Robb also drove in nine RBIs and scored eight runs.
 
In Robb's junior year, the veteran catcher appeared in 24 games with 20 starts. He batted .299 with 11 runs, 20 hits with one being a home run, and 16 RBI's. Robb's efforts in the classroom earned him 2022 PAC Academic Honor Roll on the year.

Currently Robb is the designated hitter for the Barons, and has batted .150 with 3 hits at the dish and 2 RBIs on the year.
 
Through his time at Franciscan, he learned how to overcome certain things and still achieve what he wanted to achieve.
 
After this year Dylan plans to come back and finish the 4+1 MBA program. After college he plans on finding a job somewhere and getting out of California as fast as possible.
 

 
 
#19- Brendan Burke
 
Brendan's baseball journey began when he was about four or five years old, but he really didn't start falling in love with the game until he was about nine years old.  Going to Cooperstown when he was 12 was such a thrill and he loved playing in tournaments on the weekends. In the backyard, when his dad threw him a lot of batting practice, but he also remembers playing lots of wiffle ball with his older brother Brody and he accredits a lot of my hitting ability to his great pitching.
 
When he was finishing up his high school season at Detroit Catholic Central, he was still unsure of where he wanted to go for college.  He really didn't want his baseball career to be over, but in his college search process he had a hard time finding a place that he loved academically and somewhere he could play ball. Until he heard that Franciscan was about to rekindle the baseball program. 
In Burke's first year donning the green and gold, the big man started in nine games for the Barons while batting .300 in the shortened season with six hits one of which was a double while scoring three runs and corralling in 2 RBI's and drawing four walks. Burke earned two academic awards this year taking home the 2020 AMCC Academic All-Conference and the 2020 AMCC Peak Performer honors.
In Burke's sophomore year he played in 27 games this season, while starting in all but one of them. Burke batted .344 on the year with 31 hits. He drove in 24 runs and scored 20 runs in his first full season. Burke had 10 doubles, a triple, and a home run. His .511 slugging percentage was second on the team. Burke also only struck out three times in 90 at bats. His 30.0 at bats per strikeout is 11th best among all Division III players with at least 90 at bats. Burke was solid behind the dish, as he held a .982 fielding percentage and caught five runners stealing. His efforts were recognized on the field and in the classroom as he earned 2021 PAC All-Conference Honorable Mention and made the 2021 PAC Academic Honor Roll.
In Burke's Junior season he appeared in 36 games with 35 starts and made 3 appearances on the mound. Burke led the Barons in almost all hitting statistics including a batting avg of .417, hits 55, doubles 12, triples 2, HR's 5, and RBI's 46. His 46 RBI's is currently the single season Baron record. A memorable moment of this season was against St. Vincent on the road where Burke went 3 for 5 at the plate with 3 Home Runs and a single-game record 8 RBI's. Burke's performance earned him the PAC Hitter of the Week the following week. Burke's breakout season earned him 2022 ABCA/Rawlings Mideast All-Region Third Team and 2022 PAC All-Conference First Team honors.
This year Burke is picking right where he left off last season as his batting average is second on the team with .393 with 11 hits four of them being doubles, and 3 stolen bases.

Burke learned many lessons playing at Franciscan, and to him one stands out in particular—"Value the people that God has placed in your life."  Burke loves this team and loves the guys who he got to spend so much time with.  He has grown very close and is confident that he will have these friendships for the rest of his life. "Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter, whoever finds one finds a treasure."  He is blessed with many treasures in his life, but the men that he has grown to be close friends with on the team are treasures that he will cherish for the remainder of his life.  Burke continues to thank God for the talents and abilities that He has given him and for the men who continue to make him into a better person. He has also learned that consistency and perseverance are among the most admirable qualities and virtues in life.  Baseball is a game that tears you down through immense failure, but there are also times of tremendous success and victory.  It's the whole range of emotions, disappointments, and thrills which makes the game such a "maker of men." 
After college, Burke will be going to be a FOCUS missionary (Fellowship of Catholic University Students).  He has not yet been assigned to where he will be, but his role will be ministering to male collegiate athletes.  After missionary work, he might be a baseball coach and a teacher, but God only knows what is in store! Burke thanks the Baron Baseball Family, for all the love and support they have shown him over the past four years! Every day that he gets to play baseball is like winning the lottery and he considers himself the luckiest man in town.