Norwin grad has career year for Seton Hill baseball

Owen Sabol got a taste of college baseball right away when he arrived at Seton Hill.

He played in 10 games and started nine of them. But then the pandemic kicked in and the season was sawed off 13 games in. That’s when the waiting game began for 2021.

It sure was worth the wait.

The Norwin graduate took his brief experience playing Division II baseball, applied it to his game and turned himself into an everyday player.

Some hardware followed: He was named the PSAC West division’s rookie of the year.

“I would say that this season has lived up to my expectations,” Sabol said. “We worked so hard since the shutdown of last season so, honestly, the success we’re having now is the result of everybody taking ownership and getting better since that day we got shut down.”

The shortstop also earned All-PSAC second-team honors. He took a .375 average, 25 RBIs and 22 steals into the PSAC championship series against Bloomsburg.

Seton Hill (34-5), division champs for the first time since 2014, lost to Bloomsburg in a best-of-3 PSAC series, two games to one.

Sabol hit .257 last year with a homer, five RBIs and eight runs.

“I wasn’t sure what role I’d have, but I knew that whatever it was, I was going to use it to help the team,” he said.

And he has done that in a number of ways, not the least of which getting a potent lineup started as the leadoff man.

“I jumped around the order in the first half of the season but settled in leadoff for the second half,” he said. “I knew that leadoff could be a good spot for me because I draw a lot of walks and get on base a lot. And with (Tommy) Pellis and (Derek) Orndorff behind me, it usually leads to runs.”

When Sabol committed to Seton Hill, he knew the program had a proud, winning tradition and is considered one of the top teams in the nation.

He thought he might get a chance to play for a national title, and he will. The Griffins qualified for nationals as the No. 1-ranked team in the Atlantic Region.

“I knew I was getting into a winning program and playing with a special group of guys,” Sabol said, “so I honestly did imagine us making the NCAA Tournament and having this success.”

That taste of college ball keeps getting sweeter.