Just recently, Carnegie Mellon University's club baseball team scored one of its greatest achievements to date. For the first time in history, the team has reached the playoffs, coming out of the District V East division, beating out California University of Pennsylvania just last Saturday. The win marks a huge achievement for Tartan Athletics as a whole and ultimately stands as a testament to the dedication of the players, coaches and support of friends and family. Regarding the recent accomplishment, Coordinator of Intramurals and Club Sports, David Wiley, states, “Over the past three years here at CMU, it has been a phenomenal experience to watch this team grow into a winning program.”

He continues on to say that the win is a true team effort, citing the support of Club President Darryl Tan and Coach Claudio as huge assets to the team.

“Claudio has been more than great with the guys. We are lucky to have him as our head baseball coach, and Darryl Tan has been a great leader behind the scenes, maintaining the day-to-day club duties.”

However, this feat was no easy task, requiring hours of hard work and training. With immense pride for his team, Coach Claudio states, “We led the conference wire to wire, which is a tough thing to do in this particular conference because it is so competitive.”

He continues, “The word I use all the time to describe this group is 'Special.' On the field and off.”

Darren Kerfoot, pitcher for the team, adds, “I think it’s awesome that a school so academically rigorous can produce players that compete with schools that make baseball their number one priority. This entire year has been an awesome ride, but we are definitely not done yet. With a lot of recruiting and picking up some quality players for the spring, our team has really turned into a solid group.”

With the strong team that they have, Coach Claudio is optimistic about the future and is proud of the Tartans as a whole. “I could never have asked for a better group of people and players. Having said that, in my 10 years at CMU, I can say the same thing about all of the teams I have had. I have truly been lucky to coach these great people.”

In the midst of all the joy and achievement, Carnegie Mellon's baseball team continues to prepare for the next game on Friday, May 1, against Eastern Kentucky University. As members of Carnegie Mellon's community, the team members are no strangers to hard work, so they forge onward to do the best they can.