POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Two former Marist baseball players, Jonathan Schwind and Ricky Pacione were recently featured in news articles that focused on topics involving their lives within professional baseball.
Schwind played three years at Marist from 2009-11, was a member of the Red Foxes' 2009 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship team and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a junior in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He played 166 career appearances for Marist, batting .295 with 47 doubles (7
th all-time), seven triples, 13 home runs, 111 RBI, 127 runs scored, a .450 slugging percentage and a .392 on base percentage. Schwind also had a .934 fielding percentage, committing 34 errors in 518 career chances with 231 assists and 253 putouts.
He has spent the last seven seasons playing professional baseball in the Pirates' organization, competing at each level from rookie ball all the way to AAA, despite having to fight back from numerous injuries over the years, including a ruptured spleen in 2015 that was the result of a collision in the outfield.
On August 8
th, Schwind was featured in an article on PickinSplinters.com by Paul Gotham that talked about his most recent injuries, a full tear of an internal oblique and a torn intercostal muscle, that did not allow Schwind to play in a single game in 2017 after spring training until July 25th. During his time rehabbing the injuries, Schwind served as an unofficial player coach for the Black Bears to help mentor the team's most recent draftees and teach them how to be a professional.
After playing in his first regular season game of 2017 on July 25
th, Schwind appeared in three games for the Black Bears, before he was promoted to the AA Altoona Curve on Aug. 2
nd. Since his promotion, Schwind has played in three games and hit a pinch hit game winning home run in the sixth inning of an eventual 6-4 win over the Reading Fightin Phils on Wednesday night.
To read the full article on Schwind,
click here.
Pacione played for the Red Foxes from 2008-11 and was also a member of Marist's 2009 MAAC Championship team. He was drafted in 2011 by the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim in the 48th round, and played two seasons in the Angels organization. In 212 games played for the Red Foxes (2
nd all-time), Pacione batted .337 (6
th all-time) in 804 career at bats (3
rdall-time) with 271 hits (2
nd all-time), 52 doubles (6
th all-time), 13 triples (3
rd all-time), 16 home runs (8
th all-time), 152 RBI (3
rd all-time), 154 runs scored (7
th all-time) with a .951 career fielding percentage with 33 errors in 672 career chances with 397 putouts and 242 assists.
Pacione is in his fourth season on the coaching staff of the Cleveland Indians, serving as the team's bullpen catcher and batting practice pitcher. He became the first former Marist player to be associated with a team that appeared in the World Series when the Indians played the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 Fall Classic. With the team's appearance in the World Series last year, Pacione was a member of the American League's coaching staff for the 2017 MLB All-Star Game in Miami FL and was one of two catchers for the 2017 Home Run Derby.
On Aug. 1
st, he was featured in an article in the Newburgh Times Herald-Record by Sal Interdonato about an unforgettable experience he gave Ryan Danyluk, a Newburgh Free Academy senior pitcher who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After being contacted by Newburgh baseball coach Scott Seabury, who informed Pacione of Danyluk's diagnosis, he invited the senior pitcher and his family to Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox, where the Indians were playing a game on July 31st.
To read the full article on Pacione
click here.
Both Schwind and Pacione were named CoSIDA Academic All-District in their time at Marist and Pacione was named CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2011.