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 History |
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The 1992 Season
In the spring of 1992, the first Villanova Wildcats senior baseball team was formed. Dan Lovell, a member of the schools guidance department, created the Wildcat baseball team as the teams founding head coach.
The Wildcats joined the Detroit Catholic League as a probationary member. For their first season, all games were played on the road.
The 1993 Season
 |  | | 1993 Detroit Catholic League Champions |
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The 1993 season was special for the Wildcats. The team qualified for the Class C/D playoffs and won its quarter and semi-final games.
The Wildcats advanced to the Class C/D championship game at Tiger Stadium for the first time. Behind the strong pitching of southpaw starter Dave Tramontozzi, the Wildcats won their first Catholic League championship, defeating Orchard Lake St. Marys.
The 1994 Season
In 1994, following their championship season, and with the continued growth of Villanovas student body, the team was realigned into the Catholic Leagues AA Division, with larger schools. This also meant that the Wildcats would now compete in the Class A/B playoffs. Only the top two teams from the division would qualify for the playoffs.
The 1995 Season
The 1995 season saw the Wildcats play their most games to date. In addition to participation in the Catholic League, the Wildcats fielded a team in the newly formed ECSSA baseball league. The Wildcats used their experience from playing against the Americans and won the ECSSA championship in their only year of participation.
The 1997 Season
After the 1996 season, the only head coach the Wildcats ever had, Dan Lovell, stepped down. An assistant coach who had joined the program the year before was selected to take over. Jeff Dragich became the new head coach.
The season was a difficult one, as the youth of the team was quite evident. The number of sophomore starters outnumbered the senior starters 3-2.
The 1998 Season
This was a season of growth for the Wildcats, as many firsts were established.
After a year of planning, coach Dragich brought the program up to the standards of the top schools in the division by creating the junior team. Dr. Angelo Cerchie was selected to be the first head coach of the junior squad.
The patient development of the young team over the previous two seasons paid off as the team finished with a winning record, good for second in the division. The team had to win six games in the last seven days to qualify, including a sudden-death defeat of Divine Child on the final day. The Wildcats earned a playoff berth for the first time in Class A/B.
Villanova was defeated in their semi-final game by Catholic Central, the eventual Catholic League champ.
Over the summer, the Wildcats received the news that alumnus pitcher Mike Girimonte had accepted a scholarship to the University of Detroit Mercy. Also, senior catcher Dustin Wiley joined the baseball team at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. These were our first two graduates to advance to US college baseball.
The 1999 Season
|  | | 1999 Detroit Catholic League Finalists |
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In 1999, a strong senior class enjoyed the fruits of years of hard work. The Wildcats raced through the AA Division with an 18-2 record, winning their first division title.
Villanova won its first Class A/B playoff game, defeating Birmingham Brother Rice 8-4 in the semi-finals at the University of Detroit Mercy.
The Wildcats advanced to play in the last Catholic League game at historic Tiger Stadium, but suffered a defeat at the hands of eventual state champion Catholic Central 10-3. The game was highlighted by shortstop Joe Yakopichs home run into the upper deck in rightfield.
The next day, Yakopich was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 33rd round. Joe signed with them and spent the summer with their rookie league team in Arizona.
Catcher Mike Mitrevski accepted a scholarship with the University of Detroit Mercy over the summer.
The junior team also enjoyed solid success, sharing the division title with Riverview Gabriel Richard.
This page is currently under construction. Further entries will be added soon.
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