‘We've stayed together through all of it’: Crusaders celebrate resilient journey to NCAA Tournament

As the words Holy Cross flashed on the screen during Monday’s selection show underneath No. 5 seed North Carolina, the ESPN2 broadcast cut to the Crusader baseball team in Doran Auditorium, and a now-viral celebration ensued. 

In the front row, there was senior captain Sean Scanlon, shaking the Patriot League Championship trophy directly at the camera. Senior relief pitcher Augie Walters immediately broke out into the team’s signature jig — and he was quickly joined in sync by his classmates Chris Baillargeon, Luke LeMond and Connor Peek.  

Compared to the somewhat subdued reactions of other teams on Selection Monday, Holy Cross’ celebration stood out. Of course, they’d clinched the autobid a week earlier, and the only remaining suspense was where the Crusaders would be traveling for the regionals. 

But that brief moment still marked a milestone in what has been a tumultuous yet gratifying journey — and entering this weekend’s Chapel Hill Regional, the Crusaders stand at a juncture that has been years in the making. 

Hey, why not enjoy it? 

“On and off the field, we have as much fun as we possibly can,” said junior captain and right-handed pitcher Danny Macchiarola, who is slated to start Game 1 on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. on the ACC Network and ESPN+. “We’re celebrating as much success as we can, and how hard we’ve worked.”

“Any opportunities we have to celebrate,” said head coach Ed Kahovec, “we take full advantage of.”

It would somehow be an understatement to say that this year’s eight-member senior class — Kahovec’s first recruiting class — has run the gamut of experiences throughout their four years on The Hill. 

A playoff berth their freshman season, followed by an injury-riddled sophomore season that resulted in a last-place finish. Upset victories immediately followed by season-ending injuries. Record-setting statistical achievements — both favorable and unfavorable. Consistently playing as one of the youngest teams in Division I, juggling scrappy victories and shaking off heartbreaking results along the way. 

Just two years ago, Holy Cross finished its 2023 campaign with just six Patriot League victories. In the two seasons since, the Crusaders have put together winning conference seasons — culminating in the 2025 Patriot League title, their first since 2017, also snapping a streak of six straight league crowns for Army West Point.  

The turbulence of the last few years, and even at points during the 2025 season, has created a selfless, weather-tested squad that is unfazed by any spotlight. 

“We talked a lot throughout this entire year that our success has been a result of the past failures we've had these three years before,” said senior captain Brendan Jones. “And when I say failures, it's not a bad thing. Without the experiences we've had over the past three years, I don't know if it would pan out the way it did this year, and I'm just forever grateful that we're able to be in this spot.”

“We've stayed together through all of it,” said junior right-hander Jaden Wywoda, who earned 2025 Patriot League Pitcher of the Year honors. “This team has seen the lowest of lows. We've blown games in the last inning, and we've obliterated some teams. We've seen quite literally everything, and to finally put it all together this year has been unbelievable.”

It’s a group that has experienced it all together — and that will never let outside noise or ego get in the way of their ultimate goals.  

“No one really cares who the guy is talking to the media,” Jones said. “No one cares who the guy is on ESPN. 

“We just want to see that Holy Cross logo up there. That's all that matters to us.” 

“They play with and for each other, and it's just a beautiful thing to witness,” Kahovec said. “From day one, they have had this vision of hoisting the trophy up, and that has been a driving force for them. And while each and every one of them is very focused on the process and on the day-to-day, that light at the end of the tunnel has always been that driving force.”

Holy Cross’ core group of seniors got a taste of playoff baseball their freshman year after a late surge, winning three of four games in their final weekend of Patriot League play to earn the fourth seed. The resulting matchup was against top-seeded Army West Point, who swept Holy Cross in a pair of lopsided victories. (The Black Knights would go on to win the fourth of their six consecutive league crowns). 

Still, that early playoff experience proved invaluable for the Crusaders, who operated primarily with a crew of underclassmen. 

“You have to experience playoff baseball before you can win the whole thing,” Kahovec said. “You have to taste it. You have to go through what that pressure feels like. You have to feel what that heartbreak feels like. You have to feel the joy that making the playoffs brings. You have to feel the full range of emotions, positive and negative — that's just a part of the journey in the process of becoming a champion.

“And then,” he added, “when we didn't get in their sophomore year, it hurt — and I think guys were even hungrier to make sure we got back the following year.”

That 2023 season is one where, on paper, very little went right. The Crusaders finished 6-19 in league play, were plagued with injuries to key players, and dropped heartbreaker after heartbreaker. But even if the results weren’t where they wanted, the coaches still saw progress and opportunity. 

“It didn't feel great,” Kahovec said. “But while the results looked terrible, I still felt like we were making steps in the right direction. Had we stayed healthy, I really believe we would have grown upon what we did the year before. So while it may have looked like a step backwards from a result standpoint, I felt like it was a step forward in the process.

“Even in the moment, it felt like we made a step forward. Did it stink to lose that much? Of course, but you can't always judge growth based on wins and losses.”

The stars started to align a bit during 2024. Despite being picked to finish last in the Patriot League’s preseason poll, Holy Cross rallied through injuries to stars and tough results to earn the third seed in the Patriot League Tournament, pushing second-seeded Navy to three games in the semifinals. Kahovec earned 2024 Coach of the Year honors in recognition of the team’s turnaround.

“It really helped to bring even more confidence for the players, seeing that the results were finally coming,” Kahovec said.

Those positive results kept rolling in to open the 2025 campaign — highlighted by an opening weekend victory over then-No. 22 Auburn, which is now a top-four seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. It garnered national attention, and marked the Crusaders' second straight season upsetting a ranked opponent. In that win, and that series as a whole, there was a glimpse of the promise the Crusaders had that year: talented seniors, electric freshmen out of the bullpen, and a tenacity that allowed them to hang with any team in America.

The strong start to the year continued through a weekend sweep at Towson, giving Holy Cross a 5-4 mark overall as of March 3. But what happened the next day? The Crusaders found themselves in the national headlines for another reason, with a 26-6 setback at George Mason that featured a historically bad inning (yep, that one — a second inning where Holy Cross conceded an NCAA-record 23 runs). 

That game is a perfect example of Holy Cross’ unflappability, though. As the internet got its laughs in, the Crusaders tuned out the outside noise. It was only one inning, after all — and by the time the team got back on the bus, they had already moved on. 

“You're never as good as you think you are, and you're never as bad as you think you are,” said senior shortstop Jimmy King. “You’ve got to look back on those moments and laugh, and just know that they're part of the journey.”

“It's baseball,” Baillargeon said. “Things sometimes go your way, things sometimes don't. We didn't let that affect us for the rest of the year. 

“Looking back on that now, you can just laugh about it, because that’s the same team that just won the Patriot League Championship.”

As the spring progressed, the injury bug bit again — and it initially seemed like déjà vu. At one point in the spring, the Crusaders had lost several catchers to injury, and were down to just one healthy catcher, freshman Nick Spaner. Baillargeon, who came to Holy Cross as a catcher but has primarily played first base throughout his career, began retraining as a catcher to alleviate the pressure on Spaner. 

Fortunately, Holy Cross had built depth that it had lacked in previous years, and Spaner was a star right away. Kahovec is very adamant that, in many ways, Spaner saved Holy Cross’ season at a critical junction. 

Another player who saved the Crusaders’ season, according to Kahovec? Peek, who after missing all of his junior season with injury, put together an All-Patriot League caliber performance. He elevated his defensive play as an everyday third baseman, and enters this weekend batting .341 in 34 starts. 

When all was said and done, Peek was one of eight players to earn All-Patriot League accolades, the most ever in program history. He was joined by junior outfielder CJ Egrie, Wywoda, King, Baillargeon, Macchiarola and sophomore outfielders Gianni Royer and John LaFleur. In addition to Wywoda’s Pitcher of the Year honors, Egrie was named the Patriot League Player of the Year, and Kahovec earned Coach of the Year honors for the second straight year. 

Throughout the year, there was no singular superstar. Macchiarola and Wywoda’s consistently spectacular performances on the mound were complemented by offensive surges. The many single-season records set this year by Holy Cross proved this squad’s well-roundedness, with new marks for runs scored, runs batted in, stolen bases, doubles, walks and strikeouts. 

The Crusaders posted just their fourth 30+ win season ever, and their most Patriot League wins (17) in program history. As momentum gathered late in the regular season, the Crusaders won 10 of their last 12 league contests en route to clinching regular-season title and hosting rights throughout the postseason. 

Even entering the playoffs as the top dog, there was still no shortage of dramatics for Holy Cross. In the semifinal round, the Crusaders cruised to a 10-0 opening victory vs. Lehigh before a 7-2 setback in Game 2. In Game 3, Lehigh jumped ahead to a 6-3 lead by the fourth.  

Kahovec, and his team, clearly weren’t satisfied with the potential of an abrupt ending to the season. In the middle of the sixth inning, he reiterated his consistent message: take it one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, and go win this thing. Holy Cross responded with a six-run inning, with the bats coming alive for an eventual 19-9 victory. 

In the championship series vs. Army West Point, Macchiarola — the eventual Patriot League Tournament MVP — twirled another gem in Game 2, helping lift Holy Cross to another dominating 12-1 win. But Holy Cross couldn’t leave Fitton Field without one more drama-filled contest. A back-and-forth Game 2 battle extended into extra innings, with Royer sharply lining the walkoff RBI double just fair down the third-base line in the 10th inning. 

As Kahovec waved LaFleur around for the winning run, he jumped up and down, hands raised in disbelief as he stared at his squad sprinting out of the dugout and into left field for a dogpile celebration. After a journey paved by countless celebrations and heartbreaks, the program had finally reached their dream destination. 

Kahovec’s coaching career in and of itself has been one defined by patience and commitment to the process. His first head coaching gig began at Bard College in 2012, where he built a program from scratch (the baseball program hadn’t competed at the varsity level since 1937). He came to Holy Cross as an assistant ahead of the 2017 season, when the Crusaders won their first-ever Patriot League title. Shortly after taking the reins of the program as interim head coach in January 2020, he only managed 15 games before the season shuttered due to COVID-19. 

He had the interim tag removed later that year, and navigated the ensuing seasons that presented a spectrum of challenges — solidifying a new program identity amid a bumpy path of wins and losses, a changing landscape of college athletics and devastating injuries to star players. 

Through years of consistent change in the world around him, Kahovec himself has changed greatly. His recruiting philosophy has become much more laser-focused on finding players that are the right fit at Holy Cross — and you’ll find no better example of that than Holy Cross’ eight seniors. 

“They have done far more for me than I could have ever done for them,” Kahovec said. “For them all to have found each other here at Holy Cross, and to have the same values — it’s just remarkably rare, and I don't take it for granted any day.”

Kahovec often sings the praises of King, someone who perfectly embodies the culture of selflessness within the Crusader baseball program. Late in Holy Cross’ 2023 season, when the team’s playoff hopes looked bleak and few players remained on a depleted bench, a not-completely-healthy King offered to step in and play. He had already missed the majority of the season, and resuming play at that point meant he would forgo a year of eligibility. But King didn’t see it that way — he saw that the program he loved was in need, and he was in a position to attempt to help. 

It wasn’t an act that was done for the credit, and King reflects now that he would do the same all over again, no matter Holy Cross’ place in the standings. While King’s legacy is well cemented in Crusader history for his talent — his offensive production and defensive prowess has resulted in back-to-back All-Patriot League nods and a spot on the 2025 Brooks Wallace Award watch list as one of the top shortstops in the nation — his impact on the program has been much deeper and more meaningful than any award could ever encapsulate. 

And King’s story is just one story. Give Kahovec the time, and he’ll rave at length about all of his seniors. King’s leadership and spark. Baillargeon’s confidence and growth. Peek’s work ethic and tremendous improvement. Jones’ versatility and positivity. Scanlon’s discipline and spirit. Outfielder Connor Cooney’s toughness and athleticism. LeMond’s gutsiness and trustworthiness. Walters’ unflappability and penchant for clutch moments in conference play. 

“Name your superlative, right?” Kahovec said. “Resilience, relentlessness, resolve, selflessness, discipline, work ethic — all of it. 

“They are the embodiment of what a champion looks like. Each and every single one of them.”

Entering this weekend’s slate as the four seed — and opening against the Tar Heels, who ranked as the number one team in the D1 Baseball poll this week — Holy Cross is the de facto underdog in a regional that also features big-name universities in Oklahoma and Nebraska. 

And the spotlight has never rattled the Crusaders before — they aren’t afraid of this moment, either. 

You have to beat the best to be the best, Peek routinely says. 

It's why you play college baseball, to make it to Omaha, Jones says.

“We'll play anyone, anywhere, anytime,” Kahovec said. “It's going to be extremely difficult, playing the ACC Tournament champs, and likely the ACC Pitcher of the Year. And then you’ve got an SEC team and a Big Ten team. But our guys competed with the number four national seed [Auburn] for all three games. And that'll give us a lot of confidence heading into playing against the teams here that are extremely talented, and some of the best teams in America. 

“But on any given day, we can beat the best teams in America if we execute and play our brand of baseball.”

And there’s one thing you can count on — Holy Cross is going to take every opportunity it can to celebrate. 

“We know we can handle resilience, we can handle the pressure, and that's why going into this regional, we're here to have fun,” Egrie said. “We're playing like we've got nothing to lose. We're going to act like that. We're going to have a blast, and whether we're down 10 or up 10, we're going to play resilient, and we’re going to play gritty.” 

“We've always had that mindset — and we're all super happy,” Scanlon said. “Everyone wants to be with each other, enjoying the moment. Each moment is super important, so you might as well cherish it.”

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