Baseball
Favorite athlete: TJ McConnell/Ranger Suarez
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning my little league championship
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Letting up four runs without getting an out my only time pitching in high school.
Music on playlist: Drake, Travis Scott, Zach Bryan
Future plans: Study finance at Penn State
Words to live by: “Don’t live for other people.”
One goal before turning 30: Shoot under par in a round of golf.
One thing people don’t know about me: I played seven positions my junior year.
By GORDON GLANTZ
For Lower Moreland senior Drew Dorval, it has been as much about the journey as the destination.
As a sophomore, he made the varsity baseball squad, and with no pressure hitting from the bottom of the order, he produced.
“It was his hustle,” said head coach Mike Guido. “He could also play any position. The appeal to me for him was that he could play anywhere and play it the right way.
“He is just a ‘baseball’ guy. He knows the ins and outs of baseball. Any time you have that type of kid, you can use him anywhere.”
Junior year, though, Dorval had a … sophomore jinx.
Although baseball season is technically in the spring, trying get yourself right amid inconsistent weather, mainly in April, can create a ghastly snowball effect for a struggling hitter.
“I just did not have a good season,” said Dorval, who felt like he was beginning each at-bat with two strikes. “It was mentally disappointing. I thought I had a good sophomore year, and I thought I was in the right place to build on it last year, but it was hard to just reset and figure everything out.
“Halfway through the season, I was in and out of the lineup. Not getting consistent at-bats didn’t help much, either.”
A lost swing led to lost confidence and a loss of a steady place on Guido’s lineup card.
This season, after grinding on his own – with the guidance of assistant coach Stu Drossner – Dorval has reinvented himself.
“He works with Stu Drossner in the offseason, he works with him after practice,” Guido said. “They will go to the cage and work. I’ll find out the next day that he was in the cage until 9 p.m. His hitting has really, really improved this year.”
In the Cage, Not a Box
Dorval knew there was no way around just putting in the hard work to break out of his funk.
“I worked a lot in the offseason with (Drossner), just hitting-wise, and it really helped a lot,” said Dorval. “I jumped a lot from last year to this year definitely.
“It was just my approach. That’s what we worked on in the offseason, just recognizing pitches.”
That also meant knowing what and who he is and what and who he isn’t.
Dorval will never win a home run title, and he is okay with that.
“I don’t have a lot of power,” he said with a chuckle. “I hit a lot of singles up the middle. I just try not to swing too hard and catch my bat on it.”
Dorval has found his swing and found his stride. After playing every position but catcher and first base earlier in his career (one pitching stint was rather forgettable but easy to laugh off), he is now stationed at second base.
“He plays a real strong defense,” said Guido. “He had gone all over earlier in his career – third base, some outfield and shortstop when we needed it. While he has been all over the place, he has really settled in this year for us at second base.”
And the name Dorval is written in indelible ink at No. 2 in the lineup.
“He is a slap hitter,” said Guido. “He slaps the ball around the field. He likes to run. He likes to steal bases.
“Honestly, he has really surprised me with how much he has improved this year. He has really just embraced being a senior and a captain. He has stepped up, and his on-the-field play has shown that as well.”
Two Sports, One Coach
While Dorval has played baseball all his life, even winning a 12U Little League title, he gave golf a go and took to it well enough to finish up strong.
As a senior this past fall, the Philadelphia sports enthusiast was not only team captain but All-League Honorable Mention.
Guido, as fate would have it, is also the golf coach and has had Dorval serve as captain of both teams.
“I have been fortunate to have a long relationship with him,” Guido said. “He has been a three-year golfer and a four-year baseball player.”
Added Dorval: “I got to meet him on the golf team before baseball, so it was good to build a relationship through that. Throughout the years, we have built our relationship. We are close, and we are talking all the time.”
As is the case with baseball, Dorval put in the work necessary to get better at golf.
“He has made huge improvements in golf since his sophomore year,” said Guido. “There is a league tournament at the end of the year, and he was able to qualify and make that.”
Leading the Way
In addition to having the same coach for both sports, Dorval is the captain of both teams.
“As far as on the field, he has been a leader for us,” said Guido. “He has been helping us in terms of getting the new guys ready for when he graduates.
“We are having a tough year. We have a young team. He has been helping out some of the young guys as they come along.”
While vocal, that also means displaying model behavior.
“He is always husting at practice,” said Guido. “He’s always on time. He does everything the right way, and then some.
“He has just been a real strong character guy for us. He is always helping out with the fundraisers and always doing volunteer opportunities.”
Guido, a special education teacher, uses his captains as conduits to the rest of the team.
He added: “I am big on getting the feel of the team, you know, ‘How is everybody feeling?’ Do we need a day off? Within a game, ‘How do you think the pitcher is doing? Should we let him go another inning?’ I can always go to him.”
When it comes to golf, the leadership takes on a different vibe.
Bottom line: It is still effective.
“He has a good time,” said Guido. “Golf is more of a solitary sport. If you are not doing well, you can get down on yourself. He does good job of keeping everything light. He doesn’t take it too seriously, but he keeps it serious enough.”
Dorval certainly sees the nuances between being a senior captain in the two sports.
“I think it’s a lot more evident in baseball,” he said. “I have been playing baseball my whole life. I haven’t been playing golf as long, so I feel more comfortable with baseball. I feel a lot of people on the team respect what I have to say, which helps. Whenever I notice things, I always try to help in a positive way and not get on them for making mistakes.
“We have a small coaching staff (on the baseball team). We have one other captain. It’s hard for them to stay on top of everything without our help. We will talk to him about any lineup change that should be made or things to focus on at practice. It’s from the team perspective. Sometimes, from the coaches’ perspective, it’s hard to see.”
Looking Ahead
Dorval could have sought out a small school to continue his ascending baseball career, but he considers academics too important.
“I always assumed that I just wasn’t good enough to play in college,” said Dorval, who has a 5.0 weighted GPA, by virtue of a schedule heavy in AP and honors classes, and he is involved in the National Honor Society. “I was not super interested and never thought it would be a possibility, especially since I do take my academics pretty seriously. I valued taking that more seriously, rather than going to a smaller school to play a sport.”
That is why he eventually chose Penn State main campus to study finance.
“I always knew I was interested in business and, most likely, finance,” said Dorval. “It was down to Drexel, Temple and Penn State. I was pretty set on Drexel, but then I made a last-minute decision and decided to go Penn State.”
When it came this important decision, Dorval knew he had to do what was best and block out the background noise.
It is part of a larger philosophy.
“A lot of important decisions you make come down to making other people happy, and not being focused on yourself,” he said. “I feel like I noticed it a lot recently. I think it’s important to stick to your own values and not just do things for other people.”
Rounding Third
While there is a lot of baseball still to be played, Dorval is also preparing himself for the next chapter.
He knows the gust of wind he feels at his back was brought on by a strong support system.
That begins with his parents, Ellen and Mark.
“They aren’t really the biggest sports people, but they always come to my games, and they always support me,” said Dorval. “They never really played sports. My dad is interested in sports, but mainly only through me. He’ll watch a lot. Neither of them played sports growing up.”
And then, there are his coaches.
“Definitely, thanks to coach Stu (Drossner) for helping me all offseason,” he said.
As far as Guido is concerned, looking around at both golf and baseball practice next year and not seeing Dorval will be an adjustment.
“It’s going to be different,” said Guido. “We are definitely going to miss him, as well as the other seniors. I coached him in two sports. Like I said, it’s been a long time.
“Having his opinion and being able to get the pulse of the team, I’m definitely going to miss that. There is definitely going to be a void to be filled.”
