Rising to the Challenge
Photo by Dan Loh.
by Luka Dubnick '23
Zach Gordon ’23, who has been playing baseball since he was 5 years old, arrived at Dickinson as a first-year student knowing that he wanted a spot on the Red Devils baseball team. He competed with six other walk-ons but didn’t make the cut.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the NCAA halted competition and team tryouts, Gordon seized the opportunity. Over the following 18 months, he honed his pitching skills at various facilities across the Northeast, determined to improve his chances of making the team.
“The pandemic offered an opportunity for me to leap ahead of my competition,” he says.
Head Coach Craig Hanson notes that Gordon “doubled down his efforts and came back ready to prove his value to the program.”
Gordon impressed at tryouts his junior year and made the team. In his first start as a Red Devil, No. 19 accrued four strikeouts against the Neumann Knights in two innings, allowing only one run and securing the W. One of the team’s four left-handed pitchers, Gordon continues to dominate with his refined pitching repertoire, which includes a fastball that tops out at 88.7 mph.
“Zach’s attitude and work ethic make him an invaluable member of our program,” says Hanson. “He’s a great teammate who’s willing to do anything to help the program get better.”
“Zach proves that hard work will always pay off,” says Kenneth Tagliareni ’24, one of the team’s captains. “He’s an individual that young Dickinsonians should aspire to be like.”
Off the diamond, Gordon is an international business & management major with minors in Judaic studies and economics. He’s a member of the college’s Marketing Club (including a term as president) and the Dickinson Jewish Relations Council, a tour guide, an Admissions Fellow and the IB&M department’s office assistant.
Last summer, Gordon completed Deloitte’s competitive SHINE Marketing Intern program, which eventually led to a position working in its New York office after graduation.
Hanson confidently believes that “Zach will continue to be successful following graduation at Deloitte and beyond!”
Read more from the spring 2023 issue of Dickinson Magazine.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published May 11, 2023