WSN:Welcome back to “In the Huddle.” I’m Sidney Snider, the Washington Square News Sports Editor. I’m joined today with Aidan Pawlak, a junior left-handed pitcher on the NYU baseball team. He’s currently pitching a 2.4 ERA with three games under his belt as a Violet. Thank you for speaking with me today, Aidan. 

Pawlak: Of course. Thank you for having me. 

WSN: So just right off the bat, I’m wondering how you got into baseball. If you grew up watching it, playing from a young age?

Pawlak: Yeah. So I started playing when I was four. I played a lot of sports when I was younger. I feel like I wasn’t actually good at baseball, but for whatever reason, I kind of just stuck with it and it was the one I stayed with and consistently wanted to do. So kind of developed into, like, more of my sport, like once I got into high school. 

WSN: So did you play all four years of high school? 

Pawlak: Yeah. I went to a public school in New York City, so I was fortunate enough to play on varsity all four years, which a lot of kids at other schools can’t do. But, I did play all four years, yeah.

WSN: Did you play for any clubs or anything growing up? 

Pawlak: Yeah. Travel was definitely big, especially in the city. I played for a lot of different travel teams and I think I kind of, got a wealth of experience through playing with different types of people as, like, New York City is really diverse and I’ve kind of experienced that through baseball.

WSN: Right after high school, you went D-I for a season and now you’re playing here D-III. Are there any major changes in the game or the style of play that you’ve noticed?

Pawlak: I mean, maybe not in the style of play. I think that there’s a lot of talent in both levels and, obviously, like there are some differences. However, I think that people probably overvalue how much there is a difference in talent. And I think there’s good players at the top and bottom. And a lot of the discrepancies are more so the depth kind of thing.

WSN: Coming on to the NYU team, there’s a lot of more experienced talent here, you have a lot of fourth and fifth year players. How have they kind of taken you under your wing and gotten you settled here at the school? 

Pawlak: Yeah, we’re fortunate enough to have a lot of older guys who are definitely leaders, they’ve been there before, [with a] proven track record of success. And so I think they lay the groundwork for what needs to be done, like, day in and day out. And so I think especially, you know now for me, and even the younger guys, like the freshmen, it’s good to kind of see an example of someone who’s, like, had success and follow in their footsteps. And I think you can see it rubbing off a lot in the freshmen. And I think what’s so, like, special about this team is that, the, our captains in our fifth years, they are very open and, like, eager to help those that are younger than them — which, not always the case at every school. And so I think that’s part of why it’s just a really good opportunity for the younger guys to be here.

WSN: Totally. Nick [Argenziano] and Nate [Pallotta] and a few others have said that they think this is the year and they’re really confident that everything the team’s been working towards is gonna culminate in a successful season. How do you think you can add to that for them? 

Pawlak: Well, I think that NYU’s always had a really great offense. And, we have a ton of returning starters on the offensive side. And I think part of the reason that people are saying “this is the year,” is that I think we have a very deep and talented pitching staff to go with that. And so, I think this is a great season and a great opportunity for someone like me where I think that, I can go out and compete and keep our team in game so our offense can win us the games.

WSN: What’s going through your head when you’re on the pitching mound waiting to start?

Pawlak: I’m trying to take it one pitch at a time. Like I said, we have a really talented defense and offense, so I’m just trying to keep us in games and keep it competitive so that the rest of the team can do the work for me. 

WSN: Do you have any pregame rituals? 

Pawlak: So I try to not be superstitious. Probably, I guess I drink caffeine before I pitch. But other than that, I’m pretty anti-superstition. I think that, I don’t know, it’s just not for me. 

WSN: Have you noticed any from other guys on the team? 

Pawlak: Yeah, there’s definitely certain guys who are superstitious. Like you can’t touch their bat, you can’t do certain things. Yeah, some people are just very set in that, and so I try not to cross on any people’s superstitions, but I don’t have any personally.

WSN: The team is going into its first full season with the new [Branca Family Baseball Facility] facility in Palladium. How has that helped the guys? 

Pawlak: I think it’s pretty essential to our day in, day out, just getting our work in because especially in New York City, open field space is pretty limited. So, like during the winter months — and even now, where we can’t always just go two minutes away to the field, we have to take the ferry, it’s a pretty long process — the facility allows us to get our work in. Whereas if we were in a maybe more rural area, it would be a lot more convenient to get it in. So it’s definitely something we’re very grateful for, and, everything that our donors do, especially NYU One Day is tomorrow and so, uh, we’re trying to get a locker room, and so that’s the main purpose of our donations. So I think any help we can get is greatly appreciated and definitely goes to good use. 

WSN: Totally. So as you mentioned, you play on Staten Island. How does that affect you and what does your practice regimen look like because of that? 

Pawlak: So, from a travel perspective, we have to take the train to the ferry and then ferry, so, depending on, like, who you are and where you live, it could be 45 minutes in terms of, like, total travel — maybe more. So it’s definitely not the closest, however, we do play at a great field, which is really nice. It’s right on the water, so it does get really cold and it’s very windy. That’s something definitely is, like I’m from the city, but it’s definitely an adjustment with how windy it is there. But yeah, it really is a great field. It’s a great opportunity for somewhere to play, especially at the Division-III level — I don’t think there’s very many programs that offer as nice of a field. 

WSN: Heading into the rest of the season and conference play starting at the end of March, what are you looking forward to and how are you preparing? 

Pawlak: Yeah, so our conference is definitely a very strong one. The UAA has always been one of the most competitive D-III conferences. A lot of our games are geared towards preparing ourselves for that conference, because whoever wins a conference gets an auto bid to a regional, and that’s one of our larger goals.

So, I think it’s just about preparing ourselves better every day, because we know we’re going to play some of the better teams, we’re going to play all season in conference play. So it’s trying to really be ready to go by the time we’re at Emory and squaring up for our first match. 

WSN: Awesome. Thank you so much for joining me tonight.

Pawlak: Of course. Thank you for having me. 

Contacted Sidney Snider at [email protected]