The Saint Joseph's baseball team stood for the national anthem during the opening ceremonies of one of the biggest games of their season. No, it was not an Atlantic 10 regular season game or the Liberty Bell Classic Championship; it was the team's 2-on-2 mini-basketball tournament championship.
 
"They took that to the next level, it was huge," said head coach Fritz Hamburg. "It's moments like that which bring a team together. These guys found a way to connect early. There has been a great vibe since the fall. You see the enjoyment, the laughter, the levity. They've found ways to connect with each other day in and day out, and they've been rewarded for it."
 
Redshirt sophomore Jason Janesko and junior Justin Sweeney were crowned champions after a sold-out title game in the team's locker room. Team bonding moments like these have been integral to the success Hamburg's club has seen on the field.
 
The program used the fall to build an unbreakable bond that helped them win the A-10 regular-season title and Liberty Bell Classic.
 
It started with 5:45 a.m. lifts in the gym three times a week and gradually transformed into team trips to the Jersey Shore with weekly Crimson and Gray challenges on and off the field. Through these team activities, the group's chemistry grew stronger. The goal was to use the fall to build relationships, get in baseball shape, challenge each other, but most importantly, have fun.
 
"We like to emphasize that every day is a new day," Hamburg said. "The key is to continue doing what got us here, and keep having fun. That's the way this group has rolled all year."
 
Hamburg, who is in his 18th season as head coach on Hawk Hill, has led the program to new heights. He has spearheaded two A-10 regular-season championship teams (2023 and 2026) and won the Liberty Bell Classic four times (2012, 2014, 2016, 2026).
 
While Hamburg has managed many talented and tight teams over his almost two decades at the helm, there was a special feeling about this season's roster from day one. Even his players knew early on that this year's team had something special brewing.
 
"We are just a bunch of guys coming together who want to win," said senior Andrew Gaines. "Skip gave us all a chance here, and we're just trying to make the most of it."
 
Gaines, the team's closer, is in his first season with St. Joe's. The native of Marlton, New Jersey, transferred from Pittsburgh with an eye on joining a team with a lot of familiar faces.
 
The senior had built-in relationships with a handful of Hawks before setting foot on campus. Gaines grew up playing baseball with senior Ethan Bowen and lived down the street from junior Carson Magill. He also trains at the Baseball Performance Center in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., with Sweeney, senior Christian Coppola, sophomore Logan Franks and junior Duke McCarron.
 
"It was really cool to know a bunch of guys coming in as a senior," Gaines said. "You can't tell the difference between a freshman and a senior because everyone is cool with each other. There are no outcasts; we are all pretty close."
 
Gaines and junior Tim Dickinson credited the team's trip to Long Beach Island in the late fall for bringing the group closer than ever.
 
Sophomore Jake Saker's family hosted the entire team at their shore house for a team bonding event that included Crimson and Gray challenges on the beach, community service activities and shared meals with players and coaches.
 
The Crimson and Gray challenges comprised Spikeball, relay races in the sand and Navy SEAL-style workouts. The players battled temperatures in the low 40 degrees while wearing winter hats and running barefoot in the sand. With it being November, the service activities were used to gather Thanksgiving food and create medical supply kits for those in need. The trip was bookended by a team dinner and a team brunch.  
 
"It was an awesome experience," Gaines said. "It wasn't the easiest, running up and down the beach, but it was definitely something that we will remember and helped shape our team."
 
"Even though it was a competition among us, and there was some trash talk, it really showed what this group is made of," said Dickinson. "We all love each other, and we take pride in that. We are going to pick each other up and learn from each other, no matter if we win or lose."
 
Dickinson, a local product from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, is in his third season on Hawk Hill and has become one of the program's trusted leaders.
 
Hamburg often challenges his leaders to set examples for the younger guys, something he is comfortable doing, knowing that players like Dickinson can handle the criticism and use it to their advantage.
 
"I take that responsibility for being accountable and setting an example, which builds trust and brings us together," Dickinson said. "Fritz makes guys want to run through a wall playing for him because he takes the game as emotionally as we do."
 
While team chemistry and accountability are all aspects of a successful group, you still need to perform on the field, which St. Joe's has done to a high level this year.
 
St. Joe's finished the regular season at 35-18, tying a program record for wins in a single season. They ended the season 25-5 in conference play, accumulating the most single-season wins in A-10 history. St. Joe's won the conference's regular-season title with six games remaining, doing so before any other team in the A-10 clinched a postseason berth.
 
In the midst of its success in conference play, St. Joe's showed its strength locally, winning the Liberty Bell Classic for the fourth time in program history and for the first time in a decade. The Hawks defeated Penn, 8-2, at Citizens Bank Park in the championship game.
 
"That was a good measuring stick for our club," Hamburg said. "We talked about how we hadn't been back to the championship game since 2016. Everyone knows the Liberty Bell Classic games are more than just games. That was this group's first championship opportunity and certainly an experience we will pull from and look back on as we navigate the A-10 tournament."
 
"Everyone wants to play at Citizens Bank Park," Gaines said. "For us, it wasn't just about playing at 'The Bank'; it was about winning. Getting to Citizens Bank Park and winning the Liberty Bell Classic was our first big goal as a team."
 
While Hamburg's squad has seen individuals get recognized and set records, like Gaines being named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year midseason watch list, or sophomore Blake Primrose setting the program record for most home runs in a season (24), it has been a collective effort from all 34 players on the roster.
 
St. Joe's showed that in the final regular season game of the year on Saturday, scoring eight runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Rhode Island, 14-12. Down six, they scored all eight runs with two outs, getting four consecutive run-scoring singles, capped off by a go-ahead, three-run home run from graduate student Richard Beggy. St. Joe's got six hits from six different players and three walks from three different players to cap off a historic regular season.
 
"It comes down to the time we spend together off the field," Dickinson said. "There are some teams that might be more talented than us, or even not as talented, but it's the camaraderie we have that has been a big advantage for us. We hold each other accountable and pick one another up. We just enjoy being around each other and are having fun together."
 
"If you asked them who'd they'd want at the plate or in the field to make a play in the biggest moment, their answer is always going to be 'anybody,'" Hamburg said. "We obviously have our core guys that play every day, but when you look across the board, everyone has contributed. They lean on each other and believe in each other; that's been the key."
 
The group has accomplished two of its three biggest goals this season. First, they won the Liberty Bell Classic. Then, they won the A-10 regular-season title. Now, the focus has shifted to winning the A-10 tournament and getting to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
 
To accomplish their third goal, St. Joe's will have to do something they've never done before, while breaking a 52-year drought.
 
The program has never won the Atlantic 10 postseason tournament. In doing so, St. Joe's would receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, a tournament they haven't reached since 1974.
 
"It would be extremely special," Hamburg said emotionally. "It would be tremendous for our university and our alumni. When I got here 18 years ago, the program had never qualified for an A-10 tournament or won a Liberty Bell Classic. There are a lot of people who have invested time, effort, and financial support to change the trajectory of this program. To do it for them would mean a lot."