Season 1, Episode 33- Colin Ciavarelli

In the Season 1 finale of Immaculata Athletics' "Tuesday Talk" podcast, we discuss the end of baseball's season and look back on highlights from each team in the 2025-26 athletics year.

Listen to our special guest, Immaculata student broadcaster Colin Ciavarelli!

"Memories" interlude music written by Soundroll
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License code: 1DFK7PQ3EPFYKYOJ

Release date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026

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Transcript

Introduction

SPEAKER_03 0:11

Welcome to episode 33 of the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. Joined by Director of Athletic Communications, Larry Dielman, and student assistant Connor Kakowski. This is Sports and Information Director Andy Alvarez bringing you results and news in this past week's action and immaculata athletics. Well, we've reached a final episode of season one of the Tuesday Talk with the baseball season coming to an end on Friday. So has our 2025-2026 athletics year. Let's uh get started looking back at last week's results.

Baseball

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Let's go to baseball. Baseball concluded their season in the Atlantic East Conference tournament, taking on Marymount before bowing out to Centenary. Merrymount, the game was a 5-2 final in favor of the Saints. Matt Pasarini and Josh Goulburn each had a run. Pasarini added three hits. An RBI went to Hunter Weitzel and JT Luther. Alex LePage started on the mound eight innings and had three strikeouts. Immaculata scored both runs in the eighth inning, but the comeback came up short. Against Centenary on Friday, the Mighty Max faced Sentenary in the second game because Centenary also lost on Thursday, but they lost to Merrywood to start the tournament. And it was a double elimination tournament as we mentioned in last week's show. After the first games, you had the two winners and the two losers of those first games. So Immaculata drew Sentenary. 16-8 was the final in favor of the Cyclones. Danny Nasito had a good end to his freshman campaign. Three runs, three hits, and two RBIs against Sentenary. Hunter Weitzel, Ryan Nace each had three hits apiece. Ryan Nace and Nick Turnage, two RBIs apiece. And then Aiden Jackson and Trevor Robbins led the pitching staff with two strikeouts each. Centenary started the game with a nine-run first inning, which essentially sealed the game, but the Mighty Max put up eight runs to try to cut into that deficit. Immaculata Baseball finished the season 15-24 and 10-8 in Atlantic's conference play. It was a two-win improvement from last year and three-win improvement in conference play. So, guys, tough way to end for baseball. They had a lot of good highlights this year and going 0-2 in the conference postseason kind of a bummer, but a lot looked forward to. They have a lot of young talent. You're bringing back guys like Alex LePage on the mound, a lot of good hitters, and hopefully they can be competitive in the conference next year.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Oh yeah, that was a tough finish for baseball this year with the lost series to centenary last week and then a rough tournament here. But you know, they'll be back. They as you said, there's a lot of guys that are still coming back. Alex LePage, who was arguably your number one pitcher this year, and definitely helped was build the team up. But yeah, it was definitely a tough end to the season, but they'll be back.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Yeah, I mean, it was that was kind of difficult seeing those last couple weeks of the season. But they there were some great moments again this season. Uh they they had a real strong run in conference play, winning uh several series in a row, and that huge comeback against Merrywood is something we will always remember around here. And then obviously, you know, some other moments that were pretty good for them this year. So hopefully, you know, you'll be able to bring in some additional recruiting class players and with the guys returning and the young players they have, it should be a you know, you'll see more improvement in the team next season.

2025-26 Immaculata Fall Sports Highlights

SPEAKER_03 3:38

And with that, we're gonna take a chance to go back and look at some highlights for each of our teams on their uh seasons this year, and I'll begin looking at the fall. Field hockey uh had a dramatic comfort behind win in overtime at Gwyn Mercy, where they clenched a playoff spot on the goal by uh Gigi Fox, overtime winner, sent them on to uh the the conference playoffs in semifinals. Men's soccer, you had the dramatic 0-0 or 0-0, as you say in soccer draw versus Merrymount. Luca Greppolini was outstanding in goal that day. Women's soccer, you had the uh one to nothing win over Newman here at AAC win at Faberwall Stadium. Lily McGee scored the uh the lone goal of that game. Women's volleyball had a dramatic comeback win at Newman in the fifth set to win that uh match and clinched a playoff berth for the first time in a couple years and got to the conference semifinals for the first time for them. So that was uh you know a huge moment for them. Men's and women's cross-country teams in the fall ended up as runner-ups in the uh AEC. So both teams finished second overall. Hopefully that's something they'll be able to improve on going forward, but that was a big moment for their teams in our fall seasons.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Yeah, a lot of great stuff from our fall teams and field hockey. They would end up making the postseason against Newman. So that clutch goal from Gigi Fox was great against Gwynnon Mercy. Men's soccer, I mean, that Merrymount game was filthy. You know, Luca Greppellini was superhuman that day, keeping that that tight against Marymount. And I believe, if I remember correctly, we had heard from Merrymount's coaching staff, like they complimented Luca's play. He took so many shots face that game, and he just was on a mission, and it was just one of the highlights of the season. You know, women's soccer against Newman again, another clutch win, women's volleyball against Newman, and that really we were watching that live on the live stream. That was that was at their place, but we were watching, and that was a great one to witness in cross country. You know, runners up. I mean, obviously you can't win them all, but you know, to have both teams beat runners up just truly remarkable, led by some great athletes on both teams.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Yeah, the fall was definitely a season to remember. I mean, I remembered that day we were out doing a men's soccer and we were watching that field hockey come from behind win in the press box, and we saw Gigi have that was our first collegiate goal, too. So that was a really good collegiate goal to have for your first one and in a big moment too. And but yeah, Luca was filthy that game against Marymount, just dodging every ball that was coming his way. Women's volleyball they all they won that Maxby award for this game over Newman. I think it was the play of the year award. I mean, cross country definitely was a good showing this year for runners up in the conference on both teams. And it's gonna be weird not running this year, but I'll be on the coaching side, so that's gonna be an interesting new part that I'm gonna have to adjust to, but I'm excited and looking forward to

2025-26 Immaculata Winter Sports Highlights

SPEAKER_01 6:31

it.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Let's transition over to our winter sports highlights for each of our teams. Starting with men's basketball, I think there's only one obvious answer, at least one that stands out, is the double overtime home opener against Moravian. That really was a strong start in Kyle Stramera's tenure here as the Mighty Max head coach. I mean, how else do you want to start with that kind of thrilling game? The Mighty Max would fall, but just a truly remarkable game. And it was pushing triple OT. And I know we were all dying at the table, but it was a great game overall. Women's basketball, pretty obvious on this one. Winning back-to-back Atlantic East Conference Championships, this time taking down Marywood, and they got their automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Men's and women's swimming, each team placed fourth at the Atlantic East Conference Championships. That was in February, and men's and women's indoor track and field rewrote the record book plenty of times with several athletes making top 10 marks. We saw indoor program records and way throw for Colin Corkery and Maggie Friend. Aubrey Donahue has the 3K meter indoor time and Joseph Pierre Jacques with the indoor triple jump record. A lot of great stuff with indoor track and field. As we said, you just rewriting the record book. But our winter sports, not too many winter sports, obviously, just because of the weather conditions, but they definitely did their roles, women's basketball leading the way, and you know, men's basketball looking to make a comeback next year, swimming, they'll be looking to get back in the the win column and indoor track and field always doing their thing.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Yeah, that was a uh a good season for our winter teams. Obviously, that game with the overtime being on the broadcast call for that double overtime game. Yeah, having those, you know, that big, big three-pointer hit in that game to kind of force that game along. That was a lot of fun. Then obviously, what else can you say about what the women's basketball team has been able to do here the last couple of years and to be a part, to be on the call for those games and be able to be on the call for for the second straight year and my third consecutive year calling in an Immaculate championship game. Baseball, obviously in 2024, down in Shenandoah, and then basketball the last two years. That's been a great honor for me to have that privilege to be a part of that and be able to make those calls. And you know, just to see the team, you know, people doubted them and things like that, but they fought their way through every challenge that was thrown in front of them. You know, go through the conference schedule, undefeated again, this time 14 games, and then take the two playoff games. You know, a lot of great moments. Obviously, swimming to have both teams go down to plays forked at the Atlantic East Championships. That was a solid finish for both our teams. And I know he's got a lot of talent coming back and a lot of talent coming in on the swim teams next year, so they look to be even more competitive next year. And you obviously, you know, you're seeing these great people on in the track program. You know, obviously Aubrey Donahue's been at it for a third year. Then you see uh freshman, Colin Corkery, but also Maggie Friendsman puts up good numbers. It's great to see them continue to push the the envelope. And next year, indoor track's gonna have an actual championship to compete for with the combination with the United East Conference for uh for indoor track. So that's gonna make that even more exciting in the winter time for them to have something to actually compete for, in addition to just using those meets to prepare for the outdoor season in the spring.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Yeah, a lot of memorable moments from the winter season. I mean, that second overtime game against Maraven. I mean, that was just insane being down there at the desk. I mean, the crowd was just off the walls that night. It was the whiteout game that I planned for when I was the sack president, but it was definitely an exciting atmosphere to be in. And women's basketball, not much else you can say about them, but something special for these back-to-back championships. Swimming, good season for them. They're both small teams, but they both battled hard. And yeah, track and field just rewrote every meet they went to, re-running the indoor. There was some kind of record, some kind of top 10 finish. I remember Jaden Barksdale in the first meeting Alvaria broke the 60-meter dash record, and he holds that program record now. So a lot of good moments from

2025-26 Immaculata Spring Sports Highlights

SPEAKER_01 10:33

winner. Switching to the spring season now, where it was definitely our busiest time for a lot of great moments, starting off with baseball. We talked about earlier when we're talking about that comeback win over Merrywood, Alex Thronowski's walk-off to help the Money Max score six runs in the bottom of the ninth. Softball had a come from behind win over Merrimount on the final day of the season with Riley Martin's go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Men's Across had an opening day win over St. Vincent at Draperall Stadium, 7-6, behind a good performance by Jason Smarin. Women's Across had a dominating win over No Deam and Maryland. You saw a lot of good moments in that. Morgan Barnes had her first collegiate goals in those games. Flag football, who could forget, given Merrimount their first ever Alankees conference loss in program history in a season opener. That was something fun to see. Men's volleyball had the reverse sweep over Newman after being down two sets. Men's and women's outdoor tracking field hosted the Alankees Conference Championship and won multiple postseason awards. Abby Grillo, rookie of the year. And her season is actually not done yet because on Monday night this week, she is competing in a last chance qualifier meet to qualify for nationals. I believe she runs a sub-210, they're going to be taking a trip to Wisconsin come Memorial Day weekend. So that's exciting, and we'll keep everyone up to date on that. And men's and women's tennis, both teams beat Newman to Clinchy playoff spot, and that was always something good to see. So the spring was definitely the most busy time for us, but it was definitely brought a lot of good moments too.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Yeah, the spring was definitely a crazy time. It always is in sports information. It doesn't matter what department or what school, it's it's always a crazy time with all the games and stuff. Baseball, it's going down the list here. Baseball, I was there for that Merrywood game. That was just insanity. Seeing that walk-off bases clearing, series clinching triple by Alex Tranowski was one of the wilder moments that I've seen in my career for softball. That Merrymount win Riley Martin with the go-ahead shot to center field. We talked about that in recent episodes, and I was just walking to the field to see what was going on, and I just happened to be walking as the ball went over the fence. I'm like, oh, that's nice. And I didn't know that, you know, that was the context of that one. So that was great to see. Men's lacrosse, you know, they did really well this season, and that St. Vincent game was definitely part of that. Women's lacrosse, Notre Dame, Maryland. That was that was pretty much over in the first quarter, and 21-2 was the score for that. Fly football, seeing Marymount get their first conference loss ever what an accomplishment, especially with Bill taking over as the head coach this season, new coach, and automatically giving Marymount a loss was really impressive. Men's volleyball, that reverse sweep was really cool to see on home court, and you thought down 2-0, and you're like, yeah, I don't know. And they they really slowly climbed their way back in, and in the fifth set, they had all the momentum. And then for tennis, tough seasons for them, but they did beat Newman, they did clinch a playoff spot, both fell to the eventual champions. But hey, small steps, they beat Newman, they got the playoff spot, they have a bright future. And then outdoor track and field, you know, hosting the conference championships this year was awesome. And a lot of postseason awards that we posted on the social media pages, and a couple of the years with Colin Corkery and Abby Grillo, you know, despite them being just freshmen, they're already making a big impact on our program as well as all of our other track and field athletes.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Yeah, that was uh the spring season had was was crazy at times, but there were some great memories. Connor and I being over at softball when that comeback against Mary Wood happened and you know, seeing it through the fence, and Connor's like, should I go grab it? I'm like, go, go, go, go, you know, and he got running there, but got that interview real quick with Mr. Tronowski, I believe that was after that that hit. Softball, I mean, what a moment that was. And her final at Baton in college softball, you know, Riley Martin going up there, the pinch hit, knowing that I personally had the feeling that could happen. And she hit the first pitch over the uh center field fence. Just to see the excitement in her, the team, see her her family, her parents, everything, you know, being there for that moment. That's one of those memories, particularly, like I said, I have a lot of good feelings about this senior class this year because these are the people I started with. So, you know, it's great to see that. Men's lacrosse, that opening day game, you know. We're wondering if we were even going to get that game in with the weather and everything like that. The snowpiles around the field, and you know, they get go in there and you know, they get that goal in the f in the dying seconds to win that game, following a big save by Matt Ludlow. You know, obviously Matt Ludlow being the all-time saves leader in program history, and you have, you know, third to nation in save percentage and twelfth in NCAA history and saves. Women's lacrosse at dominating win. You beat Notre Dame, Maryland that day. To see the different players get involved in the scoring that game was great. You know, uh obviously you had Riley Mullen coming up in the back end, scoring a pair of goals that day. And, you know, and then you had Abigail Guarniri gets a win that day, and she finishes the second all-time in program history with 492 saves. Congratulations to her on that great you know, moment, number in her career. Flag football, I mean, beating Merrimount that day after seeing how the games had gone against them the last couple years to have that team to start off the season that way and get such a big win. You knew something's good was going to happen with that season and you know, to finish the way they did third the conference and everything, like go to the semifinals was was outstanding. A home playoff win, great. They had men's volleyball in conference play for the first time in my time here was something special. And to see them, you know, that reverse sweep, have them clinch a playoff spot right after that, make an appearance in the United East Conference playoffs as their first year as a member. Obviously, that you know the track and field championships were uh were something special to have here. A lot of work goes into it. A lot of people did some amazing things. Uh, our athletes performed, you know, there were some real special moments in that too, and uh having them win awards is a great sign for our track and field programs going forward. And then, you know, men's men's and women's tennis. Well, it might not have been the easiest of the season, but there were some great performances from several players. And, you know, to see them, you know, fight their way through that match, get the win against Newman to advance to the the conference tournament again this year for both teams. And you know, got to the semifinals, they lost, but it was, you know, a great step forward for the tennis programs as well. So it's it's been a it's been it was a good spring season, and you know, we we look forward to when the next years come around seeing what's in store for our teams. It should be something special. I think now would be a good time to bring in our guest, Colin Sivarelli, our student broadcaster. So we'll be back after this quick break. And

Colin Ciavarelli Interview

SPEAKER_03 17:11

welcome back to the Tuesday Talk IU Athletic Podcast. We are joined by our final guest of the season, Immaculata Athletics Student Broadcaster Colin Sivarelli. Welcome to the show, Colin.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Thank you, Andy. Thank you guys for having me on.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

First, uh, how did you get started doing play-by-play broadcasting? And has it always been your dream to step into this field?

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Yeah, so I actually didn't start doing any sort of play-by-play till I got here to Immaculata. I expressed interest in doing some football games back in my high school, but I didn't really have time to. But when I got here to IU, I wanted to let myself settle in in the first semester, focus on my schoolwork, work on finding a routine for myself. And then once the second semester started, I wanted to make sure I got involved in doing the play-by-play. And to answer the second part of your question, it has always been a dream of mine to at least get involved in some kind of sports media. I've always loved watching sports, even growing up as a little kid. I would stand in front of the TV and just like have my eyes glued to the screen. So I've always had an interest in it, and it's been wonderful to start to get involved in it this year.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Who would you say is your favorite commentator when you watch games on TV, or maybe if you're listening to a radio broadcast and why? For example, maybe you model your call style after them. Maybe they're very knowledgeable about the event they're covering, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah, that's a great question, Larry. A lot of people that usually ask me this, and it's always so hard to pick. I mean, there's so many good broadcasters that I model myself after. I mean, the Phillies play-by-play announcer, Tom McCarthy, comes to mind. The Phillies have always been my favorite team since I was a kid. So I've always loved listening to him. But if I had to pick one, I would say Jim Nance, the lead play-by-play on CBS. He's broadcasted golf for many years. He did basketball until as recent as a couple of years ago. He's done football as well. And I'd say he's my favorite just because he just provides that like soothing voice in the booth. And he's provided some great calls as well throughout his career. So I would say if I had to pick one, I'd model myself after him the closest.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

So picking up on that, what would you say is your favorite call you ever heard? Either in like a live clip or something you might have seen online. There's definitely a lot of calls in basketball and baseball, which you were just talking about. So what's like your favorite all-time call you've ever heard from an announcer?

SPEAKER_00 19:33

I mean, this is another question I get a lot, Connor. I mean, I'll give you two answers. Uh, one answer, I didn't hear it in person, but obviously heard it online. Harry Callis' call when the Phillies won the World Series back in 2008. That last call when Brad Lidge gets the last strikeout, it just it gives me goosebumps every time I listen to that. And in person, gosh, I mean, I would say when Bryce Harper hit that home run in the 2022 NLCS Game 5, that was Joe Davis who had that call, called it the swing of his life. That was my favorite in-person call to hear. And it always amazes me how these announcers can just come up with the perfect thing to say in like the heat of the moment, like that. That's that's something I think about pretty often. So I just think it's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

When you joined us earlier in the year and you had a particular interest in calling basketball and baseball games, how do you prepare for a broadcast in each sport? Are they drastically different approaches, relatively the same?

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Yeah, I mean, the sports, they're so different, right? I mean, calling basketball versus baseball. I mean, basketball, it's much more fast-paced. The action is happening at a much quicker rate. So I would say basketball is a little harder to prepare for because if you take your eyes off the action for like five seconds, you're gonna miss so much, right? So I would say during that like preparation time, I spend a lot of time looking at the rosters ahead of time, making sure that I'm familiar with the names. Uh, of course, before I started calling basketball and baseball, I really spent a lot of effort in getting to know Immaculata's roster so that I was familiar with all of our own players. And then in terms of the opponents we would face in different games, I would just look at the rosters an hour or two before each game, write down a bunch of names. But with baseball specifically, I would actually draw the baseball diamond. I would draw the field like in my notebook, write down all the names of the starters, and then throughout, because with baseball, there's so many substitutions that are that are made. And with each substitution, I would cross out the name and write the name of the player that would get subbed in. So that would really just help me keep track of okay, who's on the field at what time, where what position are they at, things like that, just so I wouldn't lose track while I would be up in the booth.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

What are your future goals with play by play broadcasting?

SPEAKER_00 21:59

Yeah, it's a great. Question, Andy. I definitely plan on continuing the play by play here at Immaculata. That's I I love getting involved with it this you know past semester. And then beyond that, I definitely want to enter sports media in some capacity. I mean, play by play, it's one of those, it's a very hard field to get into. So I recognize that it might be hard to get into that specifically. But if I can just find some sort of job opportunity in sports media in general, I would consider that to be to be a success.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Well, Khan, I definitely have to say I enjoyed, you know, having you join me on the basketball broadcast this year. That was I've been doing the games for the first couple of years by myself, and it was it was great to have that second person in there with me. Really brought the broadcast to like a new level this year. Particularly, you know, those those games down the stretch going into the into the playoffs and the women's run to the second championship, and having you with me on the championship game that day was just outstanding. And then, you know, you you did a great job with baseball this spring, you know. That's uh not easy sometimes taking over, and you had some some games that were a challenge, you know, with the uh you know long games and things like that, some crazy comebacks. You have to be there for that Mary Wood comeback. And then obviously, you know, the last games with uh with Sentenary and everything like that. So I think you did a great job. And uh, we look forward to you know having you back with us again next year with the games and uh maybe we could expand on your roles going forward. And we appreciate you uh coming on and talking with us today since the semester has ended. You have gone back home for the year. So we appreciate you jumping on with us.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Yes, thank you, Andy. Thank you guys again for having me on, and thank you for giving me the opportunity this year to join you guys on the broadcast. It was it was a real pleasure, it was such a fun time. Like you said, getting to be a part of that championship run for basketball, that was that was really special. And getting that experience with baseball as well was was really fun the spring. So it was a great semester, and I'm looking forward to continuing to keep this going in the future.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

And we'll be back after this quick break on the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast.

Conclusion

SPEAKER_03 24:10

And welcome back to the Tuesday Talk I.U. Athletics Podcast. Well, that will kind of wrap up things here for the season at the Tuesday Talk Podcast. Uh, as we go on a summer hiatus, unless you know something major kind of happens over the summer that would prompt a quick episode. The podcast should return sometime in kind of early September, maybe the end of August as the seasons are starting to build for our teams. We'd like to thank all of our listeners and our 37 guests we've had this season for making the first season a success. If you want to be a future guest or have any comments or suggestions, please let us know.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

This was really fun to do. I look forward to doing it again next year. We're gonna have to find a new title for me better than student assistant, because I'm not technically gonna be a student anymore, but we'll work on that. This has been a lot of fun. I look forward to doing all this again next year since I am coming back for grad school and assisting cross-country and still working with all you guys. So it's gonna be fun next season.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Yeah, this has been a great opportunity, and I thank Andy for bringing me on for this. And what started out as a little idea when I first joined Immaculata, it's turned into this big accomplishment. So it's been a great, fulfilling thing to do. Definitely keeps us busy on Mondays and Tuesdays, but definitely has been an awesome ride updating you guys about all the wins and losses and awards and everything that goes on in Mighty Max Athletics has been, you know, really amazing. And we'll look forward to doing that back in September once the season gets underway. But for now, summer hiatus, it is, and it's been fun.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

Yeah, and I'd like to really express my thanks and gratitude to Kyle and for coming on with us today and help me in the broadcast. But then to have you guys and our other guests, but to have Connor, you know, do the work he's done helping us line up many of our guests. Those guests don't get here if we don't have his help sometimes with getting that stuff coordinated, so that's been huge. And obviously, Larry, your work behind the scenes this year with this really helped a lot to help me get this idea I had from exploring around what other schools were doing and things I wanted to bring here to Immaculata and have someone with experience with it to be able to step in and say, okay, we could do this, we could do this. And then uh your lead in doing most of the behind all the behind-the-scenes editing and everything like that has been huge to this project, and I really appreciate that. And something I've look forward to doing each week, the shows were you know always fun to do and to bring you know bring the stories of our athletes and Immaculata out to the public more in a different format than just writing articles or posting graphics on a social media page. So I've enjoyed being able to help bring this and to play a part in it, and something I look forward to us being able to continue going forward. It's the time for the summer you know hiatus break and it'll be good for everyone. But we look forward to and we hope if you and the people have ideas or people that other students out there that want to get involved with us with this, please reach out. You know, we we're glad to welcome ideas and anybody that wants to be involved with us with this, you know, if there's a way or a role we could help have you help us with, it would be great. So once again, it's been a great season. I thank everyone for tuning in and all our guests and the athletics department and the administration here at the school that gave us the green light to do this project. And uh look forward to seeing you again in the fall when we're back at Roll Max.