New-look Nebraska baseball names five familiar faces as captains

Within a roster full of new faces, Nebraska on Friday named five baseball captains who are experienced Huskers.

A player vote produced five captains in pitchers Shay Schanaman and Kyle Perry, shortstop Brice Matthews, catcher/designated hitter Griffin Everitt and corner infielder Efry Cervantes. All except Matthews — who is beginning his third college season — are fifth-year performers still in Lincoln because of the pandemic-related free year of eligibility from 2020.

“These five guys have their own way of bringing leadership to our program,” Nebraska coach Will Bolt said in a release. “Each of these guys have been with our program for a couple of seasons now, so they understand the high standards of our program day in and day out. They have been great ambassadors for our program in welcoming our newcomers in the offseason, proving themselves as selfless teammates and consistent hard workers.”

Not surprisingly, all should factor strongly into how NU — with more newcomers than returning players — bounces back from a 23-30 campaign. Perry and Schanaman are both embracing a shift from the starting rotation to relief roles this spring, with Schanaman the likely closer.

The slick-fielding Cervantes will see the bulk of his time at first and third base while Matthews is set to anchor shortstop for a second straight year. Everitt is coming off an effort as one of NU’s most reliable hitters in 2022 while hitting .291 with eight home runs and appearing in all 53 games.

Schanaman, Perry and Everitt were also captains a season ago along with infielder/outfielder Cam Chick, who transferred to Missouri last summer. Nebraska before 2021 hadn’t elected any captains since Bolt was one as a senior on the 2002 College World Series squad. The thinking goes, Bolt has said, is that if there are no captains, sometimes the role goes unfilled.

“Those (older) guys have really put together a really strong group here and made sure that we’re hanging out, not just at baseball but outside as well,” freshman pitcher Caleb Clark said last month. “That’s kind of really helped us grow as a team.”

Nebraska’s season begins Feb. 17 with a four-game series at San Diego.