An auspicious summer of 2020 paved the way for Giovany Lorenzo to become a Tampa Spartan.
After COVID-19 shut everything down early that year, Lorenzo, then a junior at Stetson University, wanted to find a league where he could continue playing baseball.
The switch-hitter landed with the Seminole County Snappers, in the Florida Collegiate Summer League, where he batted .397 in 20 regular season games, ranking second in the league, and also finished with the third-most RBI with 19.
“That was probably the best summer of my life,” Lorenzo said in a video interview. “I played the best baseball that summer.”
Lorenzo’s strong campaign earned him a spot on the All-Florida League Team. And Spartans head coach Joe Urso was there to witness it.
Urso’s son was actually on the same club as Lorenzo. While watching J.D., who is also currently playing for his dad in Tampa, the five-time National Champion coach also got a glimpse of the then-Stetson Hatter.
“That summer actually is the reason I came here it is because [Urso] had already seen me before,” Lorenzo said. “So he didn’t have to go and watch me play, watch film, and recruit because he had seen me play.”
The University of Tampa Public Health major had been to three stops before landing with the Spartans. He went to Bethune-Cookman University in his freshman season, State College of Florida in his sophomore year, and finally to Stetson in 2020 and 2021.
Lorenzo enjoyed his stay at Stetson, but he felt like he wasn’t accomplishing his goals while playing at the Division 1 program. With that, he explored his options and Tampa was already one of the schools on his radar.
The catcher visited the campus and loved it instantly. More importantly, Lorenzo is all in on what the Spartans program stands for.
“It’s a winning program and I just wanted to come somewhere that was a winning program and contribute and try to be a piece to win,” he said.
Lorenzo is currently dealing with knee issues that has limited his role to being just a designated hitter instead of maximizing his talents as a catcher. Nonetheless, the Spartan has been playing through the pain and plans to do so the rest of the season.
In a video scrum, Coach Urso called Lorenzo “one of the purest hitters” on the team. He believes the success of their campaign depends a lot on whether the 22-year-old is healthy.
“He’s going to be key if we’re going to make a national championship run.”