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By CHRISTOPHER WHITCOMB
Cronkite News
PHOENIX — A new season means new players and new goals, but for Grand Canyon baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz, a familiar face graces the clubhouse.
His son’s.
Freshman Dane Stankiewicz and the 2-1 Antelopes open a three-game series at Wichita State today.
Despite Dane’s accomplishments at Gilbert High School, where he batted .307 his senior season while playing shortstop and second base, Andy didn’t want their relationship to cloud his judgment.
“I asked my coaching staff, I said, ‘You guys watched Dane play and you tell me whether or not he can play here,’ ” Andy said. “They’re the ones that came to me and said, ‘Hey man, he can play here. It might not be right away but he’ll have a chance to play here.’ ”
Andy Stankiewicz didn’t want the relationship to blur his vision, but for Dane, having his dad as a coach influenced his decision to play for the Antelopes.
“I think he’s one of the best coaches in the country and that was a big reason for me coming here,” he said.
From the outside, the father-son relationship can present rare challenges, but the coach put to the rest the notion of preferential treatment.
“(The guys) know that the best players play and if he becomes one of those guys he’ll play and if he doesn’t he won’t,” Andy said. “It’s really pretty simple.
“I said, ‘If you’re going to play here, you’re going to have to be head and shoulders above your competition’ and so he understands that and he accepted the challenge.”
Dane admits he was apprehensive about choosing Grand Canyon.
“(It was) in the back of my mind for sure but it’s baseball wherever you go, so it’s the same everywhere,” Dane said.
With the season underway, Dane has seen the effort his dad makes to keep family and baseball separate.
“He’s doing a good job of it. I’ve noticed it,” Dane said. “Practice and during intra-squad and stuff I’m a player, it’s basically it. And then at home when I go see him every Sunday, I’m his son.”
Dane looks forward to contributing anyway he can.
“I’m just going to take my role as a freshman, whatever they need me to do, I’m going to do it,” he said. “If it’s cheering on my teammates, if it’s maybe to get a bunt down, whatever they need me to do, I’m going to do it.”
The Antelopes achieved a quick start to the season, taking two out of three from visiting No. 22 Oklahoma State before dropping an exhibition game to the Diamondbacks.
They are on the road at Wichita State and St. Mary’s before returning home for a three-game series with San Francisco that starts March 10.