Team meetings and dogpiles: Camden Traficante gives insight into ERAU's super regional run
It was like scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl. You try to play the celebration cool, try to act like you’ve been there before. But it’s the end zone at the Super Bowl.
Camden Traficante watched from his shortstop position as Embry-Riddle’s first baseman Tyler Castelli caught a popup to finish the Eagles’ 16-10 victory over West Florida Sunday. He tried to play it cool, like any other game.
“Then, I turned around, and three quarters of the team is dogpiling,” Traficante said. “Then, you know, I have to get in because I can't be left out. It was pretty special.”
Embry-Riddle is on a special run right now. For the first time since jumping to Division II, it is going to the super regionals of the NCAA baseball tournament. It knocked off Delta State once and West Florida twice during the regional for the opportunity.
As a three seed, the Eagles will compete in a best-of-three series at No. 1 Tampa Friday and Saturday. The winner will progress to the eight-team Division II College World Series, June 1-8 in Cary, North Carolina.
Traficante is one of the players fronting the charge.
Embry-Riddle’s roster features nine athletes, including current redshirts, from Volusia-Flagler area high schools. But Traficante, a Spruce Creek grad, is the only senior.
He began his college career with two years at Stetson before transferring ahead of the 2023 season. His relationship with Embry-Riddle blossomed a lot longer than two years ago, though.
From the time he was 5 until he reached high school, Traficante attended the Eagles’ summer camps.
“Every year for both sessions,” he said. “It was awesome. My favorite time of the summer.”
It started with his older brother enrolling in the camps. Traficante was too young. But he’d show up with his glove and throw on the field before the campers kicked off the day’s activities.
Because Embry-Riddle coach Randy Stegall saw Traficante and got to know his family, he allowed the youngster to join the fun a year early.
“I kind of compare it to, I was just watching the Beckham Netflix (documentary) where (David) Beckham kind of grew up in the Manchester United youth system,” Stegall said. “Cam obviously wasn't with us all the time, but he kind of grew up around Embry-Riddle baseball.”
One summer, Traficante won an Eagles jersey at the camp. He still has it in his room at home.
“I still see it every day when I wake up,” he said. “It's just like, ‘Wow, I was meant to be here. This is meant to happen.’”
Not right away, though.
Stegall pursued Traficante as a recruit out of high school, but the versatile Ormond Beach native chose Stetson. After two years, he entered the transfer portal. Stegall was the first coach to contact him.
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Embry-Riddle was coming off a 24-25 campaign in 2022. In 2023, Traficante’s first year in blue and gold, it went 25-23. It swept national No. 3 Rollins during the final weekend of the season to eclipse .500 and carry some momentum into the offseason.
“We knew we had a majority of our key guys back, and we knew we had a couple of new players coming in — some transfers and things — that we felt like could fill some holes for us and get us to the next level,” Stegall said.
“The message for our exit meetings last year, there were really two goals. That was to win 30 games and get in position to make a regional.”
In January, the Sunshine State Conference coaches released their preseason poll. It ranked the Eagles eighth out of 11 programs.
“We knew where everybody placed us this season,” Traficante said. “Coach actually talked to us about it at the beginning of the season. He actually said, ‘These people, they don't know what they're talking about. We're going to go prove them wrong.’ We knew we had a good team way back then, and sure enough, here we are now.”
Traficante also brought high expectations for himself into this season. Sure, he wanted to play well. But he also aimed to step into a bigger leadership role. He felt he stayed in the background at times during his junior year.
Despite the preseason projection, Embry-Riddle remained in a good situation throughout the majority of the spring. On April 21, it held a 23-17 record.
But on April 19 and 20, it had dropped two-of-three against Palm Beach Atlantic. Stegall didn’t like the way it played.
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Last fall, he met with a group of about 10 upperclassmen and team leaders, including Traficante and another Spruce Creek product, junior pitcher Joe Balsam. They discussed the squad’s goals and procedures.
Now with 10 regular-season games left, Stegall called on the veterans again.
His message: Stay locked in. Win seven of the last 10. That would put the Eagles at 30 wins, which was one of their objectives.
“I just felt like some opportunities were kind of running out and we needed to get their attention and try to refocus on what we needed to do to accomplish those goals,” Stegall said.
His team listened. It rattled off seven victories in a row.
“That was kind of a turning point,” Traficante said. “It kind of clicked in our minds like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can do this. This is attainable. It's not a fairytale anymore.’”
Overall, Embry-Riddle closed the regular season with an 8-2 stretch, moving its total to 31-19. It earned a spot at regionals.
The Eagles defeated No. 6 Delta State 4-2 Thursday and No. 7 West Florida 11-5 Friday. They fell to West Florida 6-3 Saturday, resulting in a third straight matchup with the Argonauts Sunday.
Stegall felt Saturday’s loss helped his players. It upped their urgency, removing their security blanket in the double-elimination format.
They rebounded with the 16-10 win.
Traficante scorched Delta State and West Florida at the plate. Across the four games, he tallied 10 hits in 16 at-bats. He had four knocks, including a homer, and scored four runs in Sunday’s closeout contest.
“I was just trying to have some fun and play loose,” Traficante said. “It's an amazing opportunity, and I might not ever have this opportunity again. It's just trying to have fun and go play with the guys. Whatever happens, happens. You just have to trust in your routines and all the practice time you've had up to that point.”
His success raised his batting average to .318. Traficante paces the lineup in OPS (.965), runs (55), doubles (17), dingers (six) and RBIs (53) while defending well at shortstop. He has started every game this season.
“Cam has just been an anchor for us for two years,” Stegall said. “Special player, special kid, special family. Couldn't be more proud of him. He's one of those guys, along with a couple other guys, that we're super happy about getting to extend their careers and play it out and see how far we can go.
“But no doubt, we're not in this position without him.”
So it’s on to Tampa.
Win, and continue the shot at a national championship. Lose, and go home.
Embry-Riddle faced Tampa once this year. The Spartans (43-11) claimed two-of-three during a series in mid-March in Daytona Beach.
This time, it’s at Tampa’s place. The Eagles have been better on the road and at neutral sites than at home this year.
“I learned that they're the best Tampa team, I think, since we've been at this level,” Stegall said. “They don't have a whole lot of weaknesses. I also learned we can play with them ...
“Obviously, they're not going to take us lightly at this point in the year. I'm expecting their 'A' game and just looking for our guys to compete and do what we can do to try to win ballgames.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College baseball: Embry-Riddle led by Camden Traficante in playoff run
