As freshmen classmates back in 2022, it didn't take long for Eric Genther to realize the impact Anthony DePino would make in the University of Rhode Island lineup.
Genther remembers witnessing an impressive opposite-field home run in the Rams’ first scrimmage against Southern New Hampshire that fall, but the swings DePino (Madison, Conn.) took continued to ‘wow’ as the spring season got underway and the stage got bigger.
“We had a brutal schedule early in the season. After (opening at William & Mary), we went to South Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee,” Genther recalled. “I’ll never forget, his first homer at Auburn was like a 450-footer. And then we went to Tennessee, and he turned on a fastball, 102 off the bat, off Drew Beam, who was a Freshman All-American that year.
“Whether it was an intrasquad scrimmage at Bill Beck Field or down south in the best baseball conference in the country, it was clear that he was going to produce … and the power was going to play.”