Changes were needed after the IUP baseball team went a measly 2-35 (1-27 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) last season.

To that end, the Crimson Hawks hired a new coach: former major-league pitcher Steve Kline, who appeared in 796 games over 11 seasons (1997-2007) with St. Louis, Montreal, Cleveland, Baltimore and San Francisco.

A guy who was teammates with the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Albert Pujols, Pedro Martinez and Barry Bonds comes with a lot of clout and savvy. But no amount of MLB experience can help if players don’t perform better.

This season, plenty of the Crimson Hawks have raised their game, perhaps none more than Plum grad Markus Cestra. The senior middle infielder is crafting a career season.

Through April 23, he was hitting .385, more than 100 points higher than his best collegiate season (.263 as a freshman). In his past 10 games he had 22 hits — including 5-for-5, 4-for-4 and 3-for-3 games — 18 RBIs and 15 runs.

In the field, he hasn’t committed an error in 19 consecutive games (64 chances).

More importantly, the Crimson Hawks started 23-17, 12-8 in the PSAC.

“I think just having confidence,” Cestra, who leads off or bats second, said about his production. “With a lot of other guys stepping up as well, it makes it a lot easier to go to the plate knowing other guys have my back.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work, and I just have that confidence at the plate right now and defensively.”

Said Kline: “He’s just a grinder. He never wows you. He just goes out and plays. You look up, and he’s on base and doing the little things. He gives you good at-bats, and he’ll do anything to make the team win.”

At the plate is where Cestra has made his most noticeable improvement. For that, he credits assistant coaches Bruce Yard and Kyle Nicholson.

Yard, an Apollo-Ridge grad, is one of the greatest hitters in IUP history and was drafted by the L.A. Dodgers in 1993. Cestra said Yard has helped everyone in the lineup learn how to hit more line drives, and it shows in IUP’s PSAC-leading .341 batting average. The Crimson Hawks hit a league-worst .234 last season.

Cestra also attributed his success at the plate to better timing.

“I feel like I have been on time a lot this year, and that’s helped a lot,” he said. “I’m just trying to see the ball early. If I can see the ball early, everything else kind of takes care of itself. I don’t want to go up to the plate thinking about mechanics or anything like that. I just want to go up thinking about the ball.”

That simplified approach fits nicely with what Kline wants from his players. Kline preaches the steady, not necessarily the spectacular.

“Just be consistent. That’s all I really wanted of him,” Kline said. “You don’t have to worry about being fancy … you just have to make the routine plays all the time. That’s what makes a good player.

“Sometimes they play not to make a bad play. I want him to want the ball hit to him all the time, and I want him to be in the box when the game is on the line.”

Cestra figures to get plenty of chances in important games as IUP chases a spot in the PSAC Tournament and, possibly, a conference title. That seemed unthinkable a year ago, but Kline has his team believing.

Regardless of what happens this season, Cestra’s college baseball career isn’t over. He recently decided he would take advantage of the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA because of the pandemic.

But, just like his approach at the plate, Cestra is focused on what’s coming at him next.

“My focus is on this year,” he said.

“We’ve put ourselves in a great position for the playoffs. We have that confidence that we can really hang with anyone that we play against and beat anyone that we play against.”

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