Exeter grad Max Dundore changes his hitting style at Albright College
You may remember Max Dundore playing baseball for both the Exeter high school and American Legion baseball teams. At that time he hit for power. Batting third in the line-up, he was thinking home run just about every time he was at the plate. Today he’s playing his senior season for the Albright College baseball team. Now, hitting lower in the line-up, he’s more concerned with just making contact with the ball. It has seen mixed results.
When he joined the Albright team in 2012, Albright head baseball coach Jeff Feiler changed Dundore’s style of hitting. He wanted to see his average go up, not his home run total. It worked his freshman season. He started all 40 games, hitting .312 that season, scoring 34 runs and driving in 24. His season earned him a spot on the First Team All-Commonwealth squad.
He had a bit of a sophomore slump, but still started all 35 games for the Lions with 15 RBIs and 17 runs scored.
He bounced back in his junior season to hit .301 with 17 runs scored and nine RBIs.
“I feel that my baseball career has been well while at Albright,’ said Dundore. “I have met most of my expectations during my four years there, as well as having some of the best teammates that I have had around me in years. ”
Dundore has been playing baseball since he was five years old. When he was 12 years old he joined the Exeter Cardinals prep team coached by Chris Diguardi and John Robinson. He then went on to play for coach Brian Hayes Sr. and Brian Hayes Jr. for the Exeter Cardinals. Max give both Brian Sr. and Jr. a lot of the credit for his success in baseball.
“I played for these two men right before I entered high school, and I learned a lot about the fundamentals of the game, as well as the reasoning behind some of the decisions made on the baseball field.’
He joined the Exeter senior legion team when he was 15, and was the youngest player on the team. It was a tough situation for any player to be in, but Dundore said that head coach Mike Zintek made it much easier for him.
“I was the youngest member of that team, but he treated me like I was one of his oldest players,’ said Dundore. “He put me in situations that tested my ability as a baseball player and I enjoyed my time playing for him.’
Dundore also gives a lot of credit to his high school coach, Justin Freese.
“Justin not only coached me for four years he at times was like a second father to me,’ he said. “He did everything he could to help better my baseball ability and he is the main reason why I am where I am today.’
His freshman season stats at Albright made it clear that he eventually made the transition from high school to college baseball, but it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
“The transition from high school to college baseball was slightly difficult at the start,’ said Dundore. “I say this because when I was in high school, baseball only started for me in January. The fall was dedicated to football, but once I got to college, baseball practice began one to two weeks after school started.
“The practices are a lot different as well. For example in high school we did individual position work, but did a lot of team defense and situations like that. When I got to college it sort of flip flopped.
“The real change that I had to make was the amount of games that you play in a college season as opposed to a high school season. In high school I played 20 games, not counting playoffs. In college I played 35-40 games not counting playoffs and my games started in late February. So, after my first season my body felt the toll it can put on you.’
Along with the extra practice time and more games, Dundore, and every other student athlete, has to find time to include the academic side of the college life as well. For Max, it’s a matter of time management, but academics comes first.
“I’m a student athlete – with student being the first part of that phrase,’ said Dundore. “School comes first and that is something that Coach Feiler preaches to every one of us when we have our first team meeting. The baseball season is long and tiring so I make it a point to set aside time to do my school work and make sure I am not behind in any of my classes. Dundore is a criminology major and will receive his degree next month. He would like to work for a federal agency after graduation, but Plan B would be to work for a police force.
