Pat Narduzzi smiled ear-to-ear as he watched his players trot onto the Beano Cook Fields for the first day of a new season on Monday.
Clad in a straw hat, cut-off hooded sweatshirt, and team-issued basketball shorts, the Panthers’ head coach was as fired up as ever in welcoming 110 eager talents into what is expected to be a continuation of a breakout era for the program.
Overcast skies couldn’t dampen the mood as the 9 a.m. warmups began behind the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Music was blasting, whistles were blowing, and grass was being turned up for the early sessions, which ran into the afternoon on Day 1 of a month-long buildup to the season opener on Sept.