Taber Mongero Continues Family Baseball Legacy

WILMINGTON, North Carolina - For Taber Mongero, UNCW's teal, navy, and gold have always been familiar colors. The UNCW baseball shortstop was born in Wilmington to a pair of former Seahawks.

As he found his passion for baseball at a young age, Taber also discovered his dream of one day playing for Colonial Athletic Association power UNCW. From that day on, he vowed to fully commit to the game in order to eventually wear a Seahawk uniform.

That day would eventually come for Taber, however, the journey didn't begin with him in teal, navy, and gold.

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The 2017 Georgia Co-Player of the Year (3AAA) started his collegiate career wearing the scarlet red and black of Gardner-Webb. A promising freshman campaign with the Runnin' Bulldogs that featured 47 appearances left him hungry for more. But a hand injury just 10 games into his sophomore year drastically changed Taber's plans.

"In a game midway through the season, I hit a swinging bunt, just trying to get a base hit and one of the unwritten rules in baseball is to never slide head first into first base. But that's exactly what I did," Taber remembered. "My hand got trapped underneath my chest and I shattered my thumb. I knew at that moment that I was done for the season."

After the untimely injury ended Taber's season earlier than expected, the Gardner-Webb program encountered several changes, including the departure of longtime Head Coach Rusty Stroupe. Taber took those setbacks as a blessing in disguise.

"The injury already complicated things, but now you're adding the coach that recruited me leaving. All of this stuff was changing, so I decided that it was a perfect time to start fresh and see where it takes me," Taber said.

Taber left Boiling Springs, N.C., the following year and set out for the College of Central Florida. In the year spent playing for the Patriots, he started every game and accomplished his new goal – to get UNCW's attention.

"After I finished my first year down in Florida, UNCW and a handful of other schools came knocking on my door," Taber said.

"When the opportunity arose for us to get a player like Taber that could come in here and solidify what we already had, we knew that it was going to be a good thing for our program," said UNCW Head Coach Randy Hood, who led the Seahawks to their 10^th CAA regular season title last weekend.

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"Coach Hood called me and told me that he liked how much I was continuing to improve. As soon as I heard that they were interested in me, I knew it was a no-brainer," Taber said.

Taber never looked back.

Three years later, Taber is concluding his final season as a Seahawk. The redshirt senior arrived on campus back in 2021 and since then, has played an integral role in the success of the team.

He enters this week's CAA Championship with 206 career hits and eight career home runs, including a season-high six round trippers this year. He ranks eighth all-time at UNCW in double plays turned and stands 10^th in assists. Taber has started 149 of 151 games with the Seahawks over the last three seasons.

"My first year here could be described as bittersweet," Taber said. "I was finally at my dream school, but it was right in the middle of the pandemic. I felt like I was at UNCW, but couldn't fully experience everything the school offered."

With no in-person classes or sporting events, Taber found himself only coming to campus to play baseball. Despite the bleak circumstances, he stayed optimistic that soon, his time to fully relish in what it means to be Seahawk would come.

After his successful initial season with UNCW, the 5-10 shortstop easily settled into the Seahawk culture.

Taber didn't have to go far to ask for advice on the recipe for success. His father, Trent, a shortstop, was the 1989 CAA Player of the Year.

"Taber wants such great things for the baseball program and the university as a whole," Trent Mongero said. "It's never been about himself. It's always been about the team in Taber's eyes and it's just so inspiring to see how much passion he has for his team and teammates."

Trent Mongero donned the Seahawk uniform back in 1989-90, eventually landing on the UNCW All-Decade team. He and his wife, Sonya, both graduates of UNCW, didn't pressure Taber when it was time to decide on the next move.

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"We both wanted Taber to have his own journey," Trent Mongero said. "We weren't sure where he was going to land, but we knew that wherever he ended up, we were going to fully support him."

In a twist of fate, as circumstances played out, Taber's journey came full circle.

"Every time I see him out there playing or just in his uniform, it's a very surreal feeling," Trent Mongero reflected. "Seeing my kid standing on the same spot on the earth that I once stood on is such a surreal feeling."

Not only is Taber playing on the same field that his father once did, he's also added his own legacy to the Mongero name.

The 2022 First Team All-CAA selection has 149 career starts as a Seahawk, piling up 509 at-bats with 26 doubles, three triples and eight homers.

"Taber is a leader by example. He goes out and shows up every single day as a strong teammate and leads through his actions," Hood said.

That's exactly how Trent and Sonya Mongero raised their children.

"One of the things his mother and I instilled in our kids at a young age was to try to make themselves and others around them better every day through leading by example," Trent Mongero said. "That's been the quest since day one and I think Taber strives to be that type of player every day."

Since his arrival on campus two years ago, Taber has exhibited what it means to be a Seahawk day-in and day-out and in doing so, has created his own unique legacy.

"To see how much UNCW and the community here means to him, it's just added such an extra special layer to the whole Taber Mongero story," Hood said.

Despite it being his last season as a student-athlete, the story isn't over yet for Taber.

Since graduating with his bachelor's degree in Communication Studies, Taber has been working on earning a master's degree in Integrated Marketing Communication at UNCW.

"After finishing my master's program, I plan to join forces with my dad's baseball clinic," Taber said. "It's exciting because I will still get to surround myself with baseball. Eventually, the goal is to get into coaching and hopefully land a job within the college baseball community because I just love it so much."

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For now, though, the Seahawks' journey to Omaha continues, and Taber gets to keep doing what he's most passionate about - playing baseball.

"We're only ever guaranteed to play until the end of May," Taber said. "I remind myself every day that my career is coming to an end soon, so I have to make the most out of every moment I have on the field or in the locker room."

With his collegiate career winding down, Taber's attention is exclusively focused on reaching the next step, and the next step after that.

"We believe that we have a good team," Taber said. "We believe that this team has what it takes to advance in the postseason, but we need to focus one game at a time."

Taber and the Seahawks, who earned a bye in this week's CAA Championship in Charleston, begin their quest for the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Taber Mongero: IF; 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior; L/R

Players Mentioned

#2 Taber Mongero
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior; L/R
: IF

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Taber Mongero Continues Family Baseball Legacy

Players Mentioned

#2 Taber Mongero

Players Mentioned

#2 Taber Mongero