America East Baseball News & Notes: The Season Ahead

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While it may be hard to believe, “the road to Omaha” begins next Friday, Feb.18. Yes, the college baseball season is back with teams across the country playing a full schedule this spring. In America East, seven of the eight teams will get underway next week with one, the Hartford Hawks, starting their season one week later. Recently, the coaches in the league selected the preseason poll of the teams and Stony Brook was tabbed as the choice to win the league. There is good news and bad news with that choice. The good is that the Seawolves have been thought of to be put in that position, the bad is they will be unable to play in the conference postseason tournament scheduled for May 25-28 in Maine. The reason is the school’s decision to leave America East and head to the CAA effective at the end of the school year. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the teams that will be playing ball starting next Friday.

The defending champs are NJIT who finished last season at 27-24. They won the AE title for the first time and made their first-ever trip to the NCAA baseball tournament. The Highlanders bring back some of the talent that led them to win the conference tournament before being eliminated in the regionals by Nebraska. One of those that comes back is senior INF Julio Marcano who was named to the second team All-Region last May. He was also first-team All America-East. He led the team in batting average at .322, in HRs with 10, and in RBI with 42 which is a division one record for the program. He had 17 multi-hit games including four three-hit contests. He also had a .906 fielding percentage for the season. On the mound, the staff is led by fifth-year senior Jake Rappaport who led the team in wins with eight and in saves with 11 in 28 total appearances last year. In 52 innings pitched, he gave up 48 hits and 21 ER while striking out 35 and walking 17. His ERA was 3.63. Rappaport was named first-team All-Region as well as first-team All-America East.

UMBC ended last year at 17-26 overall and 12-26 in league play. The Retrievers will look to SS Drew Roberts to help turn things around. He made the All-Rookie team by hitting .291 (37 hits in 127 AB) with 10 doubles, 20 RBI, and 30 runs scored. Had an OBP of .377 as well as a 13-game hitting streak that saw Roberts have seven multi-hit games and two three-hit ball games. He finished his first season as the team shortstop with an .888 FP (15E in 41 games). Pitching was a bit of a problem for UMBC a season ago and a staff ERA of 7.21 would make that claim. There was one hurler that was able to get people out, LHP Joe Pucek made eight appearances and two starts going 21 innings with a 1-0 record and a 3.86 ERA. He allowed nine ER, fanned 11, and walked 10.

The Maine Black Bears will have some holes to fill on the mound. That is because two members of last year’s staff went on to sign pro contracts. #1 starter Nick Sinacola was drafted by the S.F. Giants in the seventh round, number 206 overall, and teammate Alex McKenney signed a free-agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Safe to say the Black Bears will be looking for arms to replace these two. One of those could be redshirt senior RHP Matthew Pushard who a year ago appeared in 15 games making one start. He struck out 16 in 21.1 innings of work. Sophomore LHP Jeff Nielsen had a 2-2 record with a 4.40 ERA. In 28.2 IP he gave up 24 hits, 14 ER, 24 SO, and 11 BB. At the plate, senior INF Sean Lawlor had a .350 BA in 44 games, 55 hits in 157 AB, and 37 RBI. He had only three errors in 94 chances.

The Hartford Hawks were 18-20 last year and came within a game of making the conference tournament. This is a program that is beginning the process of dropping back to Division III in a couple of years. With that said, the Hawks are looking to make one last run as a D-1 program. John Thrasher, senior OF, had a big season for Hartford. He hit .369 with seven HR, 21 extra-base hits, 23 RBI, .690 slugging, and a .470 On-base percentage. He also had a .988 fielding percentage with one error in 36 games. Graduate student and RHP Nathan Florence will now be called upon to be the #1 starter this year. In nine starts last season, he was 3-3 with a 4.76 ERA. He gave up 52 hits in 51.1 innings, 27 ER, 64 SO, and 27 BB.

The Binghamton Bearcats were 16-20 last year. However, they return 21 letterwinners from last season’s team. They have been picked to finish third in league play. It’s the 13th time in 16 seasons that the Bearcats have been picked in the Top-3. Junior LHP Thomas Babalis returns as the team’s number one starter. He started 10 games, won four of them, and had a 2.86 ERA, the third-best in the conference. He tossed three shutouts and ranked second in the league and 14th in the nation with four complete games. Junior OF Shane Marshall returns as the leading hitter on the team hitting .302 with 38 hits in 126 AB. He started all 36 games a season ago.

The Albany Great Danes went 20-18 in the league and 22-25 overall. Their head coach, Jon Mueller, was named Coach of the Year in America East. On the mound, the Great Danes will look to RHP Rob Manetta to pick up where he left off last year when he went 2-3 in 31.2 IP with 24 SO, and 16 BB. He made 19 appearances with one start and did register one save out of the pen. Teams got 16 earned runs and hit .217 against him. Redshirt Junior Jason Bottari started all 46 games a season ago in the OF hitting .258, with two doubles, one triple, 28 RBI, and 26 SB which ranks him third in the league. He committed one error in those 46 starts.

UMass Lowell (18-20) needed to win three games on the final weekend to make the conference tournament. Sadly they were only able to win two. The team boasts two players that should have a big impact on this year’s team. Senior RHP Joshua Becker made 11 starts going 5-4 with a 3.52 ERA. He pitched 64 innings with 51 strikeouts and opposing hitters hit .219 allowing 53 hits to 276 batters faced. He ranked eighth in ERA in the league and fifth in opposing batting average. Sophomore catcher Jimmy Sullivan made 34 starts in 38 games. He hit .341 (43 hits in 126 AB), slugged .444, and had a 415 OBP. He added eight doubles, one HR, 18 RBI, and 13 RS to go along with a .988 fielding percentage behind the plate for the River Hawks. He was named freshman All-American, All-America East first team, and All-Rookie.

Stony Brook (31-18, 25-10) finds itself in an unusual position. Since the school decided to leave at the end of the school year, the team can not play in the league postseason tournament. What does this mean for the Seawolves? The best thing is, they will have a chance to finish their time in AE as a three-time league champion. To do so they will need another big season from preseason All-American pitcher Nick DeGennaro. The RHP went 8-3, 6-0 in the league with a 3.14 ERA in 77.1 IP. He added 92 SO in 12 starts and totaled 14 appearances. He threw his first-ever complete game on April 18 vs UMBC. He was named first-team All America East and America East All-Championship team. On offense, the Seawolves senior third baseman, Evan Giordano, leads the charge. He hit .314 ( 53-for-169) with nine HR and 48 RBI in 47 games, all starts. He slugged .482 with a .398 OBP. Evan reached base in 32 straight games (March 9 to May 8). He had an 11-game hitting streak hitting .455, 20-for-44, with 17 runs and 14 RBI. He led the team with seven home runs and 39 runs batted in during league play. He was first-team All-America East and second-team All-Region ABCA Rawlings.

That will give you some idea of how America East stacks up as the season nears. Time to get out and see some good college baseball this spring.