The Adelphi Panthers enter the Northeast-10 playoffs as the No. 4 seed and will look for redemption against No. 1 ranked New Haven tomorrow at 2 p.m.
New Haven enters the playoffs with an overall record of 29-13 and having just won two of three from the Panthers. Despite their underwhelming .267 team average, they have two standout hitters. Chris Demorais is batting .375 and Brendan O’Reilly at .301. Both could pose problems.
They also like to run, having stolen 113 bases as team. Their true strength is on the mound, however. They have five starting pitchers that amassed three or more wins, led by Pat Simone who had a 5-1 record with a 1.64 ERA, and a ridiculous 45/5 K:BB ratio.
The Panthers, who finished the regular season at 23-24-1 have been inconsistent all year but have the prowess to upset New Haven.
Adelphi can rake; they had seven regulars hit over .300 this season and had a cumulative average of .289. The table setters of Vincent Sharkey and Brandon Stahl were effective all year in allowing Anthony Zarrella, Donato Signore, Kevin Hutzel and Rich Mejia to drive them in.
If the Panthers have a late-game lead they have the advantage with Dillon McNamara in the back of the bullpen who allowed one run in 30 innings while converting 13 of 14 save opportunities.
