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| Photo Credit: Stony Brook Athletics |
Here is the second and final power rankings for the Long Island NCAA-affiliated teams.
10. NYIT: 4-46
Poor year all around. They will be looking for an infusion of talent coming in.
9-St. Joseph’s: 17-20
They have regressed the past few seasons after nearly winning the Skyline in 2011. Dan DiBlasi had a standout year as a two-way player. He had a .342 average with 24 RBI, 11 walks and only 7 strikeouts at the plate and a 2.38 ERA on the mound.
8. Old Westbury: 20-22
They have been on the brink since 2010, but just can’t get over the mountain top. Terrific seasons from Nick Yip, Jake Coners and John Angelino at the plate. Yip exploded in the power department in the second-half of the seasons. Coners and Angelino were clutch all year. On the mound, Arismendy Nunez and Tim Ingram were dynamic. Ingram won Skyline Pitcher of the Year, although he did have a dismal final outing of the season against Farmingdale.
7. C.W. Post: 18-19
They narrowly missed the postseason. Tom Tolan was named Second Team All-Region–he had 44 hits, .361 AVG, .435 OBP. Unfortunately, the team hit only .230 even with that. They averaged only 3.78 runs per game. The pitching was pretty amazing; Jake DeCarli had a 1.03 ERA in 43 innings. Joey Arena had a 1.75 in 61 innings. Mike Eckerle had a 1.99 in 45 innings.
6. Hofstra: 20-24
They had a bad second half of the season. The pitching was poor, with the exception of Brett Schrieber who was unhittable out of the ‘pen with a 1.37 ERA in 39 innings. The offense will need to replace Kenny Jackson, Robbie Cafiero and Matt Ford, who carried the offense much of the season.
5. Molloy: 20-24
They won their first playoff game, but were dismantled 16-3 in the next two games. They will have a difficult time replacing Max Schonfeld, program leader in ERA, but will benefit from Kevin Podell and Ron Bauer in Year 2. Podell was named ECC Rookie of the Year, although Bauer actually had a higher average (.338 to .297) and OBP (.410 to .360).
4. Farmingdale: 27-13
For the seventh straight season they won the conference, but for the fifth straight season they were eliminated in disappointing fashion. They will need to find a way to beat Cortland and Kean in upcoming years because they are the gold standard right now. Ed Bergmann filled in David Zilnicki’s shoes admirably and was named First Team All-Region for his efforts (.421 AVG, 30-32 SB, 42 R, 20 BB: 11 K, .924 OPS). Mike Marino was clutch all season, he led the team with 16 XBH and 35 RBI. On the mound, Alex Weingarten led the way with five wins and a 1.73 ERA. Mike Dolce had a 4.01 ERA with two saves and three wins. Chris Dragone had a 1.29 ERA out of the bullpen. It will be a tall order to replace their outgoing seniors.
3. Adelphi: 24-23
They had an impressive postseason run, but it was certainly an inconsistent season for the Panthers. They will benefit from the maturation of TJ Santiago, Mike Ceperano and John Mulford next season. They will be losing reliable starters in Steven Bove and Matt Abramowitz, though. It will also be tough to replace the bat of Rich Mejia. He flirted with .400 all year and drove in 40 runs and drew 15 walks against only 10 strikeouts. Cliff Brantley had an unbelievable year as well; .398, 78 hits, 24-31 SB. The Panthers will get one more year of his play.
2. Dowling: 36-17
Winning the first three games in the regional and not making it to the World Series was disheartening. This was the program’s best opportunity to make a run at a National Title with three phenomenal pitchers. The combination of Tyler Badamo, JJ Bessell and Tom Bammann went 24-7 with a 1.68 ERA.Offensively, they will need to find a way to replace Andrew Abreu and JC Brandmaier’s bats. Abreu was First Team All-Region with a .321 AVG and .399 OBP. He is as steady as it gets in the field as well. Brandmaier is a power bat–he drove in 44 runs with a .925 OPS. That is not to be taken lightly while playing your home games at Golden Lions Field. Regardless, they won 36 games and that is not to be scoffed at.
1. Stony Brook: 33-16
Since starting 0-6, they have been close to unbeatable. Kevin Krause (.344 AVG, .435 OBP, 46 RBI) and Kevin Courtney (.340 AVG, .426 OBP, 37 RBI) have led the offense while the trio of Vanderka (3.21 ERA, McNitt (2.77 ERA) and Honahan (3.06 ERA) have stabilized the rotation. Cameron Stone, Bryan Tatelman and Ryley MacEachern have been light-out in the bullpen. They will play in the America East conference tournament this Thursday
