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| Photo Credit: Hofstra Athletic Communications |
“Back-to-back seasons we had the go-ahead run on third base with the chance to make the playoffs on the line,” said seventh year Head Coach John Russo.
“I’m anxious to see them play,” he said.
The Pride will be fielding a very young team. According to Russo, only eight of the players will be juniors or seniors. The team will consist of 22 underclassmen–an extraordinary number.
There will be three freshman in the Opening Day lineup on Friday against UCLA.
Russo believes the most crucial stretch of the season will be the first 20 games leading up to conference play because he has a lot of questions to answer before them in regards to the roles players will be in.
For example he said, “Who will replace Brett Schreiber?”
Schreiber was “the most valuable guy on the team”, in the words of Russo.
“The guy grew so much the last two years. Every time he was on the mound he either record a save or a win,” he added.
While it was a bit of an exaggeration, it was not a stretc. Schreiber appeared in 16 games while recording nine saves and two wins. He threw 39.1 innings and compiled a 1.37 ERA. That type of production will be tough to match.
They will also need to find a bat to replace recently departed Kenny Jackson, Rob Cafiero and Matt Ford.
Jackson had 50 hits and Matt Ford was an All-Conference player.
Cafiero was named to the Baseball on the Island’s All-Long Island team for compiling a .900 OPS as a catcher. That will be tough to duplicate.
Filling in for him will be freshman Steven Foster from Sachem North, who was All-State last season.
Russo is also bullish on his freshman stud Adam Heidenfelder. He is a 6’5″ flamethrower who starred for MacArthur high school. He will be the Game 2 starter on Saturday against UCLA. Very impressive for a freshman.
Hofstra is certainly a very young team, but they have a strong core. The California trip will be a good test for them and it will prepare them for the rigors of the Colonial Athletic Association.
