By its very nature, community colleges do not allow for teams to build many experienced teams. Every two years, there is nearly a complete roster turnover.
Fortunately, last year Suffolk CC’s roster was heavy on freshmen which bodes well for the 2016 campaign.
Head Coach Eric Brown, now in his 29th season at the helm is banking on a roster that is heavy on players that saw plenty of action last season.
Despite graduating All-American Frank Valentino–who is now at NYIT, they will be returning four pitchers that accounted for 16 of their 24 wins.
Leading the way will be Sean Boyle. The Newfield grad went 6-1 last season and will anchor the rotation. He has committed to Div-I Dallas Baptist University.
Chris Killackey, a Longwood grad, went 4-1 and ranked second in the nation with a 1.18 ERA over 38.0 IP. He struck out 51 batters over that span. Behind him will be Joseph Murphy–who also went 4-1. All three pitchers are getting looks from Div-I programs.
Having a rotation of three elite arms is always a good thing for a JuCo.
On the offensive side of the ball, they will be looking for big production from transfers Tom Bashen, who is coming over from Dowling and will be a two-way player.
Freshmen Jason Conti from Mt. Sinai and Ron Linsalato from Pat-Med figure to have an immediate impact as well. Linsalato had a great season last year and is a terrific top-of-the-order hitter.
Brown noted that the team is very confident in their pitching depth and they will be striving for consistency this season in all facets of the game.
They held their own in the fall against four-year programs such as Adelphi, Dowling and Stony Brook.
They have had no issue with their conference–having reached seven Div-III JuCo World Series during Brown’s tenure. Last year, they fell shy of a regional appearance having lost to rival Nassau CC in the conference championship.
With their talent on the hill, this could very well result in another World Series appearance for Coach Brown and the Sharks.
