Power Rankings Volume 7

by Vinny Messana

It has become a weekly tradition that the teams at the top of this ranking scuffle a bit and the lower-tier teams get hot just to make things a bit murkier here at Baseball on the Island. Nevertheless, I will try my best to make sense of it and organize these teams accordingly.

1.Suffolk CC

Record: 22-6, Stock UP

Suffolk has put up video game numbers, averaging 9.2 runs/game.

I know, I know. How can he put a Ju-Co in front of Div-I, II and III Colleges? Well, when the top team from last week goes 2-3 and Suffolk goes 7-0 with SIX coming via run rules, it’s easy to understand why. They outscored their opponents this week by the score of 74-9. They are now hitting .360 as a team, with a .467 OBP and .510 slugging. They are making mince meat of the opponents this season. This has the looks of a World Series team.

2. Molloy

Record: 28-16, Stock EVEN

Photo Credit: Nakeem Grant

They went 2-3 this weekend, but they split with Dowling so they retain their No. 2 ranking in the ECC standings and here. They were able to take both games at Dowling on Saturday, which was huge for them. They are still hitting .309 as a team with a 3.97 staff ERA. They will finish with St. Thomas Aquinas this weekend, needing just one win to qualify for a postseason berth.

3. Stony Brook

Record: 19-20, Stock EVEN

Honahan worked quick and threw quality strikes today against UMBC

They won two of three over UMBC with a DH sweep yesterday. Chad Lee continues to be the staff anchor, as his 1.02 ERA is nothing short of spectacular. They also won on a walk-off hit in the second game by David Real, who has been a great addition to the team. At 9-4 in conference play, they remain in good shape but they will travel to Binghamton for a tough three-game set this weekend against the first place team in the America East. A bright spot today was the strong outing from Tyler Honahan, who will be a key member of the rotation in the postseason.

4. Old Westbury

Record: 26-13, Stock UP

Old Westbury will look to defend their title at Farmingdale State this weekend.

They won all four game this weekend and eclipsed 15 runs in three of those games. It was not against the strongest competition, though, so it does little to alter their prospects moving forward. The best news from their front is Vinny Caputo and Jeremy Charles returning to full strength from a health standpoint, and the fact that seven of their starters are hitting over .330. They will close out their schedule this week with Merchant Marines on Tuesday before getting ready for the postseason this weekend. They will have to defend their Skyline Conference crown at Farmingdale–a place that has not been kind to them for close to a decade.

5. Adelphi

Record: 22-20, Stock EVEN

Adelphi has been looking like the 2011 NE-10 winning team recently (Photo Credit: Vinny Amodeo)

They won two of three games this weekend and are trending up heading into the last week of the regular season.Rob Vani went OFF this weekend and that’s a great sign for a team that was yearning for production in the middle-of-the-order. They’ve also been getting tremendous production from some unlikely sources such as Steven Withers and Jonathan Iadevaia. Also, after another solid performance this weekend it appears Jonathon Mulford is back to his old form. They’ll face Southern Connecticut and Queens this week before getting ready for the postseason.

6. St. Joseph’s

Record: 20-10, Stock UP

St. Joseph’s will be leaning on their 15 seniors this weekend

They’ve won six consecutive games and they look completely different from two weeks ago. They will have to face some old demons as well, however, with Farmingdale hosting the Skyline Conference postseason this weekend. The emergence of Ryan Aloise could mean that he gets the Game One nod. Nick Girardi has been red-hot with the bat recently, and it’s imperative that they get big contributions from their upperclassmen if they will score of the top arms this weekend–who have all given them some issues this season. Fortunately, their senior group is hungry and this could be their time to shine.

7. Dowling

Record: 19-21, Stock UP

They went 3-2 this week, including a big win today with Chris Cepeda on the hill. When he or Cody McPartland pitch, they have looked unbeatable in recent weeks. Cepeda looks like the pitcher that won the Long Island Championship in 2013, and that is exactly what they need because a couple of their arms have hit a road block recently. Fortunately, the offense has been resurgent led by Michael Rizzitello, Robert Morse and RJ Going. The Golden Lions have been able to keep their head above water in a tough ECC, as they are now 11-9. They face Wilmington and the University of Bridgeport this weekend.

8. LIU Post

Record:  19-21, Stock UP

After a 3-1 week, they are not waving the white flag. The pitching has certainly stabilized with Joey Arena continuing his sterling season, Jake DeCarli and Dan Jagiello pitching more like the aces they are and Brian Kavanagh being mature beyond his years. The offense has really sprung to life with David Groeneveld becoming arguably the most feared hitter in the conference outside of Giovanni Dingkong, and Rob Andreoli becoming one of the top leadoff hitters in the conference. They will play AIC and Mercy this weekend, which should allow them to finish the regular season over .500.

9. Farmingdale State

Record: 18-14, Stock DOWN

After a scorching stretch, they came back to earth this weekend and was swept by Maritime this weekend. They will have the entire week to gear up mentally for the Skyline Conference playoffs that they are hosting thanks to their 12-4 conference record. They will be relying on manufacturing runs this weekend because their offense has not been providing extra-base punch with the absence of Dalton McCarthy. The pitching staff has been very impressive. They will most likely throw Matt Seelinger in Game One, he has been lights out and will follow him up with the equally impressive Kevin Martinez. I suspect they will start either Kevin Cashman or David Otero Jr in the third game, but that can change depending with how many relievers are needed.

10. Nassau CC

Record:22-14, Stock UP

They won three of four this weekend against Kingsborough CC. They got a complete game shutout from Luciano Morello. They can dominate just about any team outside of ASA and Suffolk. The conference tournament will be very intense.

11. NYIT

Record: 17-23, Stock DOWN

It was a discouraging weekend for the Bears, who were beaten badly by Lehigh and Binghamton. In their 3-2 loss, Dixon Marble threw an eight inning complete game with 8 Ks, and he certainly could’ve won. He’s been terrific all year. They will play six games this week (including Tuesday against Stony Brook), which means they could conceivable finish at .500 this season.

12. Hofstra

Record: 13-30, Stock DOWN

It was a rough weekend as they were swept by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. They lost 6-5 on Friday and then it got a little worse on Saturday and today was a rout. The power continues to be the lone bright spot–after David Leiderman’s fifth HR, they now have 41 in 43 games. They will need to cut down on their strikeouts, as four players already have 33 or more with eight games remaining. They will look to finish with 20 wins and ride a hot streak to finish the season.