by Troy Mauriello
After a below-.500 season in 2016, the Queens College Knights head into 2017 picked to finish fifth out of six teams in the East Coast Conference (ECC) preseason poll. Those mild expectations, however, do not seem to have any effect on Queens manager Chris Reardon as he heads into his fourth season in the dugout.
“It’s basically based off of last year,” Reardon said. “In terms of motivation, the guys know what we are this year. And they certainly want to do better, so that provides enough motivation to just keep improving and getting better.”
A record of 22-26 overall and 9-15 in the conference may not look like much, but for Reardon, that mark shows something much more: consistent improvement. The Knights have improved their record in every year since Reardon took over in 2014, signifying a rebuilding process that is slowly beginning to take shape.
“We’ll have plenty of games to show this year the progress that we’ve made and hopefully do much better,” he said.
But if the Knights are going to take that next step towards an above .500 record this season, they’ll need a unique mix of old and new faces to blend together.
On the offensive end, shortstop Kevin Kolesar returns for his final season in Queens after a breakout year in 2016. He led the team and ranked third in the conference with a .350 batting average, and was named First Team All-ECC at the end of the season. His 31 stolen bases also led the conference and were good enough for 17th in the nation.
Kolesar’s importance to the Knights in 2017 is not lost on Reardon, who plans on using his versatile star in a variety of spots this season.
“He’s our most dynamic offensive player,” Reardon said on Kolesar. “He’s gotten better each year, he’s stronger, he’s a guy that can bat leadoff or can bat third. He’s really that dynamic of a player.”
Kolesar will receive help on the offensive end from upperclassmen outfielders Karl Klesin and Joe Morris, both of whom ranked in the top 15 in the ECC in batting average last season. Versatility will be a theme for Morris this season as well, as the senior played five different positions and hit in six different spots in the order in 2016.
Kleisn led the Knights last season with three home runs and 34 runs batted in last season, however those numbers reflect a rather pedestrian power-hitting offense that combined to hit just nine home runs in 2016.
“Offensively we maybe lack power, we had more speed last year,” Reardon said. “I think this year we have probably a better balance of both.”
The pitching staff will be anchored once again by senior right-hander Joseph Broderick. The West Islip grad won four games in 11 starts last season, and his 2.90 earned run average was good for fifth among ECC starting pitchers.
“We’re lucky to have Joe back. He anchored the staff last year and he’ll anchor the staff this year,” said Reardon. He’s a very consistent pitcher, so you know what you get when Joe goes out there, you’re going to get a solid, seven, eight, nine innings.”
Joining Broderick on the Knights staff will be a collection of seven freshman pitchers, most of whom will be counted on to log a good amount of innings as the season progresses.
That youth doesn’t seem to concern Reardon, who appears confident that his crop of freshman and veteran pitchers can get the job done in 2017.
“Those guys haven’t performed yet, so it’s really hard to know what they’re gonna do, but from a talent standpoint, most of them are capable of playing at this level, so hopefully they understand that sooner rather than later,” Reardon said.
One issue that almost certainly shouldn’t arise for Queens this season should be team chemistry. All but one player on the Knights roster is from New York, with many of them coming locally from Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island.
But simple team chemistry won’t be enough to vault the Knights into contending in the ECC this season. As Queens gets set to kick of its season on Feb. 23, the theme heading into 2017 remains to be improvement, something that they have had no problem with each of the past three seasons.
“We’ve improved every year, so the goal always is to get better each year. And wherever that takes us, that’s where it’ll take us,” Reardon said.
