Power Rankings Volume 3

It was another abbreviated week of college baseball due to the inclement weather. Some of the teams were fortunate enough to be down south and get their games in. Nassau CC is the only local team that hasn’t began their season yet. Aside from a select few, it’s been a rough start for the locals but we’ll rank the teams based upon their current record and momentum.

1. St. John’s (Record: 12-2, Stock EVEN)

The nationally ranked Johnnies have what every team is after–a team firing on all cylinders. They just won two of three against Liberty this weekend. John Valente is making a case to win the Golden Spikes Award–he’s hitting .533 (32-for-60, .575 OBP, .600 SLG). Jamie Galazin (.351) and Jesse Berardi (.327) are doing some heavy lifting as well, a big reason the team is hitting .331 through 14 games. They have a 2.64 ERA with 9.72 K/9 as well. Total team effort.

2. LIU Post (Record: 7-4, Stock EVEN)

The weather really put a damper on their momentum, they had all four games this weekend cancelled, but they did split with Pace earlier in the week. Freshman Noah Lorenzo continued his incredible start–he’s now 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA. He’s been setting the pace for the pitchers. The offense is hitting .293 thanks to five of their starters (Rob Andreoli, Anthony Vaglica, Jimmy Mendyk, Dave Brehm and Michael Greene) all hitting over .311.

3. Queens (Record: 5-4, Stock EVEN)

They would probably like to get a mulligan on Thursday’s 21-1 loss to Philadelphia. Despite hitting only .237 as a team, they are averaging 5.5 runs per game. Junior first baseman Joseph Pidoto is off to a .290 start with six RBI. Thursday’s loss notwithstanding, the pitching staff has been very effective. Nick Morena and Rob Backus have led the staff, and once Joe Broderick gets rolling they will have a very nice staff.

4. St. Joseph’s (Record: 1-0, Stock UP)

It’s impossible to evaluate based off one game, but Lou Doria might be a huge difference maker for them. He hit a grand slam in their 12-1 win, and he got rave reviews for how he swung the bat since he stepped on campus. The offense is very deep, thanks to some key transfers in Paul Britt, Anthony Raucci and Dylan Piscitelli. The pitching staff will be leaning on Nick Clemente to pitch like he did in the opener with the departure of Ryan Aloise.

5. Stony Brook (Record:4-9, Stock UP)

The Sea Wolves have won three of their last four games. We covered their double header on Thursday. It was a wacky 15-11 first game in which they overcame an 11-6 deficit in the seventh inning but then won 1-0 in a brisk seven-inning game two on a walk-off single by David Real. They will be be looking to get on a hot streak and turn the corner and it’s very important that they see a turnaround from Bret Clarke, who we awarded Rookie of the Year to. They have been fortunate to get great starts from Greg Marino and Aaron Pinto, who could be pivotal arms.

6. Maritime (Record: 4-5, Stock EVEN)

They’ve struggled since their opening weekend sweep of Southern Vermont, losing five of their last seven. The biggest bright spots have certainly been catcher Steve Semler (.367/.459/.733) and Connor Alwan (.409/.458/.455) at the plate and Matthew Paghidas (1.13 ERA, .207 AVG) and Travis Bruinsma (1.13 ERA, .160 AVG) on the hill. They have talent all over the field, they look much-improved.

7. Old Westbury (Record: 2-3, Stock EVEN)

They didn’t play this past week but will be in Fort Meyers for the next week. They will be looking to get back in a rhythm. They are a supremely talented team.

8. Farmingdale State (Record: 2-3, Stock EVEN)

They are miles ahead of last year’s start. The team definitely benefited from the growing pains of last March. Freshman Vinny Rice (Farmingdale ’15) appears to be a great find. He is a two-way player that was getting looks from Div-II teams prior to suffering an injury during a start against Hicksville in his senior year that I was in attendance for. They are only hitting .208 as a team, but with bats like Dalton McCarthy, Nick Attardi, Anthony Gigante, Rob Costanzo and Domenic Palumbo.

9. Molloy (Record: 3-9, Stock UP)

They had a smooth 5-1 win today over AIC in Florida, thanks to a strong outing from LHP Bobby Kelly (2-0). Michael Rahn drove in two runs on the day and he’s now up to .282 on the season. The offense has been led by Elijah Leerdam, who we highlighted as a breakout candidate this season. They will have two more games in Florida prior to coming home.

10. Suffolk (Record: 2-3, Stock DOWN)

They had all four games cancelled this week and will likely have their games cancelled this week as well.

11. Fordham (Record: 3-9, Stock EVEN)

They went 1-1 this week. with the win coming in Game One of their DH against Manhattan on a walk-off grand slam by Luke Stampfl. The Hills West grad has been off to a sensational start, with 20 hits and three HR through his first 51 at bats. Brian Goulard is also off to a nice start at .298. They are scheduled to be at home this week, which means they will most likely be off for another week.

12. NYIT (Record: 2-9, Stock EVEN)

They went 1-3 this week. They did have a solid 3-0 win on Thursday over Albany, thanks to a complete game shutout by Ben Wright and a long HR by Jake Lebel. They will be hoping that the pitching staff will look more like that than the previous few games in which they allowed 29 runs. The offense is also hitting .170, so that is a combination that won’t get it done. They still have tons of talent, they just need to find their identity as a unit.