We continued our Fall Ball Series at Hofstra yesterday, where the Pride hosted Queens College in a scrimmage.
They looked good in yesterday’s scrimmage. They got on the board early and often and won by the scores of 12-1 and 9-3. While the results of the fall do not count, it is a positive sign to see a pitching staff throw strikes and fundamentally solid baseball. The Colonial Athletic Association is historically a difficult conference that featured four 30-win teams (Northeastern, UNC-Wilmington, William & Mary, Delaware) last season.
The Pride struggled in 2017, but they are returning their top four leading hitters (Steven Foster, Vito Friscia, Mikey Reisner, Teddy Cillis) in addition to their top two power hitters (Friscia and Vinnie Costello) and will be hoping that last year’s experience bodes well for sophomores Rob Weissheier and Sean Rausch.
The latter two were highly-sought after recruits from Kellenberg and Longwood, respectively. Both have tremendously high ceilings and can be mainstays in the lineup over the next three seasons. Both are known for their bats and will be pillars for the program to build around.
They will have to replace graduating senior David Leiderman, who enjoyed a very successful career for the Pride, as well as Nick Bottari who transferred.
As for the pitching staff, they will be returning ace John Rooney, who led the team in innings pitched with 82.1 and finished second in strikeouts with 86. The 6’5″ southpaw touches 95 MPH with his heater and will certainly be on the draft radar for several MLB organizations this spring.
He will be joined by Chris Weiss, who led the staff with six wins last season. He struck out 68 batters over 55.2 IP. He is a senior that has proven he can pitch at this level and they will be counting on him to provide quality innings against conference opponents.
The rotation could feature a couple of two-way players. Cillis and freshman Jimmy Joyce–who we have written about extensively–could be critical pieces.
Cillis led the team with 96 strikeouts last season but the opposition batted .325 against him. The hard-throwing southpaw could be a major X-Factor, along with Joyce who was 17-2 on the mound over the past three seasons and is no stranger to pitching in hostile environments.
One aspect I will be following closely is the performance of Friscia and Rooney, who could both get drafted this season, which would be a watershed moment in program history.
