Hofstra Head Coach John Russo discussing the impact John Rooney had on the program and the freshmen that have performed well this fall pic.twitter.com/cgw7FbHryd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 14, 2018
Hofstra played their “Blue v Gold World Series” today which served as an intrasquad game with a competitive feel. With so many newcomers battling for starting roles come spring, it was the perfect way to get a sense for what they will be working with this season.
They played it like a real game, with the Gold team even using starting pitcher Andrew Mundy in the last inning to put out a fire with runners on the corners and one out. The hard-throwing St. John the Baptist RHP threw one pitch, made a terrific sliding play on a bunt attempt and even doubled off the runner to end the game. His teammates stormed out of the dugout to celebrate their “World Series victory”.
Regardless of the importance, it was a positive sign that the team was so emotionally invested into what amounted as a meaningless practice game in the last week of the fall.
They will be hoping that players like Mundy step up this season and fill the massive void left in the top of the rotation by Los Angeles Dodgers third-round pick John Rooney and Kansas City Royals 33rd round pick Teddy Cillis. Third starter Matt Weissheier also did a commendable job all season, posting a 3.05 ERA over 65 IP.
All told, they graduated 90 percent of last year’s innings on the mound so they will be looking for roles to be defined in the entire pitching staff. Russo and first-year pitching coach Blake Nation will have the opportunity to fill the depth chart however they see necessary. They are optimistic in the progress of pitchers like sophomore Brad Camarda, who has been up to 89 MPH as well as senior LHP Michael James, who will likely be one of their weekend starters along with Mundy.
Despite the loss of their top three pitchers and top reliever, Chris Weiss, they are returning a strong lineup led by draft-hopeful Vito Friscia, who led the team in virtually all key offensive categories and stud SS Austin Gauthier, whom Coach John Russo is very high on–calling him a likely All-CAA caliber player.
They recently implemented the state-of-the-art Flight Scope which tracks everything on the field and provides real-time data which can be read using a tablet device.
Gauthier turned some heads with a 96 MPH exit velocity double in the game, he started 44 games last season at SS and will be a critical component of the team.
They will be counting on redshirt sophomore Sean Rausch to bounce back from rotator cuff surgery. When healthy, he’s an impact bat and terrific defensive outfielder that will likely play left field. He smoked a HR to deep right center field with a 99.9 exit velocity. Russo noted that Jimmy Joyce has been solid with the bat and will be battling for the starting right field spot. Our audience will remember Joyce as an All-State player that won two Long Island championships with Wantagh and clearly has the winning pedigree compete in the CAA.
The production of sophomore 2B Myles Mensah and juniors Rob Weissheier (31 RBI) and Vinnie Costello (4 HR) will also have an impact on how successful the offense is this season.
Catcher Matt Siedem was terrific behind the dish last year and is one of five seniors on the team along with Friscia, LHP Michael James, 2B Daniel Page and RHP Zach Altieri.
Although the freshmen class has some familiar Long Island names in Mark Faello (Plainview JFK), Anthony D’Onofrio (Wantagh), Robert Lucano (Garden City) and James Cardinale (Commack), it’s the ones from outside of the LI territory that will have the biggest impact.
Former New York Yankee catcher John Flaherty’s nephew, Sean, is a left-handed hitting catcher that has been impressive this fall, along with New Jersey native and infielder Ryan Morash, who finished his high school career with an incredible 129 hits. RHP Michael Murray was impressive in his outing this afternoon, showcasing his fastball and curveball combination that includes a 2,300 RPM breaking ball that is certain to induce swings-and-misses.
Perhaps the highest ceiling is freshman LHP Ryan Rue, who could have a chance to crack the rotation. He was ranked by Prep Baseball Report as one of the top prep southpaws in the state.
All told, this could certainly be a transitional year for the Pride, who sent three players to professional baseball and easily could’ve been a fourth with Friscia who batted .375 in the Cape Cod League this summer. They also graduated their CF Steven Foster, who finished his career with over 200 hits.
Coming off their first postseason appearance since 2012, it was a banner year for the Pride. A program that sends three players to pro ball is certain to recruit other high-profile players and we are seeing that already.
