Rausch and Longwood HC Ryan McSherry spoke to Axcess Baseball after the game following the Lions’ dominant win, while the rest of the team enjoyed the victory in the background. pic.twitter.com/fBYRABZwHA
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 17, 2018
From three wins to outright League I champs in just one season.
It was an incredible resurgent season for Longwood in 2018 under Head Coach Ryan McSherry. It came as no surprise to him, though.
“We knew we had high ceiling guys,” he said in reference to their 2017 season in which they started primarily sophomores and juniors. “They just needed a year to transition,” he added.
They certainly did that, outlasting Ward Melville to win the League 1 Champs and finishing with a record of 18-6 overall. With a pitching staff of Jarred Vanderhoof, Danny Owens and Jonathan Holmstock they were able to throw a quality arm each day at their opponent.
Unfortunately, they were dealt an extremely tough hand entering the postseason as the No. 6 seed, in the same bracket as the League II champs, Commack.
“I think we were disappointed in seeding,” said McSherry. “Being the outright League I champs and being the six seed, I don’t know if that’s ever happened. There was certainly a chip there because of that,” he added.
Even with the tough draw, they won three playoff games–in large part to junior Kyle Rausch (9-for-13 in the playoffs) and their strong pitching staff. Eventually, they had their dreams dashed by Commack, 4-1, against Boston College-commit Jake Krzemienski.
Despite graduating Vanderhoof (7-0), McSherry is confident in his team–and rightfully so. They are returning 12 players, with 10 of those committed to playing in college.
“Even with our big arms, we had guys waiting in the wings last year. We had a good mix of seniors and younger players. The core of this team is three-year varsity players. They took their lumps as a three-win team and then they experienced being League Champs,” he added.
The pitching staff features all D2 pitchers.
These four are Jake Dannenberg (Adelphi), Steven Murphy (Adelphi), Danny Gargano (Queens) and Kyle Owens (Felician).
Dannenberg was mainly a reliever but McSherry noted his stuff is too good not to move into the rotation. Murphy is the lone southpaw, and coach noted his intelligence in the classroom benefits him on the mound. Additionally, Neal Heaton spoke very highly of his pitching acumen and ability to throw three pitches for strikes.
Aside from Rausch, who batted .405 with 3 HR, 14 RBI, 19 runs and 10 stolen bases, there are a number of other impact players.
Matt Encizo (Queens College-commit) had a season that probably should have earned him League I MVP. He batted .449 with 40 hits, a team-high nine doubles, four HR, 23 RBI, 26 runs and a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases. McSherry said he is the “ultimate utility player” and can play almost any position.
Adelphi-commit Jose Matos is a unique player who can and will play both catcher and SS. He batted .337 with 2 HR, 21 RBI and played a Gold Glove caliber defense at two positions.
Radford-commit James Myler will play OF but did not have the opportunity to play much of last season due to getting hit in the head with a pitch early in the season, but he is a high-level power hitter that was in our 2017 Home Run Derby.
Their other college commits are Griffin Bell (CCNY) and James Maass (St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn).
McSherry noted that he is high on some other young players such as Tommy Ventimiglia, Kyle Allen and Brian Monahan.
They will open up on April 1 against Ward Melville, who they figure to compete for the League Championship with.
