This week we covered Stony Brook, LIU Post and Molloy, so I’ve almost gotten to see all of the local teams. Right now, the most compelling Division might be Division-II with four of the five teams are over .500. It makes this list more intriguing when the teams are competitive.
Here’s my best attempt to rank the locals:
Division-I:
- Fordham (Record: 11-9, Trending EVEN)
It was not a great week for them in Maryland, but they retain their top spot for another week because of the six-game win streak leading up to that. Jake MacKenzie is leading the team in hitting by far; .360 AVG with 27 hits already. The 3.47 ERA has certainly kept them winning ballgames. They will face Manhattan for one and St. Bonaventure for three this weekend.
2. Stony Brook (Record: 7-7. Trending UP)
Where would they be without Mike Wilson? The two-time America East Player of the Week is unconscious at the plate. He has already surpassed his 2018 HR total with five and has 20 RBI to go along with his ridiculous .447 AVG. Nick Grande is red-hot right now, having moved his average up to .389 and Chris Hamilton is hitting .327 with 13 RBI. The 6.79 team ERA is the issue, but they improved it this weekend allowing just 11 runs over 3 games to UMBC. Getting off to a 3-0 conference start is huge. This week they have five games (Army, Sacred Heart 4x), so they will have a chance to see all their arms and see what’s the right mix for the rotation the remainder of the season. I think Bret Clarke proved this week he belongs in the starting staff.
3. St. John’s (Record: 7-9, Trending UP)
Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can lead to a season turnaround and that might be the case with St. John’s, who won on a walk-off wild pitch on Friday night before taking the next two games easily. With four very winnable games this week, they should be looking at 11-9 come next week. Still, they need to wake up the bats, as they are hitting .209 as a team.
4. Hofstra (Record: 3-11, Trending EVEN)
They came away with a 10-5 victory today at Liberty. Big day for Kevin O’Connor, who drove in three runs and Rob Weissheier drove in two as did Myles Mensah. Weissheier is leading the team with 10 RBI. Ryan Rue has been a pleasant surprise in the rotation with a 2.28 ERA through 23.2 IP.
Division-II:
- NYIT (Record: 8-3, Trending UP)
At 8-3, they easily capture the top spot in this poll. They have received plenty of attention from the regional polls which has them in the top-5. There’s no doubt the culture has changed. Talking to one player this week, I came away with the understanding that Coach Catalanotto expects the team to win and the players have adopted that confidence. They expect to win the ECC, and with St. Thomas Aquinas struggling so far, they have a real chance. Playing Adelphi on Wednesday and a four-game set against Molloy this weekend, they will have an opportunity to show the Long Island community that they are for real. They have four players (E.J. Cumbo, John LaRocca, Jake Lebel, Ryan Kuskowski) hitting over .400. Even at this stage of the season that is damn impressive. Ariel Taveras already has five saves. The combination of DJ Masuck and Joseph Murphy have been lights-out. I still think Alex Doskoez and Joe Keller wind up playing huge roles on the mound.
2. Queens (Record: 8-6-1, Trending UP)
I certainly can’t ignore their great start to the season, they are riding a four-game win streak after a weekend sweep over Bloomfield. They scored 43 runs over 4 games, I’m not sure if that says more about their offense or Bloomfield’s pitching but they have done it regardless. Pat-Med grad Eric Roubal (27 hits, 3 HR, 15 RBI, .435 AVG) has been carrying the offense with Louis Antos (West Islip) and Ron Linsalato (Pat-Med) not far behind. The team is hitting .314 with a .416 OBP! With Caldwell for one and Mercy for four this weekend, they have a chance to keep their win streak going. The 7.50 ERA certainly must improve, but there’s no reason to believe it won’t as they solidify their starting staff.
3. Adelphi (Record: 6-4, Trending EVEN)
They won three of four before suffering a blowout loss against SNHU. Brandon Morse has been on fire, he sort of flew under-the-radar with the emergence of some other position players but he is hitting .438 through 32 at bats. Lawrence Cicileo, Brett Malm, Jordan Milo and Tyler Becker are all over .300. As for the pitching, Ed Baram has been his dominant self. It’s the type of season he needed if he wanted to continue his playing career after this year. He has answered the bell, compiling a 0.50 ERA through three starts. They will need to have someone step in behind him in the rotation. Right now it appears Mike Demarest is the man that is stepping up. This week will be interesting, as they have Molloy on Tuesday, NYIT on Wednesday, Assumption for a DH on Saturday and Merrimack for a DH on Sunday. That’s an incredible amount of baseball in one week. Their pitching depth will be put to the test.
4. LIU Post (Record: 9-8, Trending EVEN)
After winning an impressive double header yesterday, I was ready to put them No. 2 on this list because they proved they can play with a talented NE-10 team like Assumption. They did a lot of things right, obviously it is nice to have two experienced pitchers like James Varela (48 Ks over 36 IP) and Noah Lorenzo leading the rotation. This afternoon, though, they took a step back with two losses to Assumption, 5-4 and 11-7. The bright spot today was Andy Camilo driving in four runs; three coming on a bases-clearing double in the fifth. Also, in Game 1 Anthony Vaglica got going with a three-hit game and Mike Stiles fired seven dominant innings. I think they are a very talented team and I also think that I would consider putting Joshua Loeschorn in the rotation as a freshman—that’s how dominating he was. Nothing I love more than pitchers that throw with conviction and have swagger on the mound and he brings it all to the table. They will be back in action on Wednesday against East Stroudsburg and play a four-game set at Lincoln University next weekend.
5. Molloy (Record:3-9, Trending UP)
They have been crushing the ball the past few games; having scored 33 runs over the past three games. They have to be thrilled with the emergence of freshman Chris Peralta. He had a huge game today, driving in three runs and is now hitting .341 on the season. The offense in general has not been a problem as they are hitting .298. Matt Overton and Sean Hogan have picked up where they left off last year and are both hitting well over .300. Huge outing today for Tim Panetta taking a four-hit shutout into the ninth inning. This is a huge weak for them as they will face Adelphi on Tuesday and face NYIT in a four-game set this weekend.
Division-III
- Farmingdale State (Record: 4-2, Trending UP)
They have so much depth on the offensive side that it is honestly hard to imagine how they can keep everyone fresh. It’s the most depth they’ve had since 2010. They have two guys hitting .500 (Vinny Rice and Jimmy Mattera), they have two shortstops (Brian Perez and Shawn Blasberg) that would start on any team. They have two outfielders (Nick Attardi and Cam Alfano) coming back from injury that are established hitters that aren’t guaranteed playing time because of two stud transfers (Vin Napolitano and Steven Burke) and they have a freshman catcher (Pat Leach) hitting .368 that’s pushing for the starting job over a Division-I transfer. They have three returning players (Ernie Geraci, Joe Roche and Tyler Schrimpf) that have had success before. All told it’s a championship-caliber offense that is hitting .308 and just scratching the surface.
2. St. Joseph’s (Record: 5-2, Trending UP)
With the loss of Paul Britt and Joseph Murphy, it definitely made other players step up in their absence to replace that type of championship-caliber production from them. They have answered the bell with a hot start; notably Jesse Nakashian (.500 AVG), Tyler Sanderson (.400 AVG), Tyler Crafa (.389 AVG) and Anthony Raucci (6 RBI). The pitching staff is led by Anthony Papa, Nick Mannarino, Ryan Foran and Austin Turner with the battle-tested Anthony Caminiti in the back-end. They are down in Florida right now and return home Wednesday. They have an insane stretch of games (double headers on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday). They will have to line up their best for Sunday against USMMA. They may luck out, though, if USMMA is forced to use Spinnenweber and Raab against Farmingdale on Saturday.
3. USMMA (Record: 6-5, Trending EVEN)
They are the one team I have not gotten to see yet. I was going to go on Sunday but the game was cancelled due to unplayable field conditions. I will be there this weekend against Farmingdale or St. Joseph’s.
4. Maritime (Record: 6-7, Trending UP)
They have certainly not played like a young team. They have been in every game. The offense has been led by Jake Vera, Phil Russo, Travis Zurita, Joe Scerra and Matt Eng. The pitching should be okay with Travis Bruinsma and A.J. Ammirati anchoring the staff and the emerging Ryan Ragone stepping up and holding opposing hitters to .208 through 3 starts.
5. Old Westbury (Record: 2-4-1)
The will be in the playoff this season because of an improve pitching staff to go along with a deep offense led by John Condon, Peter Capel, Mikey Manetta, Brandon Wilson and Shaun Kaminski. They should be thrilled that Adam Heidenfelder fired three shutout innings in his return from labrum surgery. With him, they have three very impressive starting pitchers (Patrick Quinn, Christian Tessitore) that make them a formidable staff. The bullpen has Joe Sarni, Brandon O’Brien and Matt Bohenek to rely on in high-leverage situations. It goes to show you the parity in the conference these five teams may all have 20+ wins when it’s all said and done.
