With the weather warming up this week, we should hopefully have a week unimpeded for the first time of the year. This is great news as teams can finally get into a rhythm and play their best baseball. This week we were able to cover Molloy, NYIT, Adelphi, LIU, Farmingdale, USMMA and St. Joseph’s.
Here’s my best attempt that ranking the local schools.
Division-I
- St. John’s (Record: 10-9, Trending UP)
2. Stony Brook (11-7, Trending UP)
3. Fordham (Record: 14-10, Trending EVEN)
Analysis: It was a terrific week for all of these squads. Stony Brook is riding an eight-game win streak, St. John’s streak is at seven and Fordham has won four of five, having their streak snapped by St. Bonaventure, 1-0. The top half of the lineup has really been getting the job done for the Sea Wolves, their top four hitters are Mike Wilson (.468), Chris Hamilton (.343), Nick Grande (.343) and Brandon Alamo (.314). These are usually their 1-4 hitters. Regarding Wilson, let’s just appreciate what this kid is doing right now: 29 hits in 62 at bats with 12 extra-base hits. An .855 SLG%. Barry Bonds-numbers
St. John’s will face St. Louis this weekend, Stony Brook will face Maine while Fordham faces Rhode Island. Conference play is in full effect. I expect them all to stay hot and keep rolling. It says a lot about St. John’s that even in a season that began so poorly, they were still able to right the ship and get above .500 before the calendar turned to April. The team AVG went up from .209 to .221 this week, still too low but they are moving in the right direction. The 3.92 team ERA has kept them afloat.
Division-II
- Adelphi (Record: 11-4, Trending UP)
2. NYIT (Record: 12-4, Trending UP)
3. LIU Post (Record: 13-9, Trending UP)
4. Molloy (Record: 3-14, Trending DOWN)
Analysis: This is a really a 1 and 1A situation with Adelphi and NYIT both red-hot, but you have to give the slight edge to the Panthers being that they defeated NYIT head-to-head this week. They are really firing on all cylinders, they are showing what type of dominant team they are. Tech had a convincing 4-game sweep over Molloy this weekend, they won the shootout and the tight ballgames. Post had batting practice all weekend, putting up 76 runs and allowed only 11, in what could only be described as a beatdown of Lincoln.
Division-III
- Farmingdale (Record: 8-5, Trending EVEN)
2. USMMA (Record: 9-7, Trending UP)
3. St. Joseph’s (Record: 7-5, Trending EVEN)
4. Maritime (Record: 9-7, Trending UP)
5. Old Westbury (Record: 3-7-1, Trending DOWN)
Analysis: Farmingdale and USMMA had a marathon DH on Saturday, proving to me they are basically evenly-matched. I think they are the premier teams in the conference. Farmingdale has an incredibly deep team and they were able to scrape a win against the top pitcher in the conference. Credit to USMMA for salvaging a weekend split, facing their four toughest games of the season in one weekend. Coming away with two wins should be a positive sign, because they will be able to win most of their conference games moving forward. St. Joseph’s won 9-4 and lost 9-4 today, I think when Anthony Papa pitches they can beat anyone. Credit to Maritime for winning four in a row, they have certainly performed well given their young roster. Old Westbury has really struggled, they need a hot streak to turn things around.
Ju-Co:
- Suffolk (Record: 5-4, Trending UP)
2. Nassau (Record: 2-7, Trending DOWN)
Analysis: Suffolk was able to win three of four games (posting 47 runs), ironically, the one game I was at Nassau thoroughly outplayed them but the scores certainly speak for themselves. Suffolk has a pretty relentless lineup and enough pitching to win the conference.
