We are on the cusp of May which means one thing; throw out all the chatter and rankings and see how the teams perform in crunch time. This week we covered LIU Post-NYIT which was (hopefully) a prelude to an outstanding ECC tournament in two weeks. NYIT was able to defeat a dominant pitcher in James Varela, but LIU Post showed their resiliency with a win in Game 2. The double header on Sunday was postponed so we will have to wait until later today and Wednesday to see how the series plays out.
As far as the rest of the local teams, let’s take a look:
Division-I:
- St. John’s (Record; 23-16, Last Week: 1-3)
2. Stony Brook (Record: 24-15, Last Week: 2-3)
3. Fordham (Record: 26-20, Last Week: 3-2)
4. Hofstra (Record: 13-26, Last Week: 2-2)
Analysis: I was going to keep Stony Brook at the top spot because of their winning percentage but they did lose head-to-head to St. John’s this week so I think that settles it for this week. St. John’s did have a very poor weekend against Georgetown as they were swept and are now 5-7 in Big East play. They are not nearly the 40-win team they were last year and after losing ace Sean Mooney to Tommy John surgery, they could be in a bit of trouble. Stony Brook, though, plays a terrific brand of baseball. They have been able to withstand injuries to Brian Herrmann and Michael Wilson, and now they have Wilson back which is huge. Brandon Alamo has really stepped up and he’s having an incredible season, he’s hitting .352 and hit 5 doubles in one double header last week against Albany. Offensively, they’ve really been carried by him, Wilson, Chris Hamilton and Nick Grande. The team ERA of 5.32 is not good, but they have somehow been able to overcome it and are in first place in the America East by 3 games. They have Maine this weekend.
Division-II:
- Adelphi (Record: 31-5, Last Week: 4-0)
2. NYIT (Record: 27-10, Last Week: 2-1)
3. LIU Post (Record: 28-13, Last Week: 2-1)
4. Queens (Record: 22-18-1, Last Week: 2-3)
5. Molloy (Record: 13-26, Last Week: 2-3
Analysis: Not much else to be said about Adelphi–who ran their win streak to 17 games and now 25 out of 26 games. With the national ranking coming out Tuesday, I have to think a top-10 ranking is in store. They have been able to withstand injuries to critical players like Tyler Becker and Brandon Morse, which is a testament to their overall depth. Coach Scala told me on our podcast on Friday that he has been pleased with the performance of players like Brandon Warick and Kyle Olson who have been key contributors without getting much attention. He also spoke glowingly of Thomas Colombo, saying he’s the best defensive first baseman he’s ever had and that Brett Malm (school-record 21 doubles) should be a professional player after the season, along with Ed Baram (0.46 ERA) who will almost certainly be drafted. They have all but assured themselves of an appearance in the East Regional. As far as NYIT-LIU Post, they are both having outstanding seasons as well, and I expect they will face off in the ECC Championship which was pre-determined to be at Angelo Lorenzo Field. They play very well there, they have E.J. Cumbo who is having one of the best offensive seasons we’ve ever seen at the Division-II level (.455 AVG, .693 SLG) and a pair of aces (D.J. Masuck and Joseph Murphy) that have been quietly some of the most dominant pitchers in the region. Additionally, Chris Campbell‘s solo shot the other day was huge to tie the game and he’s been a really critical piece after the Andrew Florides injury early this season. He made an outstanding diving catch on a single up the middle which prevented a run on Saturday and had the wherewithal to throw to third instead of first to attempt to nab the runner rounding third. Little things like that can make a difference in the playoffs. Lastly, their bullpen has done a commendable job this season. Ryan Mueller and Ariel Taveras combined to throw four shutout innings against Post’s high-powered offense. They will need to be prepared to log some critical innings in the playoffs. Incredibly, there is a chance that three of these five teams will be in the Regionals. As far as Post, they also have three dominant starters and they have the offense to match so there’s no question that this will be a thrilling playoff. One thing to keep in mind, it does appear that NYIT was more comfortable hitting velocity than Noah Lorenzo‘s off-speed pitches, so maybe they can use that to their advantage.
Division-III:
- Farmingdale (Record: 29-7, Last Week: 3-1)
2. USMMA (Record: 27-9, Last Week: 2-0)
3. Old Westbury (Record: 20-14-1, Last Week: 4-0)
4. Maritime (Record: 21-16, Last Week: 1-1)
5. St. Joseph’s (Record: 18-16, Last Week: 1-0)
Analysis: We will have plenty of content on the upcoming Skyline Conference playoffs this weekend–which is always great baseball. But just to summarize it quickly, Farmingdale has been the best team top-to-bottom this season with plenty of depth and they have home-field which gives them the upper hand. They have the best team ERA at 3.01, along with Matthew Constantine and Steven Burke who have both been outstanding. Merchant Marine Academy has the best offense with a team .330 AVG, and they also have the best individual pitcher in the tournament in Andrew Spinnenweber. St. Joseph’s has the best team defense–having committed only 40 errors this season, but they will need to win at Maritime to get there. I’m assuming they will go with Anthony Papa (2-2, 3.05 ERA) on Wednesday despite the overall excellence of Tim Woodford this season (6-1, 0.92 ERA). Old Westbury will host Mount St. Mary’s. It will be interesting who they choose to pitch as they have Christian Tessitore, Patrick Quinn and the emergence of Adam Heidenfelder.
