Merchant Marine Academy captain Vincenzo Alteri discusses the upcoming season. He batted .421 with 33 RBI last year pic.twitter.com/8VskCzSHiC
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 4, 2020
Although they haven’t come away with a championship, you can make the case that United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) has been the most consistent team in the Skyline Conference over the past two seasons. In 2018, they took St. Joseph’s to the 11th inning of the Finals at Farmingdale State College, and last year they won 28 games, entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed – and won their first conference tournament game – before losing twice to get eliminated.
They face the challenge of replacing their ace of the previous two years – Andrew Spinnenweber, as well as Joe Kelly Jr, but they return just about everyone else, and as captain Vincenzo Alteri said, “everyone is hungry.”
Alteri’s assessment may have been a little harsh, saying the team “choked” the past two years. They have been a well above-average team that didn’t win a championship. If they are to go far, they will need Alteri to match or come close to last year’s performance, where he was outstanding. He compiled a batting average of .421 with 33 RBI, 34 runs scored, .566 SLG and even added 15 stolen bases.
Matt Mundorf, who was second team All-Conference last year, will anchor the SS position. He batted .387 with 23 RBI and 17 stolen bases. His double play partner, Colin Baker, is also back from 2019 in which he batted .313 and committed just two errors. 3B Noah Herdman will be replacing Kyle Cunninghmam, who batted .338 with 20 RBI last season.
The strength of the team, despite losing last year’s top two pitchers, will still be in the pitching staff. They compiled a 3.47 team ERA last season, and will return All-Region starter Joe Raab (5-1, 3.29 ERA) and Ben Kane atop the rotation, as well as Garrett Aichele, who is a two-way player. He threw 25 innings with a 2.52 ERA, he also batted .331 and scored 30 runs while playing the outfield.
They return the Skyline Conference Reliever of the Year in Andrew Hunt, who went 5-1 with a 2.37 ERA over 30.1 IP.
They will open up this Sunday in Florida against Coast Guard in a doubleheader beginning at 12 pm. They will certainly be one of the favorites to take home the Skyline Conference title in 2020.
I had the privilege of touring the campus on Wednesday and it was extraordinary. As a Long Island native, it’s incredulous to me I was unaware of the beauty of the campus until recently. Additionally, the regiment that the players go through really puts things into perspective. Their commitment to serving the country goes beyond the game of baseball and I’m thankful for them.
