Molloy has firmly established themselves as one of the premier Division-II programs in the northeast. They are coming off an outstanding season in which they won a program-record 42 games, captured the ECC Championship and the NCAA East Regional prior to losing in the Super Regionals to nemesis Southern New Hampshire.
It could not have been a more dominant run through the East Regional as the Lions nearly shut out their opponents in all three games:
(W) 7-0 vs No. 7 New Haven
(W) 5-0 vs No. 6 Goldey-Beacom
(W) 3-1 vs No. 7 New Haven
The Lions advanced to face their rival Southern New Hampshire in the Super Regionals with a trip to the Division-II World Series on the line. It did not go nearly as well, as the Lions lost by the scores of 9-8 and 12-10 to end their season. They led 6-0 in Game 1 and 9-3 in Game 2 but SNHU is a team that simply does not give up easily and they were able to come back in both games to advance.
Nevertheless, it was a banner year for the Lions who were named Axcess Baseball’s College Team of the Year for the second time in 4 years. They graduated a handful of impact players from that team – including their two All-Americans; RHP Charlie Cucchiara and OF Anthony Manisero.
Cucchiara, who came in as a freshman from East Meadow HS, was everything they could’ve hoped for and more. He compiled a program-record 33 wins, lost only 8 games, notched a strong 2.82 ERA over 345 innings. Simply put, he was the pitcher they could trust in big games.
“Charlie was one of the best we ever had. He won 30-something games which is the program leader. He’s just a different type of kid. He was very dependable. In his 4 years, he had maybe two clunkers. Other than that, there wasn’t a game he pitched that wasn’t good. He always had us in every game. Him and Manisero were fully deserving of being named All-American. It’s good to see them recognized,” said head coach Joe Fucarino who is entering his 20th season at the helm.
Manisero, who also graduated, will be receiving Axcess Baseball’s College Player of the Year Award. He was unconscious at the plate all season, batting .424 with 9 HRs, 56 RBIs, scored 50 runs with a 1.140 OPS over 43 games. Incredibly, he struck out just 10 times in 172 at bats.
For his career, Manisero batted a ridiculous .400 with 101 RBIs over 114 games played.
They also graduated Matt Yip, who was named All-Region and was a huge piece of their lineup. He batted .368 with 14 HRs and 56 RBIs and 1.190 OPS. He led the team in OPS, HRs and tied Manisero in OPS.
JJ Devito transferred to St. John’s. He batted .372 with 9 HRs, 45 RBIs and a 1.045 OPS. He also led the team with 26 SBs in 30 tries. They also graduated Gavin McAlonie who batted .347, scored 46 runs with an .836 OPS. Lastly, they graduated catcher Chris Giordano who did an admirable filling in at catcher when Yip needed to DH. He did a great job controlling the running game.
Fortunately, Molloy has built a culture of sustainability. While those players were critical to last year’s success, they have several key returning players that will be this year’s core. They return Aidan Larkin who will likely play third base and hit in the top of the order. The Chaminade grad who transferred from Hofstra, has done plenty of winning in his career. He has played in 107 games in his Molloy career, compiling a .328 AVG and .415 OBP.
Aidan Larkin is one of the leaders of Molloy. He’s done a lot of winning in his career beginning at Chaminade HS and now with the Lions. He’s batted .328 with a .415 OBP over his 107 game career pic.twitter.com/3n5RsBOdR9
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 25, 2024
Joining him on the left side of the infield is Patrick Sanchez. Watching him at practice on Friday, you can see why Coach Fucarino stated he’s one of the best shortstops in the region. Sanchez makes the difficult play look easy. Whether he’s going to his right and making the cross-body throw, or sprinting to his left and doing a pirouette to fire on the run, all of his throws are accurate and have plenty of mustard on it. He’s a game changer on defense, and with a player like that you live with whatever you get offensively. But the thing is, he provides plenty of punch on offense, too. The College of Charleston-transfer will be a critical piece for them. Returning players like Sanchez and Larkin give the team optimism that there will be no drop-off from last year.
Patrick Sanchez is among the top shortstops in the region. Excellent defensively and also batted .308 last season. Will be a key piece for Molloy this season pic.twitter.com/cNhaGSTakR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 25, 2024
There are plenty of other returning players that will see big roles in 2025. Just to name a few; Joe Burriesci (12 stolen bases), Sean Welsh (1.103 OPS over 73 at bats), Nicholas Dagnello (39 RBIs over 139 ABs), Tommy Lebrecht (.300 AVG over 30 ABs), Sean Serrano, Thomas Walker, Thomas Charlwood, Charlie Imhof, Jack Coogan.
“These are players that are hungry for roles,” said Fucarino.
Molloy is headed to the Super Regionals !!
Ryan Hynes fires a CG in a 3-1 victory over New Haven. The Lions will face the winner of Southern New Hampshire-Jefferson next weekend in a best-of-3 pic.twitter.com/k23j9I9WKJ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2024
On the pitching side, the loss of Cucchiara is obviously huge. That’s a player you don’t just replace but they are fortunate that they return four other starters from last year that all performed well.
- Ryan Hynes (11-1 record, 3.45 ERA, 3 CG, 73.0 IP)
- JC Kiss (8-3 record, 3.49 ERA, 1 CG, 77.0 IP)
- Matt Fried (7-1 record, 4.88 ERA, 2 CG, 59.0 IP)
- Mike Knapp (1-0 record, 1.23 ERA, 2 SV, 22.0 IP)
“Hynes really turned the page. It gave us big-time depth. His win in the regional was huge. The conference championship game was huge. Him and JC really took the next step.”
James Sill transferred from SUNY Old Westbury. He will be a 2-way player. He won the Diamond Award in 2023 at Division HS and hit 9 HRs at Old Westbury last year pic.twitter.com/DblKVlUxHP
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 25, 2024
As for newcomers, the Lions have a big group. They brought in 12 players; 9 freshman and 3 transfers. James Sill, the 2023 Diamond Award winner from Division Ave HS, came over from SUNY Old Westbury after hitting 9 HRs. He will be a two-way player. He brings tremendous upside both in the middle-of-the-order and on the mound.
They also brought in catcher Jeremy Taggart from Hudson Valley CC and Brian Sanchez, brother of Patrick, from St. Joseph’s University Brooklyn.
The freshman class:
- Artie Green
- Ryan Zegers
- Dylan Schriver
- Matt Reiter
- Gabe Klarikaitis
- Matt Nowlan
- Steve Mulqueen
- Jayden Patel
- Ziggy Cohen
From a personal standpoint, I think Matt Nowlan and Steven Mulqueen showed the Long Island baseball community that they could play high-level baseball. They seem like the type of players that will thrive at the Division-II level and could do that as soon as 2025.
My other takeaway from practice was how intense the group is. Every rep is really done with a purpose and as they say, teams typically take on the demeanor of their head coach.
The Lions will open up their season at the beautiful USA Complex against East Stroudsburg. The following weekend they will head to Myrtle Beach, SC to play in the Northeast Challenge.
