{"id":50062,"date":"2024-01-28T05:52:37","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T09:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/?p=50062"},"modified":"2024-01-28T05:52:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-28T09:52:37","slug":"st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Mary’s Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>by Max Edelman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just three seasons after restarting their baseball program, the <strong>St. Mary\u2019s<\/strong> Gaels look to finally establish themselves in the Catholic League. After restarting their baseball program in 2022, the Gaels, led by head coach <strong>Chris Estrada<\/strong>, who is entering his third year with the team, were forced to rebuild from the ground up. Despite finishing 2023 with a 2-14 record in the CHSAA, and a 9-14 record overall, Estrada was able to find the progress his team and players made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cLast season, I think the kids got a better sense of being in the catholic league.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHow strong it is, how competitive it is, how many top prospects there are whether they are going DI or possibly getting looked at to get drafted. The kids had a second year to get adjusted to it, and the record isn\u2019t an indication of the progress.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When St Mary\u2019s restarted their baseball team again, they were consisted of underclassmen. Two years later, St. Mary\u2019s is finally reaping the rewards for what Estrada calls their first real \u201csenior class.\u201d<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-50054 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/StormLightningLogo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1\/1;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis is our first year having a senior class.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to make a big difference overall. The past few years, we\u2019ve had mostly freshman, sophomores and juniors. This is the first year we\u2019re going to have six seniors on the field.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Estrada pointed out the pitching staff as an area that has the potential to be a major part of the team. One of those seniors who is likely to make a big impact for the Gaels this year is pitcher <strong>Kyle Pena<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cKyle will probably be leading the staff.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHe will make a big difference and has grown a lot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Arelius Vandrell,<\/strong> while a senior, is new to the Gaels. After sitting out last season following his transfer to St. Mary\u2019s, Vandrell is finally able to make an impact on the mound. Rounding out the key pitchers for the Gaels is junior Missouri-commit <strong>Todd Feurtado<\/strong>. Feurtado, along with Vandrell and Pena, solidified what should be an experienced and effective pitching staff for the Gaels.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">LHP Todd Feurtado (St. Mary\u2019s 2025) commits to the University of Missouri <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/a7OZi9nXRH\">pic.twitter.com\/a7OZi9nXRH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/axcessbaseball\/status\/1734720309486305332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">St. Mary\u2019s has also developed a very strong bullpen. Estrada pointed out several players who should feature for the Gaels out of the pen this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019ll have good strength on the pitching side with our back of the bullpen.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWith guys like <strong>Edwin Diaz, Aaron Diaz<\/strong> and <strong>Jorge Rodriguez<\/strong>. Those guys have been pitching in the league for a while are definitely going to be able to understand and compete with the batters. The pitching is definitely going to make a big difference for us this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While St. Mary\u2019s is benefiting from experience for the first time since rejoining the Catholic League, they are not taking any focus away from developing underclassmen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think we are still so youthful.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cI think guys like <strong>Thomas Galan<\/strong>, who is a sophomore. Guys like <strong>Ryder Dougherty,<\/strong> who’s also a sophomore, should make a difference. <strong>Fabian Diaz<\/strong>, who\u2019s a sophomore now, played as a freshman. All three of them got some playing time on varsity last year, so this year they should definitely make that stride to make a big impact on the varsity team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When discussing what coach Estrada believes will be the biggest strengths of his team this season, Estrada touted his team’s pitching and defense as their biggest strength. Estrada cited players such as <strong>Rico Mercades, Derek Mateo<\/strong> and <strong>Samuel Hernandez<\/strong> as players he expects to be big difference-makers on the field. Estrada also has high hopes for the Gaels offense this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf our offense can move runners over, play small ball and steal bases, that will give us a lot of help.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWinning close games, winning 5-3 games, 2-3 games, 1-0 games depending on our pitching and our defense. We definitely want to grow on the hitting side, but we are definitely excited to see how our pitching and our defense keep us in\u00a0 games.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">St Mary\u2019s will open their season against Cathedral Prep in March. 14.<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Max Edelman Just three seasons after restarting their baseball program, the St. Mary\u2019s Gaels look to finally establish themselves in the Catholic League. After restarting their baseball program in 2022, the Gaels, led by head coach Chris Estrada, who is entering his third year with the team, were forced to rebuild from the ground up. Despite finishing 2023 with a 2-14 record in the CHSAA, and a 9-14 record overall, Estrada was able to find the progress his team and players made.\u00a0 \u201cLast season, I think the kids got a better sense of being in the catholic league.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHow strong it is, how competitive it is, how many top prospects there are whether they are going DI or possibly getting looked at to get drafted. The kids had a second year to get adjusted to it, and the record isn\u2019t an indication of the progress.\u201d When St Mary\u2019s restarted their baseball team again, they were consisted of underclassmen. Two years later, St. Mary\u2019s is finally reaping the rewards for what Estrada calls their first real \u201csenior class.\u201d \u201cThis is our first year having a senior class.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to make a big difference overall. The past few years, we\u2019ve had mostly freshman, sophomores and juniors. This is the first year we\u2019re going to have six seniors on the field.\u201d Estrada pointed out the pitching staff as an area that has the potential to be a major part of the team. One of those seniors who is likely to make a big impact for the Gaels this year is pitcher Kyle Pena. \u201cKyle will probably be leading the staff.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHe will make a big difference and has grown a lot.\u201d Arelius Vandrell, while a senior, is new to the Gaels. After sitting out last season following his transfer to St. Mary\u2019s, Vandrell is finally able to make an impact on the mound. Rounding out the key pitchers for the Gaels is junior Missouri-commit Todd Feurtado. Feurtado, along with Vandrell and Pena, solidified what should be an experienced and effective pitching staff for the Gaels. LHP Todd Feurtado (St. Mary\u2019s 2025) commits to the University of Missouri pic.twitter.com\/a7OZi9nXRH \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 12, 2023 St. Mary\u2019s has also developed a very strong bullpen. Estrada pointed out several players who should feature for the Gaels out of the pen this year. \u201cWe\u2019ll have good strength on the pitching side with our back of the bullpen.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWith guys like Edwin Diaz, Aaron Diaz and Jorge Rodriguez. Those guys have been pitching in the league for a while are definitely going to be able to understand and compete with the batters. The pitching is definitely going to make a big difference for us this year.\u201d While St. Mary\u2019s is benefiting from experience for the first time since rejoining the Catholic League, they are not taking any focus away from developing underclassmen.\u00a0 \u201cI think we are still so youthful.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cI think guys like Thomas Galan, who is a sophomore. Guys like Ryder Dougherty, who’s also a sophomore, should make a difference. Fabian Diaz, who\u2019s a sophomore now, played as a freshman. All three of them got some playing time on varsity last year, so this year they should definitely make that stride to make a big impact on the varsity team.\u201d When discussing what coach Estrada believes will be the biggest strengths of his team this season, Estrada touted his team’s pitching and defense as their biggest strength. Estrada cited players such as Rico Mercades, Derek Mateo and Samuel Hernandez as players he expects to be big difference-makers on the field. Estrada also has high hopes for the Gaels offense this year. \u201cIf our offense can move runners over, play small ball and steal bases, that will give us a lot of help.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWinning close games, winning 5-3 games, 2-3 games, 1-0 games depending on our pitching and our defense. We definitely want to grow on the hitting side, but we are definitely excited to see how our pitching and our defense keep us in\u00a0 games.\u201d\u00a0 St Mary\u2019s will open their season against Cathedral Prep in March. 14. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,461],"tags":[3250,2986,3251,2157],"class_list":{"0":"post-50062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-archive","8":"category-news","9":"tag-2024-season-previews","10":"tag-chris-estrada","11":"tag-max-edelman","12":"tag-st-marys"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>St. Mary's Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3 - Axcess Baseball<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St. Mary's Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3 - Axcess Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Max Edelman Just three seasons after restarting their baseball program, the St. Mary\u2019s Gaels look to finally establish themselves in the Catholic League. After restarting their baseball program in 2022, the Gaels, led by head coach Chris Estrada, who is entering his third year with the team, were forced to rebuild from the ground up. Despite finishing 2023 with a 2-14 record in the CHSAA, and a 9-14 record overall, Estrada was able to find the progress his team and players made.\u00a0 \u201cLast season, I think the kids got a better sense of being in the catholic league.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHow strong it is, how competitive it is, how many top prospects there are whether they are going DI or possibly getting looked at to get drafted. The kids had a second year to get adjusted to it, and the record isn\u2019t an indication of the progress.\u201d When St Mary\u2019s restarted their baseball team again, they were consisted of underclassmen. Two years later, St. Mary\u2019s is finally reaping the rewards for what Estrada calls their first real \u201csenior class.\u201d \u201cThis is our first year having a senior class.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to make a big difference overall. The past few years, we\u2019ve had mostly freshman, sophomores and juniors. This is the first year we\u2019re going to have six seniors on the field.\u201d Estrada pointed out the pitching staff as an area that has the potential to be a major part of the team. One of those seniors who is likely to make a big impact for the Gaels this year is pitcher Kyle Pena. \u201cKyle will probably be leading the staff.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHe will make a big difference and has grown a lot.\u201d Arelius Vandrell, while a senior, is new to the Gaels. After sitting out last season following his transfer to St. Mary\u2019s, Vandrell is finally able to make an impact on the mound. Rounding out the key pitchers for the Gaels is junior Missouri-commit Todd Feurtado. Feurtado, along with Vandrell and Pena, solidified what should be an experienced and effective pitching staff for the Gaels. LHP Todd Feurtado (St. Mary\u2019s 2025) commits to the University of Missouri pic.twitter.com\/a7OZi9nXRH \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 12, 2023 St. Mary\u2019s has also developed a very strong bullpen. Estrada pointed out several players who should feature for the Gaels out of the pen this year. \u201cWe\u2019ll have good strength on the pitching side with our back of the bullpen.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWith guys like Edwin Diaz, Aaron Diaz and Jorge Rodriguez. Those guys have been pitching in the league for a while are definitely going to be able to understand and compete with the batters. The pitching is definitely going to make a big difference for us this year.\u201d While St. Mary\u2019s is benefiting from experience for the first time since rejoining the Catholic League, they are not taking any focus away from developing underclassmen.\u00a0 \u201cI think we are still so youthful.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cI think guys like Thomas Galan, who is a sophomore. Guys like Ryder Dougherty, who’s also a sophomore, should make a difference. Fabian Diaz, who\u2019s a sophomore now, played as a freshman. All three of them got some playing time on varsity last year, so this year they should definitely make that stride to make a big impact on the varsity team.\u201d When discussing what coach Estrada believes will be the biggest strengths of his team this season, Estrada touted his team’s pitching and defense as their biggest strength. Estrada cited players such as Rico Mercades, Derek Mateo and Samuel Hernandez as players he expects to be big difference-makers on the field. Estrada also has high hopes for the Gaels offense this year. \u201cIf our offense can move runners over, play small ball and steal bases, that will give us a lot of help.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWinning close games, winning 5-3 games, 2-3 games, 1-0 games depending on our pitching and our defense. We definitely want to grow on the hitting side, but we are definitely excited to see how our pitching and our defense keep us in\u00a0 games.\u201d\u00a0 St Mary\u2019s will open their season against Cathedral Prep in March. 14. \" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Axcess Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/axcessbaseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-28T09:52:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vinny Messana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@axcessbaseball\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@axcessbaseball\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vinny Messana\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Vinny Messana\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f547cb10f01b2dcfa9613585604f881f\"},\"headline\":\"St. Mary’s Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-28T09:52:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\"},\"wordCount\":720,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2024 Season Previews\",\"Chris Estrada\",\"Max Edelman\",\"St. Mary's\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Archive\",\"NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\",\"name\":\"St. Mary's Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3 - Axcess Baseball\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-28T09:52:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":698},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"St. Mary’s Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/\",\"name\":\"Axcess Baseball\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"aXcess Baseball\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/axcess-logo-home-footer.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/axcess-logo-home-footer.png\",\"width\":650,\"height\":178,\"caption\":\"aXcess Baseball\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/axcessbaseball\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/axcessbaseball\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/axcess_baseball\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f547cb10f01b2dcfa9613585604f881f\",\"name\":\"Vinny Messana\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aae52fd44a445c2c294bf32a7889ab6d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aae52fd44a445c2c294bf32a7889ab6d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vinny Messana\"},\"description\":\"Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/author\/vmessana\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"St. Mary's Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3 - Axcess Baseball","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"St. Mary's Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3 - Axcess Baseball","og_description":"by Max Edelman Just three seasons after restarting their baseball program, the St. Mary\u2019s Gaels look to finally establish themselves in the Catholic League. After restarting their baseball program in 2022, the Gaels, led by head coach Chris Estrada, who is entering his third year with the team, were forced to rebuild from the ground up. Despite finishing 2023 with a 2-14 record in the CHSAA, and a 9-14 record overall, Estrada was able to find the progress his team and players made.\u00a0 \u201cLast season, I think the kids got a better sense of being in the catholic league.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHow strong it is, how competitive it is, how many top prospects there are whether they are going DI or possibly getting looked at to get drafted. The kids had a second year to get adjusted to it, and the record isn\u2019t an indication of the progress.\u201d When St Mary\u2019s restarted their baseball team again, they were consisted of underclassmen. Two years later, St. Mary\u2019s is finally reaping the rewards for what Estrada calls their first real \u201csenior class.\u201d \u201cThis is our first year having a senior class.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to make a big difference overall. The past few years, we\u2019ve had mostly freshman, sophomores and juniors. This is the first year we\u2019re going to have six seniors on the field.\u201d Estrada pointed out the pitching staff as an area that has the potential to be a major part of the team. One of those seniors who is likely to make a big impact for the Gaels this year is pitcher Kyle Pena. \u201cKyle will probably be leading the staff.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cHe will make a big difference and has grown a lot.\u201d Arelius Vandrell, while a senior, is new to the Gaels. After sitting out last season following his transfer to St. Mary\u2019s, Vandrell is finally able to make an impact on the mound. Rounding out the key pitchers for the Gaels is junior Missouri-commit Todd Feurtado. Feurtado, along with Vandrell and Pena, solidified what should be an experienced and effective pitching staff for the Gaels. LHP Todd Feurtado (St. Mary\u2019s 2025) commits to the University of Missouri pic.twitter.com\/a7OZi9nXRH \u2014 Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 12, 2023 St. Mary\u2019s has also developed a very strong bullpen. Estrada pointed out several players who should feature for the Gaels out of the pen this year. \u201cWe\u2019ll have good strength on the pitching side with our back of the bullpen.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWith guys like Edwin Diaz, Aaron Diaz and Jorge Rodriguez. Those guys have been pitching in the league for a while are definitely going to be able to understand and compete with the batters. The pitching is definitely going to make a big difference for us this year.\u201d While St. Mary\u2019s is benefiting from experience for the first time since rejoining the Catholic League, they are not taking any focus away from developing underclassmen.\u00a0 \u201cI think we are still so youthful.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cI think guys like Thomas Galan, who is a sophomore. Guys like Ryder Dougherty, who’s also a sophomore, should make a difference. Fabian Diaz, who\u2019s a sophomore now, played as a freshman. All three of them got some playing time on varsity last year, so this year they should definitely make that stride to make a big impact on the varsity team.\u201d When discussing what coach Estrada believes will be the biggest strengths of his team this season, Estrada touted his team’s pitching and defense as their biggest strength. Estrada cited players such as Rico Mercades, Derek Mateo and Samuel Hernandez as players he expects to be big difference-makers on the field. Estrada also has high hopes for the Gaels offense this year. \u201cIf our offense can move runners over, play small ball and steal bases, that will give us a lot of help.\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWinning close games, winning 5-3 games, 2-3 games, 1-0 games depending on our pitching and our defense. We definitely want to grow on the hitting side, but we are definitely excited to see how our pitching and our defense keep us in\u00a0 games.\u201d\u00a0 St Mary\u2019s will open their season against Cathedral Prep in March. 14. ","og_url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/","og_site_name":"Axcess Baseball","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/axcessbaseball","article_published_time":"2024-01-28T09:52:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":698,"url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Vinny Messana","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@axcessbaseball","twitter_site":"@axcessbaseball","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vinny Messana","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/"},"author":{"name":"Vinny Messana","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f547cb10f01b2dcfa9613585604f881f"},"headline":"St. Mary’s Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3","datePublished":"2024-01-28T09:52:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/"},"wordCount":720,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg","keywords":["2024 Season Previews","Chris Estrada","Max Edelman","St. Mary's"],"articleSection":["Archive","NEWS"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/","name":"St. Mary's Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3 - Axcess Baseball","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-28T09:52:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0874.jpg","width":1170,"height":698},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/2024\/01\/28\/st-marys-poised-to-take-step-forward-in-year-3\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"St. Mary’s Poised to Take Step Forward in Year 3"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/","name":"Axcess Baseball","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#organization","name":"aXcess Baseball","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/axcess-logo-home-footer.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/axcess-logo-home-footer.png","width":650,"height":178,"caption":"aXcess Baseball"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/axcessbaseball","https:\/\/x.com\/axcessbaseball","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/axcess_baseball\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f547cb10f01b2dcfa9613585604f881f","name":"Vinny Messana","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aae52fd44a445c2c294bf32a7889ab6d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aae52fd44a445c2c294bf32a7889ab6d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Vinny Messana"},"description":"Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres","url":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/author\/vmessana\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50064,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50062\/revisions\/50064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axcessbaseball.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}