By Joseph Caruso
Staff Writer
The College’s baseball team is trying to build on a successful season last year. They made a magical postseason run, winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference, despite finishing the regular season at exactly .500, going 24-24 and 9-9 in conference play. The Lions were perfectly average, but they put together a Cinderella run to defeat Kean in the championship game when it mattered most.
The College is ranked fourth in the NJAC preseason poll, and will try to prove last season was no fluke. They’ll be bringing back elite position players like junior shortstop Justin Marcario, who earned third-team All-Region after an elite sophomore season that saw him finishing top ten in the NJAC in hits, with 70, as well as 30 runs batted in with a stellar .365 batting average.
The Lions will also get returning senior Ryan Goodall, who finished first-team All-Region last season with a team-leading 11 home runs and a .972 OPS (on-base plus slugging). He is joined by fellow senior catcher Chris Reeder, whose defensive abilities earned him All-Region defensive honors.
Also for the College, they get their dynamic duo of Ben Amon and Jackson Malouf. Malouf, a junior, was the team's standout starter last season, leading the team with an earned run average (ERA) of just 2.81. His year earned him a plethora of honors, including first-team All-NJAC, second-team ABCA All-Region, All-Region IV Defensive Team and ABCA Gold Glove.
Fifth-year Amon will return to the fold after having a great season himself, recording a 3.59 ERA while striking out 59 batters compared to just 19 walks. Another returning pitcher will be Joe Ferreri, who will serve as the team's top reliever.
Standing atop the dugout will be returning manager Dean Glus, who is returning for his 15th season as the head coach, and his 31st season overall at the College. Including last year, he has amassed four NJAC championships along with seven NCAA Regional appearances. Glus is 366-249 as a head coach and has two World Series appearances in 1991 and 2002 for the Lions as an assistant coach.
The College welcomes seven new freshmen, including five pitchers: Tommy Kohler, Connor Lamanteer, Evan Frank, Jack O'Shea and Tim Porfido. This should bolster the Lions’ rotation and bullpen, and the team should be plentiful with their depth, as they did not lose too many players from last year's squad.
If the Lions want to go back-to-back, it starts on the pitcher's mound. The College was an abysmal second to last in the entire NJAC in ERA, getting little to no production out of their pitchers except their two aces. In addition to this, the Lions found themselves in the middle of the pack when it came to most offensive numbers as well, due to the lack of depth and consistency in the latter half of the lineup, which is usually not a recipe for success.
Regardless, the Lions will look to build upon their postseason hot streak and carry it into the new season, which begins on Feb. 29 on the road in Collegeville, Pennsylvania against Ursinus College at 2:30 p.m.
