Garden City, N.Y. – The Adelphi University baseball team, two years removed from a Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Championship and trip to the NCAA East Region Tournament finals, opens the 2013 season on Monday, February 25, at home against Bloomfield at 3 p.m. The Panthers narrowly missed the NE-10 Tournament last year after a season-ending doubleheader sweep by New Haven left Adelphi in fifth place in the Southwest Division, one spot shy of a postseason bid in the league's first season with a divisional format. A revamped pitching staff and a core of veteran hitters put the Panthers in position to compete with the top teams in arguably the nation's toughest wood bat conference.
Return to NE-10 Prominence Starts with Pitching
The 2013 NE-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll predicts the Panthers to finish fifth in the Southwest, identical to the team's 2012 finish in a division that features regional powerhouses Le Moyne, Pace and So. Connecticut. In order to run with the region's top squads, 10th year Head Coach Dom Scala says his pitching staff will have to step up and dominate like the Panther staff of 2011.
“We have always been blessed with great pitching,” Scala said, specifically referring to the 2011 staff that was stocked with aces like Robert Nixon (46th round draft pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2011), Mike Scudero and Jonathan Gonzalez. Plans changed in 2012 when Division I transfer Joe Lombardo went down with an elbow injury after the season opener, which led to careful use of top starter Dillon McNamara, who was returning from elbow surgery the previous offseason.
“We had to be careful with McNamara on innings and we also had to scramble,” said Scala, which resulted in five pitchers making 15-plus appearances and reliever Chris Pabisch moving to the starting rotation – a role in which he excelled by posting a 2.98 earned run average and striking out 53 batters in 57.1 innings. “I feel very good about our staff,” Scala said. “I have my ideas about starters and relievers but whoever wants it the most and shows consistency will pitch.”
McNamara led the 2012 staff in ERA (2.45), starts (11), innings pitched (66) and innings per appearance (5.08) while posting a 2-3 record. Only sophomore Mike Cranston had more wins among regular starters, who had a team-best 5-0 record in a spot starter role. Junior captain Stephen Bove and senior Jimmy Milani both hit speed bumps on the hill in 2012, but Scala expects them to bounce back this spring.
Scala plans to flip-flop the roles of McNamara and junior Matt Abramowitz, who dominated as a closer last season, throwing 25.1 innings in 20 appearances while registering a 2.49 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a measly .198 average. Abramowitz notched six saves, struck out 1.14 batters per inning, and had a team-best WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) of 1.07. Returners Nikolas Batas, John Donnelly and James McCormack will continue to anchor the pen, while Jeff Andersen should see more starts and fewer long relief appearances. Sophomores Vincent Caputo and Ricky Van Allen missed all of 2012 due to injury but are healthy and ready to contribute this season.
Pabisch, the only lefty in a pack of 12 returning pitchers, will be joined by three new southpaws. John Bivas and Ryan Corry add much-needed left-handed depth, and Justin Cusano stands atop the incoming class as Scala's top recruit after a standout career on the mound at Smithtown East. Jonathon Mulford, the lone righty in the new class, makes Adelphi's pitching staff 15 strong.
Zarrella and Mejia to Lead Hitters by Example
Senior first baseman Anthony Zarrella and junior third baseman Richard Mejia return their big bats to the middle of the lineup and are expected to provide the bulk of Adelphi's offensive punch. “Zarrella and Mejia are no doubt big keys to our offense this year,” Scala said of his captains who generated interested from professional scouts with their impressive 2012 performances.
Zarrella, who Scala calls “one of the most feared hitters in the conference,” was a 2012 American Baseball Coaches Association All-East Region Second Team pick, Northeast-10 All-Conference Second Team selection, and was recently named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-East Region Preseason Second Team. He led last year's team in 10 offensive categories, including hits (54), home runs (9), runs scored (35), RBI (41), doubles (13), total bases (96), slugging percentage (.575), walks (24), on-base percentage (418) and stolen bases (10). The first baseman ranked third in the NE-10 in slugging percentage and extra-base hits, finished fifth in homers, sixth in RBI and 10th in doubles.
Mejia has “tremendous upside,” Scala said, and caught the attention of scouts this summer while playing for the Staten Island Tide of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. Although primarily a third baseman, Mejia can play shortstop as well. He swung Adelphi's most clutch bat last season, crushing a walkoff home run against New Haven on May 3 and blasting a game-tying dinger that sparked an eventual walkoff win over nationally-ranked So. Connecticut on March 28. “He is a solid hitter with very good gap to gap power,” Scala said. “He is becoming the leader that I know he can be.”
Adelphi's position players consist of 12 returners and six newcomers. Juniors John Campbell and Chad Houghton and sophomore Nick Zito all saw significant time in the outfield last year, while seniors Jacob Beard, Vinny Gaetano and Anthony Infante are utility players who will push each other for at bats as the designated hitter. Sophomores Vincent Sharkey and Donato Signore can play either infield or outfield and each showed significant promise as top-of-the-order hitters during their rookie campaign.
Returning catchers Rich Cambria and Kevin Hutzel, along with Beard, split time behind the plate last season. “It is no secret that we did not get the production offensively [from our catchers] as we have had in the past,” Scala said. “Guys like Richie McCarren, TJ Humrich and Ryan Boelsen are hard to find. I call them warriors. That is what I am looking for this year.” Cambria played a team-high 25 games at catcher in 2012 and Scala expects improvement now that the sophomore is used to the rigors of a college schedule. “They are all stronger and in better shape this year,” Scala said, including junior transfer Kyle Ambury, who caught at Nassau Community College. “The spot is open for the taking. Let's see who is the hungriest is.”
Ambury is joined by fellow junior college transfers Rob Burns and Brandon Stahl. Also from NCC, Stahl experienced Division I baseball as a backup shortstop at Old Dominion. Burns, a second baseman who excelled at Suffolk County Community College, hits from the left side and shows pop for his size. Three first-years round out the incoming class: infielders Ray Triano and Anthony Vazzana, and outfielder Matthew Wasserman.
2013 Schedule
Despite Adelphi's home opener looming less than a week away, Scala has been cautious with outdoor practices so far this spring. In 2012, the Panthers began training outside as early as January, which Scala suspects could have contributed to numerous injuries.
“After the season I always sit back and assess what we did and could have done to be better,” Scala said. Last year's high injury rate resulted in Adelphi missing the playoffs for the first time under Scala's watch, which he called “a bitter disappointment.” This season, Scala says the Panthers are committed to improving their conditioning and postponing outdoor bullpen work until closer to opening day.
The Panthers will play five non-league games in New York before heading to Florida for a slate of seven non-conference contests. Former East Coast Conference opponents Dowling, Mercy, Molloy, Queens and St. Thomas Aquinas make up seven of Adelphi's 14 games before diving in NE-10 play.
The Florida trip calls for seven games in eight days, pitting the Panthers against Sunshine State Conference powers Barry and #16 Nova Southeastern, as well as NE-10 foes #11 Franklin Pierce and UMass Lowell.
Conference play begins the fourth weekend of March when Adelphi hosts non-divisional doubleheaders against Saint Anselm on March 23 and Saint Michael's on March 24. The Panthers host the Owls of So. Connecticut for the Southwest Division opener on March 27, followed by a road trip to Syracuse for a three-game set against #24 Le Moyne, the region's second-ranked team.
Other notable dates include a three-game divisional homestand against Assumption on April 13-14, a five-game road trip that finishes with three Southwest games at American International, and a three-game series at New Haven on May 3-4 to wrap up the regular season.
