Season Preview: Baseball Picked to Challenge for CCC Title

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott baseball received two first place votes and finished just three points behind reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) champion Western New England in the CCC Preseason baseball poll, released Tuesday morning by the conference office and commissioner Gregg M. Kaye. 

The Gulls, who finished with a 29-16 record last year and a 12-4 mark in the conference, are the two-time defending champions of the ECAC Division III New England baseball tournament, but are focused on winning the CCC title and returning to the NCAA Regional tournament for the first time since 2006.

"Our goal this year, as it is every year, is to win the conference and put ourselves in a position where we can compete in the regional and national tournament," said Head Coach Bryan Haley, entering his sixth year at the helm of the Endicott baseball program.

The 2013 Gulls have a host of players returning to both their lineup and their pitching staff, including six All-Conference selections from the 2012 season, in which they posted a 29-16 record.

Endicott's offensive fire-power starts in a speedy outfield, where it will return starters Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.), Ralph Fidaleo (Fairfield, Conn.) and team captain Colin Sitarz (W. Hartford, Conn.). Sitarz, a graduate student, is on pace to become the career leader in several offensive categories in his final season, and he and Gold are both coming off of First Team All-CCC selections a year ago.

Sitarz hit .307 last year, scoring 30 runs and knocking in 34, while leading the team with 14 doubles. Gold, entering just his junior season, is coming off of a year in which he stole 22 bases, hit .315 and led the Gulls with 42 runs and 38 RBIs. Gold needs just 13 stolen bases to become the all-time program leader, and currently has the highest stolen base percentage in Endicott history (.887).

Fidaleo drove in 12 runs a year ago and was one of three players, along with Gold, to hit a team-high three home runs. Junior Conor Ressel (Rockport, Mass.) will return to see time in the Endicott outfield, as will versatile newcomer Tim Brutto (Worcester, Mass.).

In the infield, Endicott will again have some familiar faces, though they may shift their positions a little. Freshman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) returns after a stand-out freshman campaign in which he hit .280, scored 23 runs, knocked four triples and was third on the team with 27 RBI.

EJ Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who batted .291 a year ago with two home-runs and eleven doubles, will slide over from shortstop to third base, opening the door for freshman Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.), Matt Paola (Southbury, Conn.) and Nick Quattro (Canton, Mass.) to compete for the shortstop and utility infield positions.

At first base, Endicott will look to freshman Corbin Hyde (Lewiston, Maine) and transfer Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass.), both of whom are strong defensive players and left handed hitters.

Senior catcher and All-CCC Honorable Mention, Robert Goldstick (Deerfield, Ill.), will be back for his final season behind the plate.  Robbie has proven himself to be one of the top defensive catchers in the league throughout the past two seasons.   

Three time All-CCC 2^nd Team award winner, Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) will again compete for the starting designated hitter role.  In 2012, Lemke scored 31 runs and was 11-11 in stolen base attempts.  Lemke has scored 98 runs and stolen 34 bases in three years with the Gulls.  Lemke, who moved from second base to DH last season, may also see time in left field this season.

Like the outfield, the Gulls have good team speed in the infield, especially in Martinez, who stole eight bases last year and newcomers Paola, Holmgren, Hyde and Quattro. They all fit into Haley's high pressure offense, where the Gulls will again look to put runners in motion and steal bases.

The rotation will also feature an All-Conference selection in Mike Nich (Orange, Conn.), who earned a spot on the second team last year. Nich, playing in his final year as a graduate student, needs five wins to become the Endicott career leader after a 5-2 year in which he led the team with 35 strikeouts.  Nich currently has 18 wins and has posted a 3.18 ERA with 102 strikeouts.

Other returners to Endicott's staff include Tyler Hitchcock (Abington, Mass.), who pitched four complete games for the Gulls last year and posted 4 wins. Brendan Pittsley (Plympton, Mass.), a member of the 2011 All-CCC 2^nd  team and Tyler Hill (Las Vegas, NV.), who beat national runner up, Wheaton College and the Little East tournament champion, University of Southern Maine in two of his five starts last season.    

Freshman Mike Walkowicz (Amherst, Mass.), a two-time All-State selection, will also compete for one of the spots in the starting rotation.

"I like the experience," Haley said of his pitching staff. "We expect to pound the bottom of the zone and force contact, and they all do that well." The Gulls certainly did throw strikes last year, finishing the season third in the country in walks per nine innings (2.22) and fifteenth in
the nation in strikeout to walk ratio (2.61).

In the bullpen, Connor McLaughlin (Clinton, Mass.) will return after a 2012 sophomore season in which he posted a 4-0 record with 3 saves and a 1.42 earned run average. Senior Kevin Dupras (Belchertown, Mass.) also had a strong season a year ago, with a 2-0 record, two saves and a 1.83 ERA, and will spend time as a swing-man between the bullpen and the rotation.

Hyde and Brutto will join returners Mike Griffin (Arlington, Mass), Zac Poland (Essex Junction Vt.) and a strong group of freshman that will also contribute on the mound this spring.

This year, thanks to the newly turfed North Field, Endicott will start their season in Beverly with games against Saint Joseph's (Maine) on March 2^nd and a doubleheader against Bates on March 10^th, before heading south for their annual participation in the Russ Matt Central Florida tournament, where they will play one of the strongest schedules in the region. They will match up against teams including Bowdoin and Trinity (Conn.), who both made NCAA regional appearances last year, as well as Eastern Connecticut State University, Amherst and William Paterson.

Things will not get any easier for the Gulls when they return north, as their season will again feature Little East champions Southern Maine and National runners-up Wheaton College. Commonwealth Coast Conference play will pit the Gulls against Curry, Roger Williams and Regional finalists Western New
England, who Endicott hopes to unseat as five-time holders of the CCC championship.

2013 CCC PRESEASON BASEBALL POLL

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head baseball coaches. Teams received nine points for every first place vote received, eight points for second place votes, seven points for third place votes, down to one points for a last place vote.