2010 Dominican College Baseball Preview

2010 Dominican College Baseball Season Preview

The Dominican College baseball team finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 38-14 and a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) record of 22-5. The team won the regular season CACC Title and made their 24^th appearance in the 25-year history of the program in the CACC Tournament after garnishing the top seed. Dominican earned the second berth in program history to the NCAA East Regional Tournament. Having garnished the top spot in the region all season, the team was the top seed at the NCAA East Regional hosted by #2 Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH.

This season the Chargers return a veteran squad of players and have added some quality recruits to complete a potent lineup. Head Coach Rick Giannetti, who enters his 21st year at the helm, will look to have as successful 2010 season as was the 2009 campaign.

The Infield:

Senior Tommy Maloney returns to play first base after playing in all 52 games last season and sporting a .286 batting average, a .364 slugging percentage, .481 on-base percentage and a .987 fielding percentage. Backing him up with be freshman Andrew Camardella who has the potential to be an offensive force.

Second base is still up in the air with three players all vying for the starting role Junior Mario Lopez will be making the transition from shortstop to second base, while junior transfer Sean Burke and Travis Smith are also in the hunt after a promising fall season.

Transfer Marco Moreno will start at short stop this season for the Chargers, while T. Smith will also receive some playing time at shortstop with his infield versatility.

Third base will be manned by senior Willie Mann who led the team last year with a .344 batting average and had a .955 fielding percentage. Junior college transfer Mathieu Beauchesne will also see time at third when not in the designated hitter role.

The Outfield:

The Charger outfield will see three returning players and four new faces. Sophomore Xavier Bonilla had a .277 batting average in 37 games in 2009 and has the edge in being the opening day center field with his great speed and quickness. Junior Dan Robinson will return in right field after having a .989 fielding percentage and committing only one error last season in 52 games. Junior transfers Jose Padilla and Burke will see time in the outfield, while freshman Christian Carrion, senior Chris Perrin and Division I transfer Tony Blake will round out the outfield staff.

Catcher:

Junior Robert Iglesias returns behind the plate after a solid sophomore campaign, finishing second on the team with a .342 batting average and earning All-CACC Second Team honors. Padilla and Francis Torres, who is coming back after suffering season ending knee surgery last year, will both battle for playing time.

Designated Hitter:

The designated hitter spot will be manned by either Blake, Camardella and Beauchesne. All are offensive threats when in the lineup and will help fuel the Charger bats.

Pitching:

The Charger pitching staff will be a very deep, talented and experienced staff with five returners.

Starters senior Todd Craig and sophomore Tom Nagy are back in the starting rotation as well. Craig earned All-CACC Second Team honors in 2009 while leading the CACC with seven wins, an ERA of 2.39 and five complete games. Nagy looks to build upon a fine rookie year and graduate student Shaun Murphy is back after finishing with a 3-1 record last year.

New faces to the Chargers starting rotation will be sophomores Dave Bartuska, Dustin Javins and freshman Ricky Leachy.

The bullpen features the return of sophomore Justin Moore, a right-handed pitcher who had an incredible rookie season. He led the CACC and the nation with 17 saves on the year. He finished the year with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 2.74. In 23 innings of work, he gave up 27 hits, nine runs (seven earned), walked four and struck out 13 batters. Moore was named the 2009 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Rookie of the Year, to the All-CACC First Team, the NCBWA All-East Region First Team, to the ABCA Division II East All-Region First Team, to the 2009 Daktronics NCAA Division II East All-Region First Team, received Honorable Mention honors for the 2009 Daktronics NCAA Division II All-American Team and was named to the 2009 Rawlings/ABCA NCAA Division II All-American Third Team.

Sophomore Cody Smith, along with freshmen Matt Cooker, Caleb Whiteley, and Ryan Calby will help in the late innings out of the bullpen for DC this season.

Dominican opens up the 2010 season in Petersburg, Virginia with non-conference double-headers against University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Southern Connecticut State University before heading to Florida for the annual Spring Break Trip. DC opens up CACC play on the road at Nyack College for a double-header on March 24th and will play their home opener on March 26th in a non-conference game against the College of Saint Rose.

The aim of Dominican University New York is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the university is an independent institution of higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of education rooted in the values of reflective understanding and compassionate involvement. Committed to building its programs upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the university maintains a student-centered climate and serves a diverse community of students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The university empowers this community of learners to excel, lead and serve with integrity and to engage responsibly in the pursuit of a more just, ethical and sustainable world. Dominican also sponsors 18 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Dominican University New York, please visit www.duny.edu.