Baseball armed for successful 2012

BULLDOGS HAVE HIGH HOPES IN 2012, BEGIN PLAY FEB. 17

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SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The return of six starting position players and the majority of the pitching staff has the Bryant University baseball team and second-year head coach Steve Owens excited about the upcoming 2012 season.

"The players have worked extremely hard, there is more depth in certain areas than we had last year and there is more competition for playing time at several positions," Owens said. "I am more familiar with the players and have a better idea on their strengths and weaknesses. There is a much greater comfort level between the players and the coaches.

The Bulldogs put together a 30-23 season in Owens' first year at the helm, the program's fifth-straight 30-win season and Owens' 14^th as a head coach. In Northeast Conference play the Black and Gold went 19-12, finishing fourth in the final standings but were unable to compete in the conference tournament due to Bryant's reclassification status.

This year, the Bulldogs are eyeing a second NEC regular-season title in the last three years thanks to the return of 14 letterwinners and a strong recruiting class. The biggest names back are senior third baseman David Soltis (Plainville, Conn.), junior outfielder Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) and junior pitcher Peter Kelich (Jackson, N.J.). The Bulldogs also return key players in nearly every position on the field and feature one of the most highly-touted recruits in the conference in Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.).

One of the biggest challenges the Bulldogs faced last year was at the plate. Bryant ranked third to last in the NEC in batting average, hitting .268 as a team. The fortunate thing for the Bulldogs is that they return five of their top six hitters from a year ago.

"We have worked extremely hard to improve our hitting from last year," Owens said. "We think our players will have better swings and better approaches than last year."

"We have more strength through the lineup. We can score runs," Owens added. "We are looking to be a better offensive team. With our pitchers, we don't need to score many to win."

The aforementioned pitching staff returns mostly intact after compiling a 4.23 ERA in 2011 under first-year pitching coach Ryan Fecteau. The Bulldogs dominated the weekly conference awards last year, winning Akadema/NEC Pitcher of the Week six out of the 11 weeks it was awarded.

PITCHERS

The most consistent part of the Bulldogs team last year was the pitching and all but three of the main contributors are back. Bryant's staff will be lead by Kelich, a two-year starter that has compiled a 15-4 record in two years in Smithfield. He went 5-2 against NEC competition last season, including a pair of complete game shutouts.

"He has progressed, added a couple of pitches and had a great summer," Owens said. "He has a great mental approach to pitching and gives us a shot at winning game one each weekend."

Joining Kelich on the weekend rotation will be redshirt sophomore Joseph Michaud (Milford, Conn.), the rookie McAvoy and sophomore Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.). Hampered by injuries in his first two seasons, Michaud is healthy in 2012 and big things are expected out of the right-hander. Schlitter returns after a strong freshman campaign in which he posted a 2-2 record in 48 innings. 

"(Joe) is bigger and stronger and has three very effective pitches. He can beat teams with any one of the three pitches and if all three are on, he is very good," Owens said of Michaud. "(Craig) got better as the year went on last year. He has added secondary pitches that will allow him to go deeper into games and he has great command of his fastball.

Listed as the top newcomer in the NEC by Baseball America, McAvoy will be thrown right into the fire as he is expected to make his collegiate debut on the first weekend of the season. In high school, McAvoy led his Westhill (Syr.) team to back-to-back state titles in 2009 and 2010 and also won a state basketball title in 2010.

"He has a chance to win a lot of games early on but he will experience growing pains like all freshmen do," Owens said. "He is very confident, has a lot of poise and is very mature."

Bryant's primary midweek starter is slated to be senior Brian O'Neil (North Reading, Mass.). The right-hander is coming off a strong season in 2011 in which he went 4-3 with a 3.98 over 61 innings. His role could expand to weekend relief duty early on in the season when the Bulldogs don't play any games during the week.

While only replacing one starting pitcher, the Bulldog bullpen did lose the program's all-time leader in appearances and saves, Mark Andrews. Bryant will fill that void by moving junior Salvatore Lisanti (Bronx, N.Y.) to the closer role after two years as a starter. He's posted a 9-7 record over the past two seasons, going 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 60.2 innings last season.

"He's excited, he's confident," Owens said. "We think having a front-line guy with an arsenal of pitches should give us and him a lot of confidence. He also gives us the ability to use him in different relief situations, whether it be three innings or one inning."

Joining Lisanti in the bullpen will be sophomore lefty-specialist Jonathan Cohen (Norwalk, Conn.), classmate Bryan Menduke (Oakland, N.J.), junior Ryan Granat (Long Valley, N.J.) and redshirt senior Dan Walsh (Burlington, Mass.). Freshmen Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) and Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) will also vie for innings on the mound.

"The middle innings are still up in the air," Owens said. "These innings are going to be real important in the first month of the season. We need these guys to throw multiple times on the weekend and we need them to throw strikes, get outs and get the ball to our closer."

INFIELDERS

The Bulldogs return a good majority of their experience in the infield. Manning the corners will be seniors Soltis and Jamie Skagerlind (Holden, Mass.). Soltis will make the transition from the everyday shortstop in 2011 to the hot corner, while Skagerlind returns as one of the best defensive players in program history, sporting a program-best .994 fielding percentage.

Up the middle, the Black and Gold will look to juniors Dan Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Adam Claire (Litchfield, Conn.) and sophomore Joe Carcone (New Hartford, N.Y.) to carry the load. All three saw time last season, combining for 293 at-bats. Behind the plate, senior Mike DelPonte (Tewksbury, Mass.) returns as a seasoned veteran after catching 52 games last year. That experience will prove very important for the Bulldogs according to Owens.

"We should be very solid in the infield but we have to get better at turning double plays," Owens said. We have a good solid core of players and the depth to overcome an injury or illness and give our younger player an opportunity to play."

Those younger players include sophomore catcher Jonathan Scott (Princeton, N.J.) and freshmen John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.), Matt Zanotta (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Alex Lagos (Wrentham, Mass.). Mullen can play both first and third base, allowing the Black and Gold to use Soltis at short if needed. Zanotta, who can play first, catch and DH, hit 18 home runs in his senior season at Guilderland High in New York and has one year of post-graduate experience under his belt. Lagos gives Bryant depth at short, while Scott saw action in three games in his first season with the Bulldogs last year.

OUTFIELD

Two-thirds of the Bulldogs' outfield returns in 2012 and the fight for the third spot has been competitive during the preseason. Brown returns as the starting left fielder and senior Connor Carignan (Norwich, Conn.) will man center field. Who will start in right field is yet to be determined but will come down to Anderson, redshirt freshman Daniel St. George (Shelton, Conn.) and first-year Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.).

St. George was off to a fantastic freshman campaign last spring but an injury during practice cut his season short after just 12 games. Anderson comes from a strong high school program at Lincoln Sudbury where he hit 10 home runs in his junior season. Mountford can also cover ground in the outfield and can provide ample power at the plate. Another freshman, Ben Lipper (Westport, Conn.), will provide the Black and Gold with an excellent defensive option in the outfield and will also be used in pinch-running roles.

"We have a very solid defensive outfield that will be able to cover ground and get to balls in the gaps," Owens said. "They should all provide offensively as well."

SCHEDULE

Coach Owens has put together another challenging schedule for his charges in 2012. The docket includes 32 NEC games and non-conference games against teams in the BIG EAST, ACC, Atlantic-10, Horizon League, Atlantic Sun, Conference USA, Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Big South, America East, MAAC and Ivy League.

Bryant opens its fourth and final season of NCAA-mandated reclassification on Friday, Feb. 17 with a weekend trip to the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. There, the Bulldogs will face St. Joseph's, Wright St., Marshall and Youngstown St. Following opening weekend, the Bulldogs will make three more southern trips before opening the northern portion of their schedule. Bryant makes trips to Florida Gulf Coast (Feb. 24-26), George Mason (Mar. 2-4) and a spring break trip that includes games against Radford (Mar. 9-11), Liberty (Mar. 13) and the Bulldogs' first conference weekend against Mount St. Mary's (Mar. 16-18).

The Bulldogs will open newly renovated Conaty Park on Wednesday, Mar. 21 vs. ACC-foe Boston College. The University of Maine comes to Smithfield for a three-game series on Mar. 23-25. The Bulldogs non-conference schedule also includes single games at Boston College (Mar. 28), Rhode Island (Apr. 11), Northeastern (Apr. 17), Connecticut (Apr. 24) and home games vs. Brown (Apr. 25) and Siena (May 1).

Bryant's home schedule also includes conference matchups with Central Connecticut (Apr. 5-7), Sacred Heart (Apr. 13-15), Fairleigh Dickinson (Apr. 27-29) and Wagner (May 11-13). The rest of the Bulldogs' conference games are the road, with trips to Long Island (Mar. 30-Apr. 1), Quinnipiac (Apr. 20-22) and Monmouth (May 4-6).