Bulldogs favorite in NEC again according to D1Baseball.com
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With just 11 days until first pitch, D1Baseball.com has tabbed the Bryant University baseball team as the favorite in the Northeast Conference this season.
The national outlet also named its predicted player of the year, pitcher of the year and rookie of the year, as well as its top prospects for the 2017 and 2018 drafts and the top impact freshmen.
Bryant, the reigning NEC Tournament champion and the five-time reigning NEC Regular-Season champ, went 47-12 overall and 26-4 in the league last year. The Bulldogs claimed their third tournament title in four years, earned a No. 2 seed in the Charlottesville Regional and finished the year with the best winning percentage in the country.
D1Baseball.com tabbed junior RHP James Karinchak (Walden, N.Y.) as the predicted pitcher of the year and freshman Jimmy Titus (Stafford, Conn.) was predicted to be the rookie of the year. Bryant is home to each of the last five NEC Rookie of the Year winners.
The Bulldogs also had four players listed among the top prospects for this year's draft and two for next year's draft. Karinchak and senior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) were named the top two pro prospects for 2017, while junior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) (No. 4) and sophomore Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) (No. 6) were also listed.
Sophomore Steve Theetge (Syracuse, N.Y.) was listed as the league's top prospect for the 2018 draft and junior Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) was listed as the No. 2 prospect.
Bryant also landed a pair on the impact freshmen list. Titus, the two-time Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, was named the top impact freshmen, while Ryan Ward (Grafton, Mass.) was listed third.
The Black and Gold open the 2017 season on Feb. 17 when they open a four-game weekend series at New Mexico State.