Kean stays atop the NJAC in 2011

by Alex Schiffer for d3baseball.com

New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC): Kean took home the conference’s regular season title this year as well as the tournament title by defeating rival Rowan. Despite losing its first game of the Mid-Atlantic regional, the team won the rest of their games to meet Alvernia in the final where they beat them in both games. At the World Series however, the Cougars were one of the first teams out losing to Chapman and Salisbury.

NJAC Regular season champion: Kean
NJAC Tournament Champion: Kean
NCAA Participants: Kean, Rowan, Ramapo
NJAC Position Player of the Year: Lee Cavico,  Kean
NJAC Pitcher of the Year: Mike Russo, Kean
NJAC Coach of the Year: Juan Ranero, Rowan
NJAC Rookie of the Year: Travis Marra, Richard Stockton

Lee Cavico was the NJAC player of the year in 2011. d3photography photo by Larry Radloff

Kean (42-11, 14-4): The Cougars once again proved that they are a force to be reckoned with in the NJAC. Fielding one of the best all-around teams in the country they managed to capture yet another NJAC title under coach Neil Ioviero and as well as another Mid-Atlantic regional title. Kean started the season off on a roll as they won 10 of their first 12 games. In conference play the Cougars were 14-4 with blowout wins against NJCU (27-5) and William Paterson (16-4).

The Cougars breezed through the NJAC tournament going 4-0 including the 8-1 clinching game over Rowan. During the NCAA Mid-Atlantic regional opener, #8 Catholic upset the top seeded Cougars 3-2, dropping them into the loser’s bracket. With Kean’s season on the line against Messiah, sophomore Kevin Herget pitched a gem to keep Kean’s season alive as they won 6-0. Kean continued to win in the regional dropping Misericordia, John Hopkins, and Rowan along the way. Kean met Alvernia in the regional final and had to beat them twice to punch their ticket to Appleton something they failed to do last year against John Hopkins. Kean got the job done this year though beating Alvernia 9-4 then 7-0 to clinch the regional.

In Appleton, Kean dropped their opening to game to Chapman University, the team that gave the Cougars their first loss of the season. Junior Mike Russo couldn’t handle the Chapman offense as the team fell 9-4. Kean then fell to Salisbury 10-3 in the elimination game, ending their season. The team has a number of early exits since winning it all in 2007, going 106 since then.

Mike Russo was dominate in the regular season for the Cougars, winning NJAC Pitcher of the Year honors. Kean athletics photo

The Cougars pitching staff was led by junior and NJAC pitcher of the year Mike Russo. Coming into the season, Russo was tabbed as one the top pitchers in the country, and a must-see for many MLB teams. Russo proved to be as good as gold for the Cougars going 10-2 with a 1.93 ERA on his way to multiple accolades including a spot on the d3baseball.com All-American team. The Cougars also relied on sophomore Kevin Herget (7-1, 2.68), and junior Chris Cirlincione (7-1, 1.09) to take the mound for them. Out of the bullpen, sophomore Sam Fourre and Greg Baruka played the role of sandman.

The Cougars offense was led by regional player of the year Ken Gregory. Gregory was an offense tank this year batting .399 with 11 round trippers and 54 runs batted in helping him gather multiple awards. He was the second Cougar along with junior pitcher Mike Russo on the D3baseball.com All-American team. Gregory backed up junior Lee Cavico who broke out this year batting .356 with nine home runs and 48 runs batted in. Despite playing just two games in the National Championship, Cavico earned a spot on the championships all-tournament. Cavico put up such good numbers in the tournament to the point where he was still appearing on the leader boards long after the Cougars had been eliminated.

John O’Hara saved seven games in 2011. Rowan athletics photo

Rowan (31-13-1, 14-4): The Profs managed to have a fairly successful year despite falling short in both the Mid-Atlantic Regional and the NJAC tournament. Under NJAC coach of the year Juan Ranero the team received national attention, appearing in numerous Top 25 polls. Although the Profs never cracked the top ten, many still look at it as an achievement.  

The Profs did not rely on the big fly to win games as the team combined for just six home runs, the most being hit by senior Kevin O’Brien with 2. However, the Profs would learn how to work around that, using extra-base hits to create their runs and having their pitching do the rest.  The Profs won many of their games by large margins as they proved to many that you can still win without a power-hitter. Sophomore backstop C.J Szymczak proved to be a future offensive threat in the NJAC batting .345. Senior Matt Citro also helped the Profs offense, batting .322 with 4 triples.

What really proved to be the difference in Rowans season was their pitching. The Profs had some of the best hurlers in the NJAC in senior Mike Swietanski and Steven Melchiorre. Swietanki went 7-2 with a 2.12 ERA while Melchiorre went 6-1 with a 2.56 ERA.  Rowans closer, John O’Hara also raised many eyebrows around the league. O’Hara went 2-0 with a 0.61 earned run average while saving 7 games for the Profs. O’Hara held opponents to a .167 batting average while letting in just one earned run the entire season.

Matt Conners and Patrick Reitemeyer both passed Brian Dena for the most hits in program history with Reitemeyer setting the career mark with 217 hits. Rutgers-Newark athletics photo

Rutgers-Newark (23-19, 11-7): The Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders wrapped up a reasonable season. Despite bowing out of the NJAC tournament with a loss to Rowan, the team showed signs of success in the near future. Despite losing seven conference games, the team played well in many of their losses, losing to conference power Kean by just a single run, and beating Rowan in the first game of a double-header NJAC season finale.  Outside of the NJAC, the team managed to make it to the ECAC championship game before weather caused the game to be cancelled.  The team also managed to appear on many of the NCAA’s regional rankings but fell short of reaching any NCAA regional. Reaching a regional will be one of the team’s biggest goals next season.

The team’s offense was led by senior Patrick Reitemeyer who burned pitchers for a .369 average while hitting 4 home runs and driving in 32 runs along the way. Reitemeyer’s bat was good enough to earn him a spot on the All-NJAC second team along with fellow senior teammate Matt DiCenso. DiCenso batted a respectable .256 with 42 hits and 21 RBI’s. Junior third baseman Tim Miller also worked his way on to the all-conference team. The honorable mention batted .309 with 51 hits and 31 runs batted in.

The Raider’s were led on the mound by junior Connor Medler. Medler led the team in wins going 7-2 with a 3.98 ERA to go with 54 strikeouts. Some of Medlers games were closed out by sophomore sand man Matt Larangera. An outfielder turned closer, Larangera has impressed despite his limited time on the mound. The sophomore saved seven games for the Raiders this season, and led the team with a 1.71 earned run average.

Sophomore Travis Zilg led the Roadrunner pitching staff in 2011. Ramapo athletics photo

Ramapo (30-14, 11-7): The Roadrunners look to 2012 enthusiasm as they will look to pick up where they left off in 2011. Despite getting bounced early from the NJAC tournament, the team managed to qualify for the NCAA New York regional where they earned a Pool C bid. The team dropped the first game to national power Keystone 5-8. Despite the loss the team played Keystone well with 5 lead-changes happening throughout the game. The team then dropped their elimination game to Clarkson 5-2 officially ending their season. The team has the potential to win the entire NJAC next year as they will return the majority of their team including All-Conference first team third baseman Christian Spurr.

The Roadrunners rotation was probably the most impressive in the entire conference. The team has 8 pitchers with ERA’s under 4. Led by sophomore all-conference second team hurler Travis Zilg (6-3, 2.93 ERA, 58 SO), the team put together one of the best rotations in the country. With just one senior on the whole staff, the team will return almost everybody next year, making for some interesting conference match-ups.

The Roadrunners got their runs this season from sophomore Christian Spurr. Spurr erupted offensively this year batting .345 with 5 home runs and 45 RBI’s .Spurr led the team in both homers and runs batted in, on his way to a stellar sophomore season. Ramapo got their runs from many other players as well. Similar to their complete pitching staff, Ramapo had 4 players with 20+ RBI’s. When making your pre-season prediction next season, make sure you don’t count Rich Martin’s team.

Sean Hilde earned a spot on the NJAC All-Conference team for Montclair State. Montclair State athletics photo

Montclair State (21-18, 10-8): Despite going just 10-8 in conference play this season, the Redhawks were far more impressive than their record shows. The Redhawks went pretty far into the conference tournament despite falling in the first round to eventual champion Kean, the Redhawks came to within one game of reaching the championship game before falling to Rowan 6-1.
    
The Redhawks rotation was led by junior Sean Hille. Hille went 5-4 with a 4.03 earned run average good for a spot on the all-conference second team. Hille also had help in the MSU rotation from sophomore Zach brown. Brown went 5-3 with an earned run average of 3.69.

The Redhawks got most of their offense from sophomore backstop Kevin Bond. Bond batted a solid .310 for just his second season with the team. Look for the team to rely even more on him next season as he becomes an upperclassman. 

Rob Somers was a bright spot for the  Pioneers in 2011. William Paterson athletics photo

William Paterson (20-17-1, 8-10): An up-and down year for the Pioneers, William Paterson had some memorable moments to a season that didn’t involve the postseason. The team managed to beat national power Kean 11-7 at home this year and fell to national power John Hopkins just 1-0 earlier in the season.

The team’s lone all-conference player was honorable mention Rob Somers. The junior outfielder Somers hit .319 on the year with just 13 runs batted in and a team best on base percentage of .461.

The Pioneers pitching staff was led by junior Bryce Warden. Warden went 501 for the year pitching two complete games and compiling an earned run average of 2.72.  

Richard Stockton (21-17, 5-13): Although the Ospreys went just 5-13 this year in conference play, the future looks bright for the team. The team had one of the best pitching staffs in the conference with a trio of pitchers that could be an ace on many of the country’s best teams. Led by junior Bryan Frank who went 3-0 with a team-low earned run average of 1.80, as well as freshman phenom Adam Warburton (6-3, 2.66 ERA), the team is filled with potential stars of the future. Out of the bullpen, senior John Lightbody proved again why he’s one of the best closer’s around as he saved 13 games for the Ospreys over the course of the season.

Offensively, the team was led by another freshman phenom in freshman third baseman Travis Marra. Marra led the team in all three offensive categories; home runs (1), batting average (.375), and runs batted in (23) good for a team triple crown. Marra’s offensive production got him the NJAC’s Rookie of the Year award, given to the conference’s top freshman.

Junior Nelson Maldonado had the Gothic Knights ending on high note with his third complete game of the 2011 season. New Jersey City athletics photo

New Jersey City (10-28, 4-14): The Knights didn’t have their best year, finishing second-to-last in the conference standings. The team made the best out of the situation, playing conference power Kean well in a 1-0 conference loss, and sweeping Montclair State for the season.

Also, the team managed to get two players on the all-conference team with both senior outfielder Ken Witte and junior utility Rob Gonzalez making the NJAC second-team. Gonzalez led the team with 55 hits while batting .350 for the team while Witte swiped 19 bases for the Knights right behind Gonzalez’s team lead of 23.

Rutgers-Camden (12-24, 2-16): At the bottom of the NJAC this season was the Rutgers-Camden Raptors. The team started out a respectable 7-7 before going 2-16 in conference play with their only wins coming against New Jersey City and William Paterson.

The team was led both offensively and defensively by junior first baseman C.J Mooney. Mooney batted a team best of .344 with 27 runs driven in and 11 doubles. defensively, Mooney was named the best defensive first baseman in the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as in the country. Mooney was awarded a Rawlings Division 3 Gold Glove award for his lights-out defense at first base. Mooney was one of the only players in the NJAC to be awarded a Gold Glove award, the other being Kean second baseman Chris Carrano.