Keystone are Giants in the CSAC
By Alex Schiffer for d3baseball.com
CSAC Regular Season Champion: Keystone
CSAC Tournament Champion: Keystone
NCAA Participants: Keystone
CSAC Player of the Year: Esteban Meletiche,
Keystone
CSAC Pitcher of the Year: Jeff Frost,
Keystone
CSAC Coach of the Year: Jamie Shevchik,
Keystone
CSAC Rookie of the Year: Andrew Schaefer,
Gwynedd-Mercy
| Keystone second baseman Esteban Meletiche was the
2011 CSAC Player of the Year. Keystone athletics photo |
Keystone (38-12, 17-1): The Giants had one of the best seasons in the conference’s history losing only one game in conference play, a 5-4 loss to Neumann. Other than that loss, the team was unbelievable in conference play earning the conference tournament top seed easily. The Giants breezed through the conference tournament, beating Gwynedd-Mercy in the conference championship game for the team’s third consecutive CSAC title.
The Giants then moved on to the New York Regional where they drew Ramapo out of the NJAC. The Roadrunners proved to be a tough opponent for Keystone, yet the Giants still prevailed 8-5. The Giants then dropped Farmingdale State and Cortland State 6-2, and 13-0 respectively setting up a rematch with Cortland State in the regional championship. Keystone dropped Cortland State 5-4 for the regional title.
Keystone then went on to the National Championship in Appleton Wisconsin, where they drew Western New England in the first round. It was a tough game but the Giants prevailed 2-1 advancing in the winner’s bracket. The Giants then drew Buena Vista in the second round, with each team needing a win to avoid dropping to the loser’s bracket. Buena Vista got the best of them, beating them 8-5 and thus setting up a must-win game against Salisbury to keep the team’s season alive. Keystone dropped Salisbury with ease (7-2) thanks to a strong outing by pitcher Brad Higgins. Keystone would draw eventual champion Marietta in the next round where they fell 11-2, ending the Giants memorable season.
| Brian Henry was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks
in the 2011 MLB draft. Keystone athletics photo |
The team’s strong season was led offensively by CSAC Player of the Year Esteban Meletiche. The Giants' infielder took home the award for the second straight year after batting .423 with 11 home runs and 46 runs batted in. Meletiche will return next season looking to win an unprecedented third straight Player of the Year award. The Giants also got offense productivity from first team-all conference backstop Brian Henry. Henry batted an impressive .374 with nine home runs and 49 runs batted in. After getting drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Henry has started his minor league career off at the rookie level with the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer league.
The Giants rotation also featured an MLB draft pick in right-hander Blaine O’Brien. After going 8-2 with a 3.77 earned run average, the Indians decided to take O’Brien in the 48th round of the draft. The Giants rotation also featured CSAC pitcher of the year Jeff Frost. Frost rang up hitters throughout the season, striking out 89 batters while going 9-4 with an earned run average of 2.26. Keystone finished the year ranked fifth in the country.
Gwynedd-Mercy (18-16-1, 12-6): Despite falling to national power Keystone in the conference finals, the Griffins certainly had a year worthy of recognition. The team had a successful year in conference play going 12-6 while three of those loses coming from their series with Keystone. The team made it to the CSAC playoffs earning the number two seed. Despite being upset in the first round 11-10 by Immaculata the Griffins rallied back to win their next two games to face a Keystone for the tournament title. Sadly, the Griffins were unable to handle the power of Keystone as they fell 6-3 ending their season.
This year, the Griffins saw the emergence of freshman Andrew Schaefer. Schaefer had a pretty solid freshman year going 3-1 with a 1.60 earned run average. Schaefer’s season turned out to be one of the best in the CSAC, as he came home with Rookie of the Year honors for the team. The Griffins closed out games largely thanks to sandman Luis Martinez. Martinez made it look easy as he saved a respectable 6 games for the Griffins going 1-0 with an earned run average of just 0.52.
The Griffins offense had a fine year largely thanks to outfielder Austin Ley. Ley led the team in batting (.368), doubles (11), home runs (3), and runs batted in (33) earning himself a spot on the all-conference first team. Ley had some help from all-conference honorable mention Jay Sechowicz. Sechowicz batted .321 with a homer and 12 runs batted in.
|
Russ Gilliam led Neumann with 9 wins and a
1.94earned run average. |
Neumann (28-13, 11-7): Despite an early exit from the CSAC tournament, the Knights still put together a memorable year for 2011. The team finished with the third best record in the conference at 11-7. The Knights were the only team in the CSAC that were able to beat Keystone as they beat them 5-4 on a late home run by Bill Pace. The Knights drew Keystone in the first round of the conference tournament and were unable to recapture the magic as they fell 5-3. In the elimination game the Knights fell to Gwynedd-Mercy in a tight 5-4 game. The Knights fell 5-0 to Grove City to end their season in the ECAC south tournament.
The Knights offense was out of this world batting an impressive .324 for the year. The team was led by all-conference first-team infielder Mathieu Vallieres. Vallieres was a problem for pitchers all year round batting .375 with nine triples and 5 home runs while driving in 32 runs along the way. Bill Pace also became a problem for pitchers, batting .365 with 43 rubs batted in. Pace also hit six home runs one of them being a game winner against Keystone. The Knights offense was one of the best in the country, as they had almost their entire team batting better than .270.
The Knights rotation was just as good as their offense. Led by Russ Gilliam, the Knights' 2.92 earned run average was the best in the conference. Gilliam went 9-2 on the year with an earned run average of just 1.94 proving to be a reliable arm in the Knights rotation. Sandman Eric Kilmoff closed out many of Gilliam’s games going 1-1 with 6 saves on the year. Kilmoff was an all-conference first team selection.
| Immaculata's offense was led by Matt
Hardy. Immaculata photo |
Immaculata (19-15, 11-7): The Might Macs will look to pick up where they left off next year as they are a contender-in-waiting. Although they finished tied for third in the CSAC, the team failed to get deep into the tournament playoffs as they fell to Gwynedd-Mercy in the third round. The team had an up-and-down regular season, but still managed to pull off an 11-7 conference record. The team pulled an amazing upset in the first round of the conference tournament beating Gwynedd-Mercy 12-11 in a 10-inning thriller. The team then fell to eventual champion Keystone 12-2 in the next round and finally to Gwynedd-Mercy in the elimination round 4-6.
The Mighty Mac’s offense was led by Matt Hardy, who batted .343 for the year with three home runs and twenty nine runs batted in. The Mighty Mac’s also benefitted from the bat of Joe DiGiaimo. DiGiamo hit .336 for the season with ten doubles and two home runs to his credit.
The Immaculata rotation was led by Bryan McHale. McHale went 5-4 for the year with an earned run average of 3.81. McHale pitched three complete games for the Mighty Macs.
Marywood (14-17, 7-11): The Pacer’s had a mixed year with many high’s as well as many lows as the team stared their year off going 6-2. However, the Pacer’s failed to keep up with their great start as they would only win 8 more games the rest of the year. The achilles heal for Marywood was their road schedule as they posted a record of 1-9 on the road.
| Senior Jared Yanniello earned a spot on the
all-CSAC second team at Marywood. Marywood photo by NJ Sport Pics |
The Pacer’s had a good year offensively largely thanks to senior infielder Jared Yanniello. Yanniello had a solid year at the dish, batting .346 with 6 doubles and 19 runs batted in. Yanniello earned a spot on the all-conference second team, to cap off a solid career at Marywood. Joe Disken also had a solid year for the Pacer’s as he batted .324 for the season.
The Pacer’s pitching staff was led by the dynamic duo of Tim Freda and Ryan Pelle. Freda had a solid year on the mound going 5-3 with a 2.33 earned run average. What’s really is impressive about Freda’s season is how he pitched 7 of his 8 starts for complete games. Pelle had just as solid of a year going 6-2 with an earned run average of 2.40. Like Freda, Pelle also pitched 7 complete games out of his 8 starts. Both were named to the all-conference honorable mention team.
Centenary (11-24, 5-13): The Cyclones failed to make the CSAC playoffs this season as a slow 4-16 start would turn out to be the very reason for the season’s early ending. The team went just 5-13 in conference play which included getting swept by both Immaculata and Neumann consecutively.
Sophomore backstop Victor Nunez proved to be a sign of hope as he hit .344 with 5 round-trippers’s to earn him a spot on the all-conference first team, the only Cyclone on the team. With Bryan Henry of Keystone getting drafted, Nunez will look to assert himself as the conference’s top catcher in 2012.
The Cyclones rotation struggled this year as the team let in an average of 6 runs a game. The team was led by junior Shane Solimani who went 2-5 with an earned run average of 5.44. with a young team and plenty of offense to go around, the Cyclones are a potential dark horse going into next season.
| Sundholm batted .348 with 13 doubles for the
Eagles. Philadelphia Biblical athletics photo |
Philadelphia Biblical (5-28, 0-18): The Eagles will certainly like to put 2011 behind them as they failed to win a game in conference play and finished in the conference cellar. The Eagles dropped their first ten, losing by more than 20 runs in some games. The team enjoyed a small amount of success in the NCCAA II East Region Tournament where they won both of the games they played but still lost their last 14 games to close out a very disappointing season.
The team received its offensive support from the all-conference honorable mentions of Jeremy McAlack and Mike Sundholm. McAlack batted a team best .378 with 31 hits and 10 runs batted in. Sundholm batted .348 with 13 doubles and 16 runs batted in.
The Eagles rotation really took a beating this season with the team averaging 12 earned runs a game. The team had a high of two wins from starter Shawn Bramble who was 2-8 on the year with an earned run average of 12.56. The Eagles will look to turn around their misfortunes in 2012.
