Catholic was a surprise in Landmark

By Alex Schiffer for d3baseball.com

Landmark Conference: Moravian dominated the regular season, but eventually fell in the conference playoffs to Scranton. Catholic put together an unexpected run beating Scranton 14-9 for the conference title to advance to the Mid-Atlantic regional. At the regional, the Cardinals continued to pull off upsets with a 2-1 win against top seeded Kean. Catholic would eventually fall to Johns Hopkins, ening the season for the Landmark champs.

Regular Season Champion: Moravian
Tournament Champion: Catholic
NCAA Participants: Catholic
Landmark Player of the Year: John Martinez, Juniata
Landmark Pitcher of the Year: Brendan Close, Moravian
Landmark Rookie of the Year: Warren Hartmann, USMMA
Landmark Coach of the Year: Mike Bartoletti, Scranton

Moravian (31-9, 17-1): What turned out to be a great year for the Greyhounds sadly ended in disappointed. The team rode the arm of D3baseball.com first-team All-American Brendan Close all the way to the conference playoffs where they were the overwhelming favorite. The Greyhounds won their first tournament game by beating Susquehanna 5-3. The next round wouldn’t go as well for Moravian as they would end up being upset by Catholic 8-6 sending them to the loser’s bracket. The Greyhounds needed to beat Scranton in order to advance to the championship game but they would fall 7-3, ending the Greyhounds season.

Morovian ace, Brendan Close was the Landmark Pitcher of the Year. Photo by Jon King.

The Greyhounds offense was led by senior outfielder Mike Zubia. Zubia, an all-conference first team selection batted a fantastic .397 with 14 doubles and 36 runs batted in on the season. The Greyhounds also got solid production out of junior backstop Austin Rock. Rock batted .347 for the year on his way to an all-conference first team selection. Senior Jason Huber served as the Greyhounds power hitter, slugging 4 home runs to go with a .302 batting average on his way to a spot on the all-conference second team. 

Pitching was by far the Greyhounds forte this season as they had arguably the best pitcher in the country in ace Brendan Close. Close went 10-0 on the season with an earned run average of 1.00. Close had an unbelievable  game against Scranton this season, throwing a complete game, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, while fanning 16 batters. Close was also an all-conference first team selection. Out of the bullpen, sandman Kyle Longernecker proved to be the conference’s top closer going 2-0 with a 3.00 earned run average to go with 9 saves for the Greyhounds. Longernecker joined Close, Zubia, and Rock as the four Greyhounds on the all-conference first team. With Close and Longernecker returning next year for their senior seasons, the Greyhounds will have one of the best starter-closer combinations in the country to help them pick up where they left off.

Senior catcher Jeff Manahan was named to the All-Landmark squad for the second time in his career. Scranton athletics photo

Scranton (24-18, 12-6): Head coach Mike Bartoletti did an excellent job with this Scranton team. Bartoletti led Scranton to a 12-6 conference record good for second best in the conference. When it came time for the conference tournament, the team faced Catholic in the first round where they would fall 6-5 dropping them to the loser’s bracket. The team then captured a big win over Susquehanna to keep their season alive. The team would meet Moravian in the next round, the team that swept them in the regular season. Bartoletti’s squad emerged with a big 7-3 win to send his team to the conference final for a rematch with Catholic. The team would fall in a high scoring 14-9 decision ending Scranton’s season. Bartoletti’s strong leadership earned him conference coach of the year.

Scranton’s offense was led by the dynamic all-conference first team duo of Chris Stallone and David Giglio. Stallone batted .381 for the year with 19 runs batted in. Giglio on the other hand batted .387 for the year with 7 round-trippers and 52 runs batted in.

Scranton’s pitching staff was headed by all-conference first team selection Rocky Sawyer. Sawyer had a solid year on the mound going 6-3 with a 2.26 earned run average. Sawyer also had help from reliable starters Corey Gorman and Robert Della Polla who both went 5-2 for the year.

Catholic (23-21, 11-7): If any team in the conference deserves the name Cinderella, it’s Catholic. The Cardinals had an impressive year despite finishing with only the third best record in conference play at 11-7. The team went into the postseason by drawing Scranton in the first round. Catholic upset the number two seed 6-5 to advance to the next round to face heavily favored Moravian. The Cardinals again took care of business by upsetting the top seed 8-6 to advance to the final where they would draw Scranton for the second time in the tournament. The Cardinals would win the conference championship by beating Scranton 14-9.

Catholic's L.J Travaglia was the top shortstop in the Landmark in 2011. Catholic athletics photo

Next up for Catholic was the Mid-Atlantic regional held in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Cardinals drew top-seeded Kean in the first round of the double-elimination tournament. The Cardinals considered their Cinderella post season beating the national power 3-2 to send Kean to the loser’s bracket. Catholic would draw Misericordia in the next round looking to continue their post season success. Sadly the clock struck midnight for the Cardinals as they fell 4-0, dropping them to the loser’s bracket. The Cardinals would fall to defending regional champion Johns Hopkins in the next round 7-2 ending a very successful Cardinals season.

The Cardinals offense was led by shortstop L.J Travaglia. Travaglia batted .301 on the year with 10 doubles and 16 runs driven in making him one of the conference’s top shortstops. Travaglia was named to the all-conference first team. The Cardinals also relied on the bat of Marc Hanna this season. Hanna batted .324 with 4 home runs and 27 runs batted in.

The Catholic pitching staff was led by Ron Esposito. Esposito went an impressive 8-2 with an earned run average of just 2.83. Esposito pitched the Cardinals only complete game this season.

Susquehanna (14-26, 8-10): The Crusaders had an up-and-down year making the conference playoffs despite having a sub .500 record in conference play. The team had some impressive wins in conference play, as they were the only team to beat Moravian in the regular season. The Crusaders went into the conference tournament as the lowest seeded team in the tournament at fourth. The team drew top-seeded Moravian in the first round of the tournament. Moravian ace Brendan Close proved to be too much for the Crusaders to handle as they fell to Moravian 5-3 in the opening round, dropping them to loser’s bracket. Susquehanna would drop their next game to Scranton 6-4, ending their season.

Ethan Rieker hit seven home runs for Susquehanna. Susquehanna athletics photo

The Crusader’s offense relied heavily on power hitting Ethan Rieker. Rieker batted .389 for the 2011 season with 7 home runs and 24 runs batted in. Rieker was an all-conference first team selection. Nick Ferlise also proved to be a bright spot at the plate as he batted .311 with 5 home runs and 28 runs batted in for the season.

The Susquehanna pitching rotation was led by starter Matt Boyd. Boyd went 3-3 with an earned run average 2.71 for the season. The Crusader’s had one of the conference’s top reliever’s in Matt Smith. Smith, an all-conference second team selection had a 2.31 earned run average in 18 appearances for the Crusaders.

Juniata (16-21, 7-11): Despite missing the conference playoffs this season, the Eagles still managed to find ways of proving why they’ve been a power in the past. The Eagles came to within a win to qualify for the conference tournament but sadly failed to do so. The Eagles will look to pick where they left off in 2012 and qualify for the conference tournament.

The Eagles received an enormous amount of their offense from senior first baseman John Martinez. The 2011 player of the year batted .382 with a team best 5 home runs and 28 runs batted in, good for a team triple crown. The Eagles also received offensive production from Ian Thorne. Torne batted .327.

The Eagles pitching staff was led by junior Matt Regan. Regan, an all-conference second team nomination went 3-3 on the season with an earned run average of 5.05, pitching 5 complete games along the way. Regan led the team with 66 strikeouts.

Warren Hartmann was the 2011 Landmark Rookie of the Year. Merchant Marine athletics photo

Merchant Marine (6-11-1, 15-15-1): The military school suffered a set back this season finishing next to last in conference play with a 6-11-1 record. The team has a lot of potential to be a conference power in the coming years especially because of freshman phenom Warren Hartman. Hartman gathered rookie of the year honors as well as a spot on the all-conference first team. Hartman batted .377 with a home run and 24 runs batted in. The second baseman also swiped a team high 18 bases while only getting caught twice.

The USMMA pitching staff was headed by freshman Tim Arner. Arner went 3-5 for the season with an earned run average of 4.65. With a young team all-around as well as a lot of potential to go around, head coach Mike Notebaert has a team that’s just a few years away from competing for the conference championship.

Drew (13-24-1, 1-16-1): The Rangers would probably want to forget about the 2011 season, winning only one game in conference play, that win being against Juniata. The team also managed to tie a game against the USMMA. The Rangers played many of their opponents tough and close but still lost too many of those teams.

The team’s offense was led by Matt Kaplon who batted .290 for the year with a team best one home run and 20 runs batted in. Benny Lyman led the team in batting with a .296 average for the season.

The Ranger’s pitching rotation was led by Alex Taylor who led the team with 4 wins going 4-2 on the year with an earned run average of 5.11. The Rangers will look to get out of the Landmark conference cellar next season as they bring back a more experienced team.