Baseball

Rowan Tabbed NJAC Baseball Preseason Favorite

PITMAN, NJ --- Rowan, coming off the 2021 conference championship and a run to the College World Series, has been picked as the preseason favorite to win the 2022 NJAC Baseball Championship, based on a poll of the league’s 10 head coaches.  
 
The Profs garnered nine first place votes in the poll. William Paterson, finalists in the 2021 NJAC Championship, was picked second. Kean was tabbed third in the poll with the Cougars picking up a first place vote. Montclair State and TCNJ round out the top five.
 
Ramapo was picked sixth, followed by dark horse selection Stockton in seventh. Rutgers-Camden, NJCU, and Rutgers-Newark round out the poll.
 
NJAC baseball looks to be strong again on the national level, with Rowan ranked in two national preseason top-25 polls. The Profs are ranked 12th in the NCBWA/D3baseball.com poll and 16th in Collegiate Baseball. William Paterson is receiving votes in both polls as well, and Montclair State is receiving votes in the D3baseball.com poll.
 
A quartet of D3baseball.com Preseason All-Americans highlight the returners in the NJAC, including 2021 Player and Rookie of the Year and NJAC First Team designated hitter Ryan Goodall (TCNJ). NJAC First Team pitcher Eli Atiya (Rowan) and First Team first baseman Peter Cosentino (Montclair State) were named Second Team Preseason All-Americans and Rowan’s NJAC First Team outfielder Ryan Murphy joins Goodall on the Preseason Third Team.
 
Rowan returns three of four starters to the powerful pitching rotation. Atiya was second in the NJAC last year with a 1.68 ERA and 9-2 record. He is joined by NJAC Second Team honoree Donald Zellman, who posted the league’s best ERA last year (1.64) and a 5-0 record. Behind the plate, Murphy is the leading returning hitter after sporting a .385 batting average last year to rank eighth among all conference players. Head Coach Mike Dickson also welcomes three Division I transfers, including Anthony Schooley (Villanova), Dylan Maria (La Salle), and Tyler Cannon (Iona). Schooley, the younger brother of former Prof Nick Schooley, started seven games as rookie at Villanova. Maria batted .262 on La Salle’s best baseball squad in years before the program was discontinued. He also saw time on the mound with 21.2 innings pitched and 24 strikeouts in that time. Cannon will join the Profs infield; he started 12 games for Iona last year and sported a .987 fielding percentage.
 
William Paterson returns high-powered batting with All-Conference honorees Steve Yelin, Dylan Habeeb, and Carson Weis back for the Pioneers. Yelin is a two-time All-Conference utility player who ranked seventh in the NJAC last year with a .389 batting average. Habeeb, the Pioneer catcher, was in the top-25 with a .333 average and first baseman Weis batted .312. Head Coach Mike Lauterhahn welcomes three transfers, including two Division I transfers and a familiar NJAC name in Justin Grippo. Grippo was an NJAC Second Team outfielder with Ramapo last year who batted .317. Outfielder Vinnie Martin joins from UMass-Lowell where he was the second-leading batter with a .338 average. Shortstop Jake Lutz joins from Wagner, where he started 19 of 22 games as a rookie and posted a .242 average.
 
Kean returns strong pitching, defense, and speed in what looks to be another strong season on the docket for the Cougars. Senior outfielders Tim Huxen and Philip Mahlik were both in the top five in the NJAC in batting last season. Mahlik posted a .420 average for third and Huxen – a First Team outfielder – was fifth in the NJAC with a .394 average. Senior catcher Phil Marcantonio returns; the 2021 NJAC Second Team honoree was also in the top-30 of the league with a .321 average. Head Coach Neil Ioviero welcomes junior transfer Dillon Taliaferro to the pitching rotation from Divison II Lynn University, as well as true rookie pitchers Jason Gilman (Old Bridge) and Dan Keenan (Jackson) along with freshman outfielder Kyle Adorno (Clark).
 
In addition to Preseason All-America first baseman Peter Cosentino, Montclair State coach Dave Lorber looks to three-time All-Conference honoree Andrew Ollwerther to lead in his fifth season. Cosentino was second in the NJAC last year with a .426 average and Ollwerther was in the top-20 by going .348 at the plate. Jorden Jurkiewicz joins the Red Hawks from Division I Delaware, where he saw action in five games in his rookie season in 2020 before the season was cut short for the pandemic. Matt Pontari also looks to make an immediate impact as a true freshman out of Middletown South High School.
 
Goodall returns for his sophomore season with TCNJ after tearing up the NJAC stats last season as a rookie. He led all conference players with a massive .434 batting average en route to earning both NJAC Player of the Year and NJAC Rookie of the Year honors. Senior infielder Chris Cote also returns; he posted a .297 average last season. Righty Ben Amon looks to lead the Lion pitching staff. Head Coach Dean Glus credits the playing experience his young squad gained in last year’s shortened season as a strength heading into 2022. He also welcomes a slew of true freshmen to the roster, including infielders Zach Hochheiser (Suffern (NY)), Justin Marcario (Allentown), and Mike Lagravenis (Hanover Park), catcher Christian Hay (River Edge), and lefty hurler Jackson Malouf (Spring-Ford (PA)).
 
Ramapo sports a young squad this year but Head Coach Ryan Rinsky credits a deep lineup and pitching staff to make up for inexperience. Five of the Roadrunners’ nine starters from last year graduated. Seniors Justin Garthaffner and Matt Carovillano look to lead the younger players. Garthaffner, a catcher, batted .278 last season and outfielder Carovillano posted a .286 average. Brian Baranok returns a year of experience at the third base corner and posted a .257 average as a rookie last year. Junior college transfer Jason Cuba (Raritan Valley CC) and true freshmen Nick Danbrowney (Barnegat) and Dominick Ciani (Rutherford) aim to make immediate contributions to the Roadrunner squad.
 
Stockton’s story of 2022 is also youth, as Head Coach Rich Gawlak’s squad features 17 freshmen. Rookie pitcher Chris Gonzalez (Raritan) looks to join an experienced pitching staff with senior Phil DeMarco and junior Aaron Winsker. First baseman John Perrino returns for his fifth season to provide experience in the infield, and will be joined by rookie Jordan Nitti (Steinert) who looks to contribute early on. The Ospreys’ also welcome rookie Thomas Elgrim (Rumson-Fair Haven) to the outfield unit. Gawlak looks to the pitching and defense as his squad’s strength and will aim to develop the offensive side of his young team.
 
Rutgers-Camden head coach Ryan Kulik also has a young team this season and looks for his newcomers to make an immediate impact. Joining the Scarlet Raptors this season are junior college transfers Jake Guglielmi, a catcher/outfielder from Cumberland County College, and John Kasper, a righty out of Camden County College. Also joining is true freshman Diego Salazar, an infielder from Highland Park. They will look to gel with experienced returners Danny Vazquez, Jesse Gerdes, and Jack Murphy. Vazquez, a sophomore second baseman, is the leading returning hitter with a .337 average last season. Gerdes, a shortstop, posted a .317 average. Murphy split time between pitching and DH duties last season.
 
NJCU head coach Jerry Smith looks to the speed of his squad once again this year. His Gothic Knights have led the NJAC in stolen bases for four straight seasons, including leading by 31 over the second-highest in both 2021 and 2019. Catcher Mitchell Leslie returns as the team’s leading returning hitter after posting a .346 average last season. Centerfielder Ricky Voss is back; he posted a .286 average last year. They are joined by righty hurler Justin Wiltsey, who gained experience on the mound in the shortened season. Smith welcomes two junior college transfers to his pitching staff, including Josh Hernandez and Frank Shipman who both played at Middlesex Community College. Ocean Township High School teammates Nick Vaughn and Riley Morrow look to make immediate impacts, as do fellow rookies Matt Kaliske (Lacey), Andre Dean (Bloomfield), and Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville).
 
Rutgers-Newark head coach Conor Kortmann welcomes not only a slew of new players but almost an entirely new coaching staff all hungry to build the program the right way. He is excited that the team was finally able to fully practice together and return to a sense of normalcy as the Scarlet Raiders look to gel and set the foundation for future seasons. Kortmann is thrilled with his upperclass leadership, including junior first baseman Armando Alvarez. Alvarez was 14th among all NJAC batters last year with a .359 average. Also providing leadership are senior outfielder Lisandro Ulerio (.306 in 2021) and sophomore infielder Rob Gonzalez (.283 in 2021). Pitcher Marcus James looks to provide solid pitching right away; James was at Rutgers-Newark last season but did not play.
 
The 2022 baseball season kicks off on Friday with Kean hosting the first games of the schedule.
 
NJAC Baseball Preseason Poll
(first place votes in parentheses)
 
  1. Rowan (9)
  2. William Paterson
  3. Kean (1)
  4. Montclair State
  5. TCNJ
  6. Ramapo
  7. Stockton (dark horse)
  8. Rutgers-Camden
  9. NJCU
  10. Rutgers-Newark