by Vinny Amodeo
After the Adelphi University Panthers reached the Northeast-10 Semi-Final game in 2015, 2016 has promise for a deep postseason run with eyes on a conference championship.
“The goals for this season remain unchanged,” said Junior captain Robert Vani. “First off is an NE-10 Championship and secondly an appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament.”
June 5th at Dowling College
Head Coach Dom Scala is entering his 13th season at the helm for the Brown and Gold with 11 postseason appearances in his first 12 seasons.
The squad graduated eight players from 2015’s roster including perpetual starters in Donato Signore, Vincent Sharkey, Rich Cambria and Nick Zito. The remaining four were apart of the staff and featured the likes of John Bivas, Mike Cranston, Ricky Van Allen and Nikolas Batas. Each of these players held leadership roles and key positions on the team that will be hard to fill, but Scala will be counting on the next wave of veterans to step in.
The Panthers are returning four seniors, with just two of them being four-year players at Adelphi. Jonathan Mulford, a captain and the ace of the staff, is poised and ready to lead this squad beginning later this month. Mulford was selected to the Preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-American Honorable Mention list and also earned a spot on the All-East Region First Team and Baseball on the Island‘s All-Long Island Team.. These accolades are more than appropriate following Mulford’s stellar season in 2015. He posted a 1.76 ERA, recorded 50 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched and held opponents to a career low .197 batting average.
“I believe this team has a lot of potential and talent,” said Mulford. “But in saying that, we need to continue to work hard in practice and the weight room because if we don’t this conference will eat you up.”
The three other seniors including four-year Panther Raymond Triano, as well as transfers Alex Zykoff and Tyler Murphy will do their best in assisting Mulford during the journey. This crew looks to go out on top in their last go around for their collegiate careers.
The junior and sophomore class have a few players that are sure to make a large impact on the direction of this team in 2016. Juniors Michael Stack, Robert Vani, T.J. Santiago, Eric Hassell as well as sophomore’s Kory Cassara, Camden Orologio and Steven Withers are all poised to have big seasons.
Vani sat second in batting average for the Panthers in 2015 at .336 and was tied for most doubles while also leading the team with three triples. He also earned a spot on the Northeast-10 Second Team All-Conference last season.
Sophomore Kory Cassara had an instant impact on the team last year as he finished third in batting average behind Vani at .316, while also hitting three long balls and posting a .426 slugging percentage. He was selected to the Northeast-10 All-Rookie Team and also earned NE-10 Rookie of the Week honors.
A new crop of arms has joined the staff this season as Coach Scala brought in six new pitchers–five freshman including Daniel Taggart, Ed Baram, Keiran McLaughlin, Mike Smith and Michael Demarest as well as a junior transfer, Steven Sessa.
Coach Scala also filled the missing position players with all new freshmen. Three outfielders (Brendan Morse, Michael Cattani, Jonathan Iadevaia), two middle infielders (Brett Malm, Jordan Milo), two at the corners (Thomas Colombo, Lucas Terwilliger) and one behind the dish (Kevin Kripple).
“We are hoping we get contributions from all of the freshman, especially the pitchers,” said Vani. “As far as a position player that can make a strong impact I think Brett Malm has a skill set that can help us both offensively and defensively.”
The Panthers look to start their season with positive vibes as they travel down to sunny Florida on February 26 to open their season in Lakeland, Fla.
“The schedule we have is not going to be easy,” said Mulford. “There are a lot of teams we will face that made regional appearances last season. But I think Franklin
Pierce will give us the biggest challenge because they have so many high quality players that have played in big games before.”
They will return to Garden City to begin their home half of the schedule as well as their conference schedule against powerhouse Franklin Pierce University in a double header on Saturday, March 5 at 12 and 3 pm.
