Medaille Sports

Baseball

AMCC Champions: 2007

2009 Preview: The 2009 season marks the beginning of a new era for Medaille Maverick Baseball. First year head coach, Paul Smaldone, and his coaching staff, look forward to leading the Medaille Mavericks back to the top of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Coach Smaldone and the rest of the coaching staff, comprised of Tim Slawek, Josh Sova, Leo Dandes, and Ron Kiener will be counting on a mix of veteran players and incoming freshmen to lead the Mavericks this season. Sophomore Brandon Lumadue (Cheektowaga, NY/West Seneca East) will be counted on as an offensive leader for the Mavericks after he posted a Medaille record (8) home runs and an AMCC leading (.483) batting average in 2008. Lumadue will be joined in the outfield by fellow sophomore Dan Barrancotta (Lockport, NY/Lockport), who along with Lumadue has been named one of four team captains for the 2009 season. Senior, Matt Capriotti (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) returns for his senior season and will be counted on to provide veteran leadership to the young Maverick roster. Newcomers looking for playing time in the outfield are Junior, Jeff Kasprzyk (Buffalo, NY/St. Joe’s), sophomore, Jeff Cox (Buffalo, NY/City Honors) as well as freshmen Nick Weigel (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) . The infield will be led by senior co-captain John Prorok (Hilton, NY/Hilton) who will be in the first base mix with junior Steve Kanutsu (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East), who ended the 2008 campaign second in home runs for the Mavericks. Freshman John Schwarzenholzer (Cheektowaga, NY/West Seneca East) and sophomore, Ray Clogston (Otto, NY/Newfane) will also be looked at to make an immediate impact. Second base will be manned by a young but capable group of athletic middle infielders led by sophomore, Jon Lombardo (Jamestown, NY/Frewsburg). Competing with Lombardo for the starting spot and playing time will be freshmen Alex Dusenberry (Amherst, NY/Amherst) and Joe Petronella (Buffalo, NY/Canisius). Shortstop also boasts a mix of solid players. Mike Kogut (Liverpool, NY/Bishop Ludden) returns for his sophomore season and will be pushed by talented freshman Josh Malkowski (Cheektowaga, NY/St. Mary’s). Third base looks to be held down by the steady hand of Eric Skibinski (Cheektowaga, NY/West Seneca East), with freshman Jason Ribbeck(Clarence, NY/Clarence) providing quality depth and a good bat. Catching duties will be handled by the vastly improved combination of sophomore’s Devin Reschke (Syracuse, NY/Solvay) and Andrew Godfrey (Lockport, NY/Lockport). The pitching staff will be led by senior Jason Behnke (North Otto, NY/Cattaraugus), who may also see time at catcher during the year, and junior co-captain Brian Vital (North Grafton, MA/Grafton). Behnke and Vital will provide leadership on and off the field to a talented group of young pitchers including juniors Lance Roe (Clarence Center, NY/Clarence), Alex Lindauer (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and Marc Chafee (Lockport, NY/Starpoint), sophomores Matt Dunford (West Seneca, NY/Bishop Timon), Nick Miano (Williamsville, NY/Clarence), Erik Prentice (West Seneca, NY/St. Francis) and freshmen Pat Mancuso (Batavia, NY/Notre Dame), and Joe Rosenhahn (Lockport, NY/St. Joe’s). On a roster filled with young talent competition will be tight as the Medaille Mavericks baseball program begins it return to the top of the AMCC. The Mavericks open the 2009 season on March 14th in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

2008 Season Review: After appearing in their first AMCC Tournament during the 2007 season the Mavs fell off a bit as they missed the postseason in 2008. The Mavs finished the 2008 campaign with a (12-22) record overall and (6-12) in AMCC play. The season would see some highlights as the Mavs placed two players on the All Conference Team with freshman, Brandon Lumadue (Cheektowaga, NY/West Seneca East) who earned First Team honors while senior, Derek Nero (Buffalo, NY/West Seneca East) (pictured) garnered 2nd Team honors. The brightest spot would be Lumadue who shattered Medaille records with his performance in 2008. His numbers were staggering as he posted a (.483) batting average, (.833) slugging percentage and (51) runs batted in. He hit (8) home runs, which places him first all time in that category, as well. A trio of seniors left their marks on the record book as well with Nero, Nick Andreassi (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia), and Tom Lyman (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) all finishing their careers with their names scattered throughout the Top 10’s in many career statistical categories. Andreassi leaves Medaille second in hits and third in runs scored. Nero finishes fifth in hits, fourth in runs scored, and third in runs batted in. While Tom Lyman finds himself in seventh place all time in hits and runs scored. The Mavs received strong pitching from senior, Ryan Amos (Cheektowaga, NY/Cleveland Hill) who led the team with a (4-3) record. He struck out (18) hitters and finished 2008 with a (5.08) earned run average in (33.2) innings of work. The Mavs will look for a return to the AMCC postseason in 2009.