Baseball Season Preview After a Fourth-Place National Regional and SUNYAC Player of the Finish in 2007, the Cortland Baseball Year in 2007
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2008 Team Guide Baseball Season Preview After a fourth-place national Regional and SUNYAC Player of the finish in 2007, the Cortland baseball Year in 2007. He was also selected team has been tabbed as the top to the ABCA/Rawlings National team in Division III in the 2008 and New York Region Gold Glove D3baseball.com preseason poll. But, Teams. Zaccardo batted .397 with a despite the preseason recognition, team-high nine homers and 40 RBI the staff and the players won’t be in 43 games. Sophomore Andersen satisfied until they achieve their goal Gardner, who led Cortland with a of reaching the Division III World .440 batting average, was named the Series for the ninth time in the SUNYAC Rookie of the Year and program’s history. earned second team all-region and first team All-ECAC and All-SUNYAC As always, ninth-year head honors. Freshmen Nick Faust, Justin coach Joe Brown primes the Red Fredenburg and Mike Gimblette Dragons for the postseason with round out the catching position. a challenging schedule. In 2008, Cortland has 10 games lined up The Red Dragons return 3-of-4 against six teams that participated starting infielders in 2008. Shortstop in the NCAA playoffs last season, as Matt Vitalone was a first team all- Senior pitcher Nick Serio led the well as a 14 games in the SUNYAC region, All-ECAC and All-SUNYAC Senior catcher Mike Zaccardo team with 17 relief appearances conference, arguably one of the top selection and was named to the has 14 career home runs in two last season. conferences in New York State. ABCA/Rawlings New York Region seasons. Gold Glove Team. Junior left-hander George Jweid earned first team He batted .391 with seven homers and 38 RBI. Senior all-region honors last season after posting a 7-1 record second baseman Joey Russo, who earned second with two saves and a 2.85 ERA in 14 appearances, team All-SUNYAC honors in 2007, led the team in including 10 starts. Senior Ryan Hooper was one games played with 47 and batted .306 with 27 RBI. of Brown’s top relief men in 2007, going 2-0 with a Sophomore third baseman Steve Nickel finished team-best four saves and a 2.78 ERA in 15 appearances. second on the team with 21 stolen bases and batted Senior Nick Serio led the team with 17 appearances .316 in 46 games. last season, posting a 3-1 record with three saves and a 1.47 ERA. Also returning are DeVito, who will see time at first base, senior first baseman John Giametta, senior Senior Nick Baker pitched in 16 games and went middle infielder Josh Hicks and junior third baseman 1-1, while senior Nick DeVito, who also wields a big P.J. Merriweather. DeVito batted .309 with 22 RBI and bat, posted a 1-0 record with one save and a 0.79 ERA tied for the team lead with three triples. Giametta in 10 relief appearances. Sophomore Matt Tone struck batted .300 with three home runs and 20 RBI. Hicks hit out 57 batters in 41.1 innings as a freshman and went .346 in limited plate appearances, while Merriweather 5-1 with a 3.05 ERA. Junior David Limbach pitched well batted .346 with four homers and 27 RBI. down the stretch in 2007, not allowing a run in 16.1 innings over 10 appearances. Other returning pitchers Newcomers to the infield include sophomore are junior Brendan Rowlands and sophomores Kenny Nick Palmiero, and freshmen Rob Throo, Alex Coffey Sherwood and A.J. Senior pitcher Justin Mattes and Mike Salvatore. Carney. returns in 2008 after missing all of last season. Three outfielders Two seniors return in 2008. Senior making their return after missing all Anthony Coromato earned second of 2007 are Justin Mattes and Chris team All-SUNYAC honors last Bilyk. Mattes earned four saves in season after batting .377 with 25 RBI. 2006 and fanned 44 batters in 27 Junior Ryan Benson saw action in 30 innings, while Bilyk was a second games, mainly as a pinch runner, and team All-SUNYAC selection after junior John Zilnicki batted .273 with posting a 5-3 record with a 3.02 ERA. six RBI in limited plate appearances. Newcomers looking to earn innings are juniors Nicolas Blanco and J.J. Five newcomers join the roster Potrikus, sophomore Kurt Heaton as outfielders this season – juniors and freshmen Mike Assmann, Dan Mike Avery, Adam Dimino and Khyle Inserillo, Andy King, Michael Mahay, Dimino and freshmen Matt Papillo Matthew Martin and Travis Ratliff. and Jason Simone. Senior Mike Zaccardo heads the list of Cortland backstops. Zaccardo Junior pitcher George Jweid earned third team All-America Senior outfielder Anthony has the highest career winning honors and was named the ECAC Coromato tied for the team lead percentage (.938). Upstate New York, New York in triples last season. CORTLAND Coaching Staff Joe Brown Nick McPartland - Assistant Coach Head Coach Nick McPartland enters his first season on the Cortland coaching staff in 2008 after a four-year career with the Red Joe Brown has led Cortland to a combined Dragons. He posted a career 4-3 record with 10 saves, 100 strike- 289-83-1 record, eight NCAA Division III tournament outs and a 3.31 ERA in 64 appearances. He’s currently second in appearances, four World Series showings and seven appearances and 25th in strikeouts. State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) titles in his first eight seasons as the Red McPartland led the Red Dragons in games pitched in each Dragons’ head coach. of his last three seasons. As a junior, he allowed just one earned run in 26.1 innings and led the team with six saves. He earned two saves in both the NCAA Division III In 2007, Brown guided Cortland to a 42-7 record, Regional and the NCAA Division III World Series. a fourth-place national finish and its third straight SUNYAC crown. His 2005 squad enjoyed the best McPartland graduated from Cortland with a bachelor’s degree in physical educa- season in school history with a 43-9-1 record and a national second-place finish. His 2000 tion and is pursuing a master’s degree in health education. A 2002 graduate of Beacon and 2001 squads also won NCAA New York Regional titles and tied for fifth nationally High School, McPartland was a four-year starter in baseball, earning all-state honors as each year. His 2003 and 2006 teams each tied for ninth nationally and his 2002 and 2004 a senior, and competed in football and basketball. teams both tied for 17th. In 2000, he had the best season of any Cortland first-year head baseball coach, Steve Newman - Volunteer Assistant leading the Red Dragons to a 36-9 record, an NCAA Division III New York Region title and a tie for fifth place at the World Series. In 2001, his squad finished 34-11, winning a Steve Newman enters his first season on the Cortland regional title and once again tying for fifth nationally at the World Series. In 2002, Cort- coaching staff in 2008. Prior to Cortland, Newman was an land finished the season 31-11 and participated in the NCAA Division III regionals. assistant varsity baseball coach at Rush-Henrietta Senior High during the 2006-07 seasons. The Rochester, N.Y., native played In 2003, the Red Dragons were 35-11, advanced to the championship game of the for the Red Dragons from 2004-05 and finished with a career NCAA regionals and finished tied for ninth nationally. In 2004, the Red Dragons finished .379 batting average, 16 doubles, six triples, four homers, 72 RBI 29-16 and earned one of three national “Pool C” at-large tournament berths. In 2006, and 19 stolen bases in 90 games. Cortland posted a 39-9 record, won the SUNYAC championship and advanced to the NCAA regional finals. As a senior, Newman batted .371 with three homers and 41 RBI and earned third team All-America and first team all-region, All-ECAC and All-SUNYAC honors. He set Brown was named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) New York the school single-season assist record with 146 and compiled a 24-game hitting streak, Region “Coach of the Year” in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007 and was the SUNYAC “Coach which stands as second-best in school history. His junior season, Newman led the Red of the Year” in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Thirteen of his players have been chosen as All- Dragons with a .390 batting average. He was a second team All-SUNYAC selection and Americans, including three who were selected in the professional baseball draft. In all, was named to the NCAA Division III Regional All-Tournament Team. seven of Brown’s players have advanced to play professionally, including two selections in the 2006 draft and one in 2007. A 2001 graduate of Rush-Henrietta, Newman played two seasons at Monroe Community College, where he received second team all-region honors. The 2005 Prior to his promotion to head coach, Brown was the top assistant coach and Cortland graduate is currently an adapted physical education teacher for DeRuyter pitching coach for Cortland teams that made seven straight NCAA Division III tourna- Central Schools and is pursuing a master’s degree in adapted physical education at the ment appearances from 1993 to 1999 and four World Series showings between 1995 and College. 1999. He also assisted with team recruiting duties. His Cortland hurlers were ranked in the top 25 nationally in team earned run average for five of six seasons between 1994- Andy Brown - Assistant Coach 99.