Somerset, NJ — Bryant has finished atop the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season baseball standings each of the past seven years and the 2019 preseason coaches’ poll results suggest that the Bulldogs will make it eight straight this spring.
The Bulldogs garnered first place votes from all six other NEC head coaches to enter the 2019 campaign as the unanimous favorite.
Defending NEC Tournament champion LIU Brooklyn snatched the second slot in the preseason poll order while Verrazano Bridge rival Wagner, which led the circuit in overall wins (38) last year, took third.
Mount St. Mary’s, a NEC Tournament qualifier in 2018, finished in fourth place ahead of Sacred Heart in fifth. Central Connecticut, which is only 20 months removed from its 2017 NEC Tournament crown, and Fairleigh Dickinson rounded out the preseason selections in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Each team will contest eight three-game NEC series for a 24-game regular season league schedule. The top-four finishers in the regular season standings will earn spots in the 2019 NEC Tournament, the winner of which receives automatic access to the NCAA Championship. The four-team, double-elimination 2019 NEC Tournament will unfold on May 23-26 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT.
Bryant will pursue is fourth NCAA Tournament berth with a bevy of battle-tested veterans dotting the roster. Lefty starter Steve Theetge (Syracuse, NY/Cicero North Syracuse), a former NEC Pitcher of the Year honoree, carries a 23-12 career record into his senior season. Sophomore outfielder Ryan Ward (Millbury, MA/Millbury) set the NEC’s single-season hits record (101) as a rookie en-route to earning the conference’s Player of the Year award. Nathan Wrighter (Windsor, NY/Windsor Central)leads the relief corps following a sensational summer run in the NECBL, where he won the Joe Nathan Top Relief Pitcher award after saving nine games and striking out 28 batters in 25.0 innings.
The Bulldogs, who have averaged 36 victories per season during Steve Owens’ eight-year tenure as manager, open the 2019 season with a three-game series at Abilene Christian starting on February 15.
LIU Brooklyn welcomes back a number of key contributors to the program’s first-ever NEC title, headlined by a quartet of 2018 All-Tournament selections. Senior outfielder Gregory Vaughn (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit), the reigning NEC Tournament MVP, joins Joe Mercadante (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam), Rob Griswold (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) and Pat Clyne (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) as leaders in the Blackbirds’ title defense efforts. Clyne kicked off the 2018 NEC Tournament run by spinning 7.1 scoreless innings in the Birds’ opening victory. Griswold provided 6.0 innings of effective relief during LIU’s subsequent win over Bryant and Wagner while Mercadante had a pair of RBI hits against Wagner in the title clincher.
The front end of Wagner’s starting rotation returns following a phenomenal 2018 campaign. Lefty Neil Abbatiello (North Salem, NY/Dobbs Ferry) (8-0) and right Eric Ligda (West Grove, PA/Avon Grove (Arizona Western)) (7-2) combined for 15 victories and 139 strikeouts over 175.1 innings in their junior campaigns. Nick Robino (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum School), who picked up seven victories and seven saves last spring, returns to anchor the bullpen again. The Preseason All-American reliever fanned 56 batters in 46.2 frames as a sophomore.
Mount St. Mary’s returns its top six hitters from its first 20-win team since 2010, highlighted by all-NEC second team infielder Pat Causa (Sinking Spring, PA/Berka Catholic) and fellow seniors Alex Kriss (Forest Hill, MD/Calvert Hall) and Vaughn Parker II (Frederick, MD/Gov. Thomas Johnson). Junior southpaw starter Trey McGough (Johnstown, PA/Ferndale Area), an all-NEC first team pick, also returns after helping end a 10-year postseason drought.
Senior righty starter Brent Teller (Miami, FL/Miami Palmetto) and junior catcher Bobby Garbuio (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) will serve as team captains for Nick Restaino’s second season as Sacred Heart’s skipper. The former recorded 77 strikeouts over a team-high 79.0 innings last spring.
Central Connecticut looks to rebound following an injury-plagued 2018 campaign as long-time skipper Charlie Hickey welcomes back a number of key components to the program’s 2017 NCAA appearance. In addition to an experienced starting rotation, right-handed power hitter TT Bowens (Montville, CT/Montville), who won the 2017 NEC Tournament MVP award as a rookie, returns after missing all but six games due to injury as a sophomore.
Fairleigh Dickinson enters a new era under interim head coach Justin McKay. A consigliere for the since-retired Gary Puccio, McKay spent the last seven seasons as FDU’s recruiting coordinator.
