Lehigh University Athletics
2002 Preview
9/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Head Coach Sean Leary can’t wait for the 2002 baseball season. The seventh-year coach is always optimistic, but this season he especially has reason to be excited. Six key seniors return to lead a talented group in their quest to rebound from a disappointing 2001 campaign.
"We’re bringing back a strong core of talented players, and on top of that, we’ve got unprecedented depth this year," Leary said.
Leary has always emphasized pitching, defense, and speed as keys to success on the diamond. This season, the Mountain Hawks have plenty of all three elements to help them compete for a Patriot League title.
One of Lehigh’s strengths will be the ability of the pitching staff to keep the team in games. Leading the charge will be senior Dave Cerminaro. The two-time Patriot League Pitcher of the Week led the Mountain Hawks in a myriad of categories, including wins (4), ERA (3.80), complete games (7), strikeouts (43), and innings pitched (64.0). The starting staff will be co-anchored by fellow senior Brian Andalman. The lefty’s winless record from a year ago is deceiving; with some run support, it could have easily been reversed. Sophomore Ed Regnier has shown a lot of promise, and he will look to rebound from injury and return to the starting rotation. Fellow sophomores Keith Frerichs, CJ Heim, and Matt Nusinov will all compete for innings. Newcomers Kyle Stawicki and Jack Muscalus will also look to crack the rotation. Stawicki was named the number one high school prospect in the state of Connecticut by Prospect Plus and Baseball America. Muscalus helped lead his high school team to the Pennsylvania state finals. Senior center fielder Jeff Pietrak will come on in the late innings to close out games for Lehigh.
When Pietrak is not on the mound, look for him to be patrolling the outfield in center. Pietrak is a tremendous defensive outfielder who possesses exceptional speed and a great arm. Senior Justin Pagan returns to the leadoff spot for the fourth consecutive season. Despite not being healthy for much of last season, Pagan still led the Mountain Hawks in runs scored (31) and stolen bases (15). Defensively, Pagan will see action in center field, and he adds depth to the left side of the infield. In right field, senior Chad Thoman looks to build on a solid junior season, where he hit .326. Thoman also has exceptional speed and a solid arm. Junior Jeremy Mack, who also runs well and has a great arm, will be the every day left fielder.
The infield is solid defensively again this season, and is especially strong up the middle. The shortstop position belongs to third-year starter Anthony Piccola. The senior has great range and a reliable glove, as he did not make an error in Patriot League play last season. Sophomore Eric Hoffman may move to second base for defensive purposes. Not only is he solid with the glove, but Hoffman has excellent speed (nine stolen bases) and hit .340 a season ago. Last year’s second baseman, Jesse Novalis will most likely move to first or third base to accommodate Hoffman. Offensively, Novalis is almost a certainty to hit in the number three hole. As a freshman, he pounded out 50 hits and a team-record 17 doubles en route to a .357 average. Rounding out the infield, junior Matt Yarnold will likely see significant action at one of the corners. Yarnold hit .253 last season for the Mountain Hawks.
Junior Jarrod Niedosik and sophomore Jeff Quiros will battle for playing time behind the plate this year. Both possess good arms, and both have the ability to produce offensively as well. Quiros hit .286 last season, and struck out only eight times all season.
"With all the guys we’ve got coming back, we should be really competitive if we can stay healthy," head coach Sean Leary said. "And with the strong group of freshmen coming in, we’ve got a nice foundation for the future."
