Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh wraps up fall season with sights set on spring
10/28/2011 6:40:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh baseball team concluded a successful fall campaign with its annual intra-squad Brown and White series and a pair of exhibition contests against St. Joseph's and Muhlenberg. Unlike previous years, this fall had a different ring to it as Lehigh adds 12 freshmen into the mix after graduating a veteran group last season. The Mountain Hawks return seven seniors to the squad which head coach Sean Leary has relied on to mentor a young Lehigh team on and off the field this fall.
"That was the biggest positive of the whole fall," said Leary, who enters his 17th season at the helm for Lehigh. "Their leadership has put a stamp on the program very quickly and that is very impressive especially coming from a situation where they had such an influential group in front of them."Lehigh lost six starting position players from last year's team including a pair of Second Team All-Patriot League players in outfielder Billy Goodman and third baseman Kevin Mihalik. Also graduated was pitcher Mike Lebo who threw a team-high 41 innings last season and is currently in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system.
This year, Leary and the Mountain Hawks are in a unique situation where they have just as many freshmen (12) as upperclassmen and that is one of the reasons why Leary has leaned on his senior leaders to step up. And they have responded.
The four seniors who will captain the 2012 squad are pitcher Dan Ciccone, pitcher Cory Kent, shortstop Brendan McGaheran and catcher Chad Warga. Along with those four, other seniors include first baseman Joe Conaway, third baseman Ryan Gajdos and pitcher Luke Porter. The seven of them make up the group that will be in charge of leading the Mountain Hawks.
"It's as strong as a group that we've had from a perspective of wanting to help engage with others as a whole class," said Leary. "It's neat for them to be that big brother to the kids and I've really been impressed that they embrace the role and understand that this group of young guys is vital to our team."
Lehigh only returns three starting position players (McGaheran, Warga and junior outfielder Casey Turner) so there are going to be a lot of young guys in key positions. Looking to make an immediate impact will be freshman Justin Pacchioli who come spring time could be patrolling centerfield for the Brown and White. By the time the fall was over, Pacchioli was not only manning CF, but hitting second in the lineup. Another player who had a strong fall was freshman Connor Faust who the team might rely on at one of the corner infield positions or as a designated hitter come the spring.
"We believe pretty strongly in this freshmen class," said Leary. "This fall, we saw as many as two-to-three freshmen jump right in and there is really a good chance they will contribute come the spring."
With such a young group of guys, Leary admits that there has been a youthful enthusiasm to the fall that has come with a high level of energy. Because of the big turnover, it has allowed guys to battle for positions and that has brought the best out in some of the players.
Along with the freshmen, there is a group of sophomores who had to bide their time last year but will now have the chance to emerge in a starting role. While sophomore Brandon Wilt will look to start as the team's right fielder, most of the sophomore class will look to make their impact on the mound. It will be sophomores Nick Cassell and Jayme Edwards who will be relied on heavily to lead the way after getting experience under their belts last season as the duo combined for six Patriot League starts. "Our sophomore pitchers are more than ready," said Leary. "When you have guys who have started Patriot League games and have been in those moments and they can learn from them, that's a huge bonus. We are looking for them and need them to pitch well and bide us time as the young guys learn at the Division I level."
Leary saw some of those learning curves this fall especially at the plate as the freshmen hitters adjusted to college pitching. While last year's veteran team had a strikeout to walk ratio of 1-to-1.5, the young Mountain Hawks offense this fall had the ratio of 1.5-to-1. But Leary understands that it will take some time for the young guys to have strike-zone discipline and that's just the natural process in adjusting to college baseball. But the young guys are going to get the experience right away and that's what the fall is all about: getting at-bats, learning and above all, executing.
"The most important thing there was to work on this fall was execution," said Leary. "We see a lot of positive things out of so many of our young players, but they had to be put in moments to see how they would react."
And that's where the fall games against St. Joseph's and Muhlenberg helped. First up though was the team's Brown and White intra-squad scrimmage. The Brown team won the five-game series 3-2, which was indicative of how close the teams were split up and the winning team came down to who executed better. Unlike the other games, the Brown and White is a controlled scrimmage in which the coaching staff can evaluate every kid on the roster whereas in the outside games, they are only evaluating the starting nine that day.
The two outside games against St. Joseph's and Muhlenberg were extended scrimmage format and it gave the staff a chance to see who stepped up.
"Once you put another uniform on the other side, there is no other way to measure how guys will perform until you do it," said Leary. "The results were solid but more than anything it was more about learning and executing. It was interesting because I think these fall games were more productive this year compared to past years with veteran teams because we knew who the starters were then."
While some starting spots are still in question, one thing that is certain is that Lehigh's strength is going to be relief pitching and speed.
The Mountain Hawks return their three top relievers. Junior Thomas O'Malley is the seventh-inning guy while Ciccone will again be the set-up man. Both will lead the way for Kent, the team's closer and one of the best relievers in school history.
"That's a real big plus when you bring back those three from last year," said Leary. "They all love the role and we are not looking to change that. If we can get the ball to those guys with a lead, we'll be very happy."
Lehigh was 16-2 last year when leading after six innings, 8-1 after seven and 11-0 after eight.
On the base paths, the Mountain Hawks have a couple of difference making speed guys and six more guys who can make things happen. Whether it's stealing bases or taking extra bases or being aggressive in scoring, speed will definitely be one of the staples of the 2012 Mountain Hawks. McGaheran led the Patriot League in stolen bases last year with 19 as Lehigh lead the league with 73 swiped bags.
While Leary liked what he saw from his club in the fall, he knows there is still work to be done.
"We aren't at that level of execution yet where we need to be but it has been a productive six weeks," said Leary. "The next phase is the most important: strength and speed conditioning. These 8-to-12 weeks are really when the seniors need to show how important this phase is because 50+ games wears on mentally and physically."
As it did in the fall, Lehigh will rely on that senior leadership this winter and into the spring. Whether it's in the weight room, on the diamond or in the library, the seniors have to be there as mentors and a support system as the young guys go through growing pains.
All of the hard work will look to pay off when Lehigh opens its 2012 season at Davidson on Friday, February 24th.
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