Season Preview: Baseball 'focusing on Lehigh' ahead of 2020 campaign

2/12/2020 3:50:00 PM | Baseball

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — In just a few short days, the Lehigh baseball season will officially get underway as the 2020 campaign has arrived.

After failing to make the Patriot League Tournament in each of the last three seasons, the expectations to get back to the postseason are high, as the Mountain Hawks look like they could have the pieces on offense and on the mound to compete for their third league title in program history.

There is a lot of work, though, that needs to be done in order to get to that next level, but these players are capable of doing what it takes to get there.

With every new baseball team for another season, comes key departures, as the Mountain Hawks have a lot of key players leave the program through graduation last year.

Starting lineup staples Jeff Shanfeldt, Ryan Malloy and Thomas Schumacher are gone, as well as last year's top two starters in the rotation, Levi Stoudt and Jason Reynolds, who were both drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft, ultimately signing with their respective big league organizations.

But the starting lineup is replenished with new talent for 2020, as well as key contributors in last year's starting rotation, as Lehigh looks to make a leap from its fifth place finish a season ago.

Lehighsports.com caught up with head coach Sean Leary, who enters his 25th season at the helm of the baseball program, to preview the team ahead of the Mountain Hawks' season opener against Davidson Feb. 14.

Catchers

One of the most important positions on any baseball club, Lehigh is excited about the future of the catching committee, especially with the debut of freshman Adam Retzbach, expected to make an impact as soon as he hits the floor to begin the season.

Retzbach was just named Perfect Game's Preseason Patriot League Rookie of the Year, knowing the kind of game he brings to the equation after a solid four years at Lakeland High School.

He will have big shoes to fill in Shanfeldt, who broke Matt McBride's record for most games caught in school history, but Retzbach is up to the challenge.

"Adam has the chance to be a pretty special player for us," said head coach Sean Leary. "The fact that he is starting day one is an indication of the fact that he's earned the respect of his coaches and teammates."

The Mountain Hawks have a solid backup catcher in senior Tim DiLoreto, who is expected to see significant time behind the plate when Retzbach gets a breather.

DiLoreto has come a long way since walking on the team his sophomore year, as he's turned into a leader on the team and brings a lot to the position as well as the lineup.

While just the third option at catcher this season, junior Joe Yupp has used this past offseason to work on his game and get himself in a position to compete for the backup role.

The unit as a whole has done a lot to improve their games and get on the same page to work with the pitching staff and in the starting lineup.

"That unit has worked extremely well together," said Leary. "They're taking time pre and post-practice to share their notes on all the pitchers to get each other ready. They know that Retzbach has won the job and I'm really proud of Tim for taking a leadership role and mentoring his understudy, which is not usually the case. But the other two guys have had really strong winter seasons for us, but most impressively, they see Adam's ability and they are excited to push him along a little bit."

First Basemen

While senior Tony Gallo has been an All-Patriot League first baseman the last two seasons for the Mountain Hawks, it will be Casey Rother who will spend most of his time at the position for the upcoming year.

Rother, who spent time at both catcher and DH in 2019, will get a chance to start at first, be a DH and even get a chance to pitch on the mound in 2020.

Rother had a solid freshman season that saw him earn Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors the very first week of the season, but he had an even more special summer with the Northern Yankees of the Blue Mountain League. Rother hit .469 with two home runs, 24 RBIs and struck out just four times in 96 at bats.

According to Leary, the team's best defensive option at the position is sophomore Charlie Von Werne, who is ready to make his debut for Lehigh this season.

"Casey and Charlie have really worked hard to give us the confidence to move Tony to the outfield," said Leary. "Casey is going to be our cleanup guy, so we need to find him an everyday spot. He's acclimated pretty quickly down at first base and much like the catching unit, the first base unit with Tony and Ethan Heller, the four of them do a really nice job.

"But we feel that Casey has to be one of those players that makes that step forward for us and it will be interesting because Charlie will be ready to play, it's just a matter of when he gets his opportunities, because he came back this fall with the mindset of earning time, not settling for the backup role."

Second Basemen/Shortstop

A storyline for the Mountain Hawks this season is the depth of the middle infield, with returners and newcomers ready to take a chance at playing either second or shortstop in the year to come.

Returning is junior Eric Cichocki back for the Mountain Hawks after seeing most of his time last season at the second base position.

Added to the mix is freshman Zack Miles as well as sophomore Chase Carlson.

"We have the depth right now and plenty of versatility to move people around," Leary said. "Eric has worked a ton in the outfield, Zack has worked a ton at short and Chase takes reps at both second and short, much like Miles has been doing this spring.

"So, we've almost put those four together and said that those guys need to be the middle infield and also know that if someone from the outfield emerges, Tony Gallo can still come in there and play that position. We're really excited about Zack's long term potential, but we also have the luxury of having a veteran guy in Cichocki, who we know is going to be a major contributor."

At shortstop, although there are those guys that have the talent to play either role in the middle infield, Lehigh will still look to Matt Hand to contribute mightily as both a team captain on and off the field.

"Matt's our guy. He's our leader on the field, our steadying force," said Leary. "Quite frankly, he's poised to have his breakout year, we're really excited to see what he does not only on the defensive side, but to become more of a frontline offensive contributor."

Third Basemen

2019 saw the emergence of Gerard Sweeney to the fold at third base, and in 2020, will be the Mountain Hawks' guy once again at the hot corner.

Sweeney led all Lehigh freshmen in batting average with a mark of .289 with 52 hits in his rookie campaign, ranked third on the team. He also walked 29 times, had an OBP of .395 and his 13 multi-hit games ranked second on the roster.

He's hoping to take an even bigger step forward as one of the team's most important offensive weapons in the upcoming season.

"Sweeney is another guy that we expect to do big things for us this season as we expect him to become a future three-hole hitter," said Leary. "This year, he will bat one or two because he gets on base so often and his versatility as a switch-hitter, he's a patient hitter, hits for average and has some pop in his bat.

"He's obviously a guy we will be counting on for major contributions for the next three years."

Behind Sweeney is Joe Gorla, who spent most of the 2019 season injured and not able to compete up to par, but Leary is excited of what Gorla can bring to the team this year.

"The most improved player on this team is Joe Gorla," said Leary. "He's had a wonderful mindset of just working hard every day and playing as hard as he can to get into the lineup. Quite frankly, he's going to be a guy that adds some depth to the infield when something pops up, you need a guy to fill in, but I'd be surprised if Joe doesn't earn some quality innings this season gets chances to play."

Outfield

For the Mountain Hawks, they have three major options to man right field in 2020, with Tony Gallo, Quinn McKenna and Tyler Schreiner, all players who made significant impacts last season.

"We feel really good about Tony's versatility, he's a starter, we just have a starting position for him," said Leary. "Quinn is probably our best overall defender, catching and throwing in the outfield. We know that he has put the time in where we will be a deeper team.

"And then Schreiner is going to play some right, left and DH and he's ready to go."

In left field, Schreiner, Jake Kochmansky and Cole Humes all are viable options out there. And in center, the Mountain Hawks are excited to have Mike Maguire back for his senior season as well as the prospect of having freshman Cam Hubbard eventually make his debut out there as well.

"In Maguire and Hubbard, we have two legitimate elite defenders out there," said Leary. "Eventually, we can see Cam move to one of the corners or shifting Mike somewhere.

"But the mindset of the entire team is that they don't care where they play or bat, they just want to contribute and that starts with our seniors stepping up and doing whatever we ask them to do."

Designated Hitter

Last year, the designated hitter was anyone who was having an off day from playing the field, whether that was Shanfeldt or Rother. This season, the gameplan for that spot in the lineup has a lot of the same mentality.

"The DH we decide to have this season is just going to end up being our next best player," Leary said. "Gorla is going to be a good option for us, Schreiner as well, it really just matters who is already starting in the lineup.

"It's also going to be a great way for people like Casey [Rother], who throws to get a day off, or Retzbach on an off day to get his bat in the lineup as often as we can. So we can see DH being more of a floating starter. So it's going to great to have the option to put Gorla at third base and DH Sweeney on occasion or put Gallo at first and DH Rother for a day."

Starting Pitchers

With the departures of Levi Stoudt and Jason Reynolds, it's time for two new players to step up as the aces of the rotation, and the Mountain Hawks are looking forward to seeing sophomores Mason Black and Luke Rettig step up into those roles, both pitchers who came on strong near the end of the 2019 season. Even Matt Svanson will be a force to be reckoned with as a key member of the starting rotation.

"I think our top three pitchers have really set the tone with how we're going to approach practice, how we're going to approach our bullpen and how we're approaching our intersquads these last two weeks," Leary said. "Mason, Luke and Matt have been outstanding and as sharp as our top three have ever been going into the spring.

"What's awesome is that their mindset is singular too. They don't care if they start or close, they just want to help this team win games. That's been really exciting for us, because we know that they all can start, but we might need to put one of our top arms in the closer role, but those three have already stepped up as the leaders of the group.

For the pitching staff, the most improved player on the pitching side according to Leary, has been junior Yash Rane.

"Yash has found his stride, his focus has been outstanding and is going to be a great option for us," said Leary."

Other players to keep an eye on in the starting rotation would be sophomore Matt Stamford and freshman Carlos Torres, who is coming off a strong fall, as well as Hand and Rother, who are two-way players that have been key late inning pitchers.

Leary says that freshman Ryan Deom will be able to help the rotation, as well as sophomore Nick Pave, junior Cameron Van Hoorebeke, Humes and freshmen Ryan Staropoli, Will Grisack and Ben Christian.

Bullpen

The way the bullpen will shake out for 2020 is going to be interesting with names from the starting rotation ultimately also getting opportunities to pitch in later-innings, as Leary noted about Svanson and other guys that will help in that way.

"The biggest question we want to have answered in the next month is what roles will make us the best we can be," Leary said. "We might have a player that could start Game 3 for us or come out of the bullpen in later innings if we need them. That's just the versatility we have with all of our pitchers on the staff."

"Probably Sam Wurth and Yash have made the biggest jumps forward from returning players," said Leary. "Sam was terrific in his winter outings.

"We like that we have some power arms and we have some guys with plus-secondary stuff that we can mix-and-match over the course of the weekend."

Leary notes that while Svanson would be considered to be the team's closer for most of the season, he could also see the likes of Rane or Rother emerge as contenders for the role.

Outlook

For a team that has missed the postseason in each of the last three seasons, there is still a ton of optimism surrounding this current Lehigh baseball team, a team with so much talent up and down the starting lineup and a pitching staff that could once again compete to be one of the best in the Patriot League.

The Mountain Hawks are hungry and poised to make a run this season and feel they have the pieces to do it with the current alignment of the roster.

"We're certainly challenging ourselves to open this season with Davidson and Richmond, who are two outstanding programs picked high in a lot of the preseason polls," Leary said. "And then we play an ACC opponent in Pitt and then CCSU and NC A&T who were both predicted to win their conferences. So, our first four weekends are going to be great challenges to prepare us Patriot League play, in particularly on the pitching side where our hitters will see great arms.

"But ultimately, we've changed our mentality where we want to focus on our opponent, but we want to focus more on our strengths and take an almost John Wooden approach, where we are going to scout ourselves and make sure we are doing the things we do well to the best of our ability. We really love our pitching potential, so we need to focus on getting that better for league play."

After struggling to win close ballgames in 2019, the Mountain Hawks' first focus is to go in every single weekend with the mentality to win that weekend.

"The league didn't project us to do many special things this year and that's not a motivator, but being the underdog every weekend could be a really good mindset to have, in case we're in a place where we're not sure where to grab motivation," said Leary. "I'm excited for our players, but I'm mostly excited just to see the process begin, because we'll know more of that answer in about a month. But our guys' mindset isn't if we make the tournament, it's that we're going to make the tournament."

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