Friday, February 16
Charleston, S.C.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Ball State University
Photo by: Clark Boinis
Season Preview: Lehigh Baseball Gearing Up For 2024
2/15/2024 10:59:00 AM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – As winter begins to turn to spring, the changing of the weather isn't the only thing taking place this time of year. It also signals the beginning of college baseball season, which is set to begin for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Friday.
Lehigh, having led the Patriot League in batting average a season ago, enters the 2024 season for what will be Peter E. Bennett '63 head baseball coach Sean Leary's 29th season at the helm of the program. Last year's squad touted several players who etched their names into the Lehigh record books, including former Patriot League Player of the Year Casey Rother and All-Patriot League First Team pitcher Luke Rettig among others. Despite their losses, Leary believes that his team has more than enough depth to make up for their departures.
"We get excited as coaches for new opportunities, and we've got some really talented players that can step into new roles and bigger responsibilities," said Leary. "As much as we're going to miss our guys… We do believe that there's enough talent behind the guys to produce the same way or even at higher level; we just need them to gain the experience."
Gaining experience in new roles is something that several players will get accustomed to early in the season, specifically in the infield. Aidan Quinn, Justin Butler and Trystan Crawford each transitioned to first base in the offseason, and Leary believes each has the ability to be productive offensive players this season.
"They are all really talented offensive options for us," said Leary. "It'll be someone new, but there's a good chance that two of those guys find their way into the first base/DH role."
While first base is seeing some new faces, the rest of Lehigh's infield boasts several key contributors returning to the lineup. At second base, the Mountain Hawks return 2023 All-Patriot League Second Team selection Dom Patrizi as well as senior veteran Riley Davis.
"Obviously [Dom] had a great rookie year, and with him and Riley Davis, there's some solid depth there," said Leary.
Tyler Young returns for his senior season after posting his second-consecutive .300+ batting season at the shortstop position. He was also selected to this year's All-Patriot League Preseason Team at the shortstop position. However, Leary also noted that first-year Raffaele Rogers has impressed in the preseason and could look to provide quality depth at multiple infield positions.
"Young is our anchor, he's our captain and leader on the field, but we feel really good about Raf Rogers backing up a lot of the infield positions," said Leary. "He's a talented kid who's going to find a way to help us win some ball games this year."
Rounding out the infield at the third base position is Rafe Perich, who has solidified himself as one of the league's top talents after his first two years in Bethlehem. He was recently named the third ranked MLB Draft prospect in the Patriot League according to D1Baseball. In addition, Leary sees junior Sam Holtz as another depth infielder with the chance to make a serious impact this season.
"Rafe is a skilled switch hitter with pop from both sides, just a really good player and legitimate player of the year candidate," said Leary. "Holtz backs up a lot like Rogers and Riley in the infield, those guys are going to play and they'll play everywhere."
Leary's outfield also features a player in a new position, as Ryan Cochran has shifted from infield to left field. Joining Cochran to back up the infield will be Jake Whitlinger and Andrew Kohl, both of which were two of Lehigh's top-six hitters by average a year ago.
Much like the infield, Leary anticipates there being several players who can make an impact as depth pieces in his outfield. Riley Davis, Braydon Hubbard, Drew Morse, Ryan Davis, Jasper Adelman and Robbie Carvelli are all players who could see legitimate time in left, center and right.
"Riley's a utility outfielder for us, Braydon Hubbard has had a terrific preseason and he'll be another guy right on the cusp of filling in there," said Leary. "There are a number of other guys, including Brandon Coughlin, who is a short reliever and two-way defensive outfielder for us, but he probably projects to help us more on the mound."
Sophomore Owen Walewander will step into a starting role at catcher after making 24 appearances for the Mountain Hawks in 2023. He is joined by several other catchers looking to make an impact, both veteran and young.
"Walewander's won the starting job which is awesome, and Andrew Nole is a veteran and someone we know we can count on," said Leary. "But one of the pleasant surprises has been how first-year Andrew Noone has given us the confidence that he can be viable option in addition to first-year Matt Tsiaras projecting to be a solid depth piece as well."
On the mound, junior Alex Bouchard, sophomore Cole Leaman and senior Teddy Tolliver are slated to be Lehigh's starting pitchers for their opening weekend of play.
"The first weekend will be Bouchard, Leaman and Tolliver getting the starts, and then the next layer of how we fill in roles will be interesting," said Leary. "Guys aren't on high pitch counts the first weekend, so you can count on seeing Jack Hamilton, Val Taddei and Shane O'Neill almost piggy-backing those starts as middle-relief guys."
"For short relief, you could see guys like Tommy Lamar, Marcus Danchision, Julio Ermigiotti and Coughlin," said Leary. "And then there's some veteran guys like Tyler Thompson and Lucas Rich who could fill any of those roles."
Other players aiming to contribute from the bullpen include David Andolina, Grady Golier, Jack Ingino, Ryan Mullock and Liam O'Hearen. In addition to their relief, Leary is anxious to see who will step up and join Bouchard, Leaman and Tolliver as a fourth starting-caliber arm.
"Whether it's O'Neill, Taddei or Najir Glenn… we will need that fourth starter five of the last eight weekends," said Leary. "You get some solutions this first weekend, but other questions we need answers to will develop from guys just getting out there and facing competition in these opening weeks."
Lehigh's first competition of the year is this upcoming weekend at the Swig & Swine College Classic in Charleston, S.C., where the Mountain Hawks will join the likes of Ball State, Merrimack, Michigan State, Seton Hall, and No. 20 Iowa. The Mountain Hawks will face Ball State on Friday and then conclude their weekend with Big Ten matchups against Michigan State on Saturday and then Iowa on Sunday.
"We thought it'd be a great matchup for our team early in the season," said Leary on deciding to attend the Swig & Swine. "Ball State won their conference last year, so we know they're going to be super talented. And then we've got two Power 5s following that up, including Iowa who many are projecting to be a sleeper Omaha team."
The Cardinals posted a 36-23 record last season, including 19-11 in the MAC conference. Ball State defeated Kent State 12-9 in the final game of the MAC Tournament to advance to the Lexington NCAA Regional, where they were eliminated by two losses to Kentucky and West Virginia.
Michigan State enters 2024 after a successful season in 2023 where they finished with a 33-22 record, including 12-12 in the Big Ten. Six players received All-Big Ten honors last year, however, only All-Freshman pitcher Joseph Dzierwa returns to East Lansing.
Iowa begins their season ranked 20th in the country, largely in part to their ace pitcher Brody Brecht. The Preseason All-American helped lead the Hawkeyes to a 44-16 record last season, including a 15-8 record in the Big Ten. Iowa advanced all the way to a regional final against Indiana State, but ultimately fell 11-8 to the Sycamores.
With the Mountain Hawks slated to face some high-level competition this weekend, Leary says that he will learn a lot about his team after their trip to Charleston.
"We've got to really be a Lehigh team from a perspective of what's our system offensively, what do we believe in as a pitching staff," said Leary. "We have confidence that when we play well, it will translate whether it's Ball State or whether it's Army or Navy later in the season. This is an opportunity for us to see what it looks like to play elite competition versus some draft-level arms."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Lehigh, having led the Patriot League in batting average a season ago, enters the 2024 season for what will be Peter E. Bennett '63 head baseball coach Sean Leary's 29th season at the helm of the program. Last year's squad touted several players who etched their names into the Lehigh record books, including former Patriot League Player of the Year Casey Rother and All-Patriot League First Team pitcher Luke Rettig among others. Despite their losses, Leary believes that his team has more than enough depth to make up for their departures.
"We get excited as coaches for new opportunities, and we've got some really talented players that can step into new roles and bigger responsibilities," said Leary. "As much as we're going to miss our guys… We do believe that there's enough talent behind the guys to produce the same way or even at higher level; we just need them to gain the experience."
Gaining experience in new roles is something that several players will get accustomed to early in the season, specifically in the infield. Aidan Quinn, Justin Butler and Trystan Crawford each transitioned to first base in the offseason, and Leary believes each has the ability to be productive offensive players this season.
"They are all really talented offensive options for us," said Leary. "It'll be someone new, but there's a good chance that two of those guys find their way into the first base/DH role."
While first base is seeing some new faces, the rest of Lehigh's infield boasts several key contributors returning to the lineup. At second base, the Mountain Hawks return 2023 All-Patriot League Second Team selection Dom Patrizi as well as senior veteran Riley Davis.
"Obviously [Dom] had a great rookie year, and with him and Riley Davis, there's some solid depth there," said Leary.
Tyler Young returns for his senior season after posting his second-consecutive .300+ batting season at the shortstop position. He was also selected to this year's All-Patriot League Preseason Team at the shortstop position. However, Leary also noted that first-year Raffaele Rogers has impressed in the preseason and could look to provide quality depth at multiple infield positions.
"Young is our anchor, he's our captain and leader on the field, but we feel really good about Raf Rogers backing up a lot of the infield positions," said Leary. "He's a talented kid who's going to find a way to help us win some ball games this year."
Rounding out the infield at the third base position is Rafe Perich, who has solidified himself as one of the league's top talents after his first two years in Bethlehem. He was recently named the third ranked MLB Draft prospect in the Patriot League according to D1Baseball. In addition, Leary sees junior Sam Holtz as another depth infielder with the chance to make a serious impact this season.
"Rafe is a skilled switch hitter with pop from both sides, just a really good player and legitimate player of the year candidate," said Leary. "Holtz backs up a lot like Rogers and Riley in the infield, those guys are going to play and they'll play everywhere."
Leary's outfield also features a player in a new position, as Ryan Cochran has shifted from infield to left field. Joining Cochran to back up the infield will be Jake Whitlinger and Andrew Kohl, both of which were two of Lehigh's top-six hitters by average a year ago.
Much like the infield, Leary anticipates there being several players who can make an impact as depth pieces in his outfield. Riley Davis, Braydon Hubbard, Drew Morse, Ryan Davis, Jasper Adelman and Robbie Carvelli are all players who could see legitimate time in left, center and right.
"Riley's a utility outfielder for us, Braydon Hubbard has had a terrific preseason and he'll be another guy right on the cusp of filling in there," said Leary. "There are a number of other guys, including Brandon Coughlin, who is a short reliever and two-way defensive outfielder for us, but he probably projects to help us more on the mound."
Sophomore Owen Walewander will step into a starting role at catcher after making 24 appearances for the Mountain Hawks in 2023. He is joined by several other catchers looking to make an impact, both veteran and young.
"Walewander's won the starting job which is awesome, and Andrew Nole is a veteran and someone we know we can count on," said Leary. "But one of the pleasant surprises has been how first-year Andrew Noone has given us the confidence that he can be viable option in addition to first-year Matt Tsiaras projecting to be a solid depth piece as well."
On the mound, junior Alex Bouchard, sophomore Cole Leaman and senior Teddy Tolliver are slated to be Lehigh's starting pitchers for their opening weekend of play.
"The first weekend will be Bouchard, Leaman and Tolliver getting the starts, and then the next layer of how we fill in roles will be interesting," said Leary. "Guys aren't on high pitch counts the first weekend, so you can count on seeing Jack Hamilton, Val Taddei and Shane O'Neill almost piggy-backing those starts as middle-relief guys."
"For short relief, you could see guys like Tommy Lamar, Marcus Danchision, Julio Ermigiotti and Coughlin," said Leary. "And then there's some veteran guys like Tyler Thompson and Lucas Rich who could fill any of those roles."
Other players aiming to contribute from the bullpen include David Andolina, Grady Golier, Jack Ingino, Ryan Mullock and Liam O'Hearen. In addition to their relief, Leary is anxious to see who will step up and join Bouchard, Leaman and Tolliver as a fourth starting-caliber arm.
"Whether it's O'Neill, Taddei or Najir Glenn… we will need that fourth starter five of the last eight weekends," said Leary. "You get some solutions this first weekend, but other questions we need answers to will develop from guys just getting out there and facing competition in these opening weeks."
Lehigh's first competition of the year is this upcoming weekend at the Swig & Swine College Classic in Charleston, S.C., where the Mountain Hawks will join the likes of Ball State, Merrimack, Michigan State, Seton Hall, and No. 20 Iowa. The Mountain Hawks will face Ball State on Friday and then conclude their weekend with Big Ten matchups against Michigan State on Saturday and then Iowa on Sunday.
"We thought it'd be a great matchup for our team early in the season," said Leary on deciding to attend the Swig & Swine. "Ball State won their conference last year, so we know they're going to be super talented. And then we've got two Power 5s following that up, including Iowa who many are projecting to be a sleeper Omaha team."
The Cardinals posted a 36-23 record last season, including 19-11 in the MAC conference. Ball State defeated Kent State 12-9 in the final game of the MAC Tournament to advance to the Lexington NCAA Regional, where they were eliminated by two losses to Kentucky and West Virginia.
Michigan State enters 2024 after a successful season in 2023 where they finished with a 33-22 record, including 12-12 in the Big Ten. Six players received All-Big Ten honors last year, however, only All-Freshman pitcher Joseph Dzierwa returns to East Lansing.
Iowa begins their season ranked 20th in the country, largely in part to their ace pitcher Brody Brecht. The Preseason All-American helped lead the Hawkeyes to a 44-16 record last season, including a 15-8 record in the Big Ten. Iowa advanced all the way to a regional final against Indiana State, but ultimately fell 11-8 to the Sycamores.
With the Mountain Hawks slated to face some high-level competition this weekend, Leary says that he will learn a lot about his team after their trip to Charleston.
"We've got to really be a Lehigh team from a perspective of what's our system offensively, what do we believe in as a pitching staff," said Leary. "We have confidence that when we play well, it will translate whether it's Ball State or whether it's Army or Navy later in the season. This is an opportunity for us to see what it looks like to play elite competition versus some draft-level arms."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Players Mentioned
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C
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C
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IF
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RHP
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IF
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IF
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