Nationally regarded Seton Hill baseball opens season Saturday
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The crack of the bat and the pop of the mitt near the Seton Hill baseball field is a sign spring is quickly approaching.
Forget Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of six more weeks of winter. Baseball season begins Saturday for Seton Hill.
The Griffins, the reigning NCAA Division II Atlantic Region champions, are headed to Gaffney, S.C., on Saturday to face Limestone in a three-game series.
Seton Hill is scheduled to host Walsh for three games Feb. 25-27. The Griffins then head to Florida on March 5 for their spring break trip.
The Griffins (39-8) were the coaches’ favorite to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division, and they are ranked No. 9 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll and No. 11 in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll. They are favored to win the Atlantic Region by the NCBWA.
“That’s what people say,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “We have some holes to fill.”
Graduation and transfers took a big chunk out of the team. Top hitter and left fielder Tommy Pellis graduated. He hit .361 with 14 home runs and 42 RBIs.
Highlight-reel centerfielder Derek Orndorff took his 15 home runs and 43 RBIs and his amazing defense to Liberty, and ace pitcher Jared Kollar transferred to Rutgers. He was 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA. Relief pitcher Peyton Reesman transferred to Radford.
Also gone to graduation is outfielder Jordan Fiedor (now as assistant coach), outfielders Carl Turner and Canice Ejoh, first baseman Tyler Peterson and pitcher Ben Vicini (now with the Washington Wild Things).
“We have to find new outfielders,” Marizzaldi said. “We lost a lot of power and a lot of strikeouts from our pitchers.
“We’ll use the first few games to work in a lot of different players looking for that right mix. We had a lot of sophomores and juniors stuck behind some good players, and now it’s their time to step up and shine. We also have a real good freshman class that will get some opportunities.”
Senior Brandon Kline, who started 25 games in right field, probably will take over in center field. Senior Neal McDermott, Braden Durham, transfer Noah Sweeney (Westmoreland County Community College/Greensburg Salem), and freshman Blake Barker, whose dad, Lenny Barker, threw a no-hitter for the then Cleveland Indians, are candidates for the other outfield spots.
The entire infield returns junior Jack Oberdorf (Greensburg Salem) at third, sophomore Owen Sabol (Norwin) at shortstop, Isaiah DiAndreth (Hempfield) at second and Tanner Froehlich (Plum) and Elijah Snyder (South Fayette) at first.
Vincenzo Rauso (Center Catholic) returns as the top catcher.
“We’re going to be OK,” Rauso said. “We want to get back to the World Series. We lost some power, but we have guys that can do other things. I’m excited about the season. I can’t wait to get started.”
While the pitching staff lost Kollar, Vicini and Reesman, they return Kevin Vaupel (South Park), Aidan Layton, Michael Marinchak (Ligonier Valley) and Marshall McGraw (Central Catholic) and top relievers Nash Bryan (Butler) and Caiden Wood (North Allegheny). Marinchak, a walk-on, earned a scholarship, Marizzaldi said.
Bryan was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-American Team.
He led the PSAC with seven saves last season. He finished the year with a 1-0 record in 17 appearances and had a 1.13 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 24 innings.
Bryan and Wood earned preseason all-region honors from the NCBWA. Bryan was a first-team selection, and Wood was an honorable-mention pick.
Wood led the Griffins with six wins and a 1.07 ERA. Wood worked 251⁄3 innings, allowing three earned runs on 23 hits while striking out 28 and walking seven.
The Griffins lost starting pitcher Jon McCullough to Tommy John surgery.
“Nash and Caiden have shutdown arms,” Marizzaldi said. “Fortunately, we have a deep and talented pitching staff. We have a lot of good arms.
“Since we lost a lot of power, we need to find a new offensive identity.”