COMPLETE NEC RELEASE
College Baseball Insider NEC Preview
Somerset, NJ – The 2009 Northeast Conference (NEC) Regular Season Champion Wagner baseball team was picked to win the in the 2010 NEC Crown, according to the annual preseason poll conducted by the league’s nine coaches. The Seahawks will be gunning for their second NEC title and first since 2000 after claiming the program's first Regular Season Championship in school history last year.
Guided by 11-year head coach and 2009 NEC Coach of the Year
Joe Litterio, expectations are high for the Seahawks, who return 22 letter-winners from a team that won a school-record 30 games.
“It is a great honor to be picked first by the conference coaches,” said Litterio. The NEC has gotten better each year and I feel there are several teams that deserve to be picked first.”
Wagner, which received votes in
Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 Pre-Season Poll, returns a potent offense that hit .313 as a unit, including eight regulars that batted above .300. The pitching staff boasts four returning starters, led by reigning NEC Pitcher of the Year senior
Matt Watson (Howell, NJ / Howell). The Garden State native put together an outstanding season, going 9-2 with a 3.64 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 64.1 innings of work.
The Seahawks received four first place votes en route to the No. 1 ranking. Defending champ Monmouth was picked second with two first-place votes while Central Connecticut State was third with two first-place votes. Collecting the last first-place vote in fourth place was Sacred Heart. The top four teams also represented the league in last year’s NEC Tournament.
League-newcomer Bryant, which is ineligible for postseason play until the 2012 season, was picked fifth with Mount St. Mary’s tabbed sixth and Quinnipiac seventh. Fairleigh Dickinson was picked eighth and Long Island ninth, rounding out the NEC poll.
The top four teams qualify for the NEC Tournament, which will be held in Somerset, NJ from May 27-30.
Leading the offense is reigning First Team All-NEC selection and three-year starter senior
Damian Csakai (Freehold Township, NJ / Freehold Township). Csakai, last year’s Team MVP, hit .332 while recording 66 hits, 53 runs and a school-record and NEC-best 37 stolen bases. Providing the power is 2008 All-NEC Second Team selection and fellow senior
Vin Avella (Matawan, NJ / CBA). The power-hitting first baseman hit .307 with a school-record 16 home runs and 14 doubles while driving in 48 en route to a team-best .630 slugging.
Junior
Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) returns at second base after earning Second Team All-NEC accolades in 2009. He hit .312 with 15 doubles, five home runs and 36 RBI while committing just six errors.
Classmate
Brian Martutartus (Carlsbad, CA / La Costa Canyon), like Boyd, will start for the third-straight year in the infield as the squad’s shortstop. Last year, he had a breakout campaign, batting a blistering .366 with 63 hits, 14 doubles, 35 RBI and 18 stolen bases while posting a .960 fielding percentage despite playing one of the most demanding positions in any sport.
At third base it will be the junior duo of
Jon Lucas (Hackettstown, NJ / Hackettstown) and
Matt Logan (Wall, NJ / Wall) with the odd man out being the designated hitter. Lucas hit .333 with 43 hits and seven doubles while Logan batted .301 with eight doubles, four home runs and 29 RBI.
Rounding out the returning starters are juniors
Jared Gruccio (Landisville, NJ / Buena Regional) in left field and
Kevin McDonnell (Bristol, CT / Avon Old Farms) in right field. Gruccio ranked second in the NEC with a team-best .394 average and was above .400 for most of the season. He registered 61 hits, 10 doubles and was hit 13 times while reaching base at a.472 clip. McDonnell redshirted last season and started his first two campaigns in right field. He batted .257 with six doubles and 24 RBI in 2008.
Watson headlines a Wagner staff that posted a NEC-best 4.74 ERA. He will be counted on to again have the same type of season as the Seahawks will have to replace Kyle Morrison, who was drafted by the Washington Nationals. Senior RHP
Andy Wells (Staten Island, NY / Siena) redshirted last year after being sidelined due to an arm injury as is expected to be back at full strength by April. Junior LHP
Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) (1 win, 40.2 IP) and sophomore RHP
Mark Holmes (Manalapan, NJ / Manalapan) (3 wins, 4.46 ERA, 36.1 IP), rounding out the returning starting pitchers.
The Green & White will again call Richmond County Bank Ballpark home, playing all 19 of its home games in 2010 there. Additionally live stats for all 19 games and select road contests will be available through the Wagner Athletics website.
Wagner will kick off the2010 season with a three-game series against Winthrop on Friday, February 26 at 4:00 pm in the first of three games against the Eagles.