2017 D2 Atlantic Region Top Five Pre-Season Rankings

The Atlantic Region continues to be dominated by teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). As a matter of fact, so good were those teams last year that they were able to beat each other up enough to send one of them to the championship game at the College World Series in Cary, North Carolina.

We predict more of the same in the Atlantic Region this year, although what were formerly unbeatable teams have been brought back onto the planet by graduation and the Major League Baseball draft. Added to that, other teams throughout the region have improved greatly.

This will be a highly competitive region yet again this year. And the champion that heads to Grand Prairie is far from certain. This may be the region that is the most fun to watch this year.

Shepherd University Rams (Mountain East Conference) completed their second straight 39 win season in 2016. They swept through the MEC tournament and had a pretty good showing in the Atlantic Region tournament. And we expect the Rams to be equally competitive in 2017.

Returning to the line-up for an offense that put up a team batting average of .322 in 2016 will be seniors JJ Sarty (.367 average, 80 hits, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 11 homeruns, 62 RBIs, 38 stolen bases), Jacob Carney (.364 average, 76 hits, 7 doubles, 1 homerun, 27 RBIs, 14 stolen bases), Ron Farley (.356 average, 72 hits, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homeruns, 40 RBIs, 11 stolen bases), Mike Brown (.321 average, 35 hits, 11 doubles, 2 homeruns, 19 RBIs) and Brandon Kirk (.267 average, 43 hits, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 8 homeruns, 38 RBIs), juniors Daniel Heleine (.303 average, 61 hits, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 14 homeruns, 51 RBIs, ) and Chase Hoffman (.274 average, 37 hits, 11 doubles, 2 homeruns, 17 RBIs), and sophomore Christian Hamel (.326 average, 59 hits, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homeruns, 42 RBIs).

The Rams return a few arms this year, including seniors John Bentley (86 IP, 4.29 ERA, 66 strikeouts, .273 BAA), sophomores AJ Stead (74.2 IP, 4.10 ERA, 61 strikeouts, .239 BAA) and Colin Benner (35 IP, 4.63 ERA, 22 strikeouts, .266 BAA).

This team will be an offensive nightmare for teams in the MEC and will compete well against the arms from the rest of the Atlantic Region. The question mark is the bullpen, which had no pitchers under an 4.00 ERA in 2016. If Coach Matt McCarty can get that bullpen to improve and do its part, the Rams will be in the mix come late May.

The #4 Atlantic Region pick, the Seton Hill University Griffins (PSAC), had another 40 game win season. What’s new? Coach Marc Marizzaldi his club turning out perpetual winners and contenders. In 2016, the Griffins stumbled in both the PSAC tournament and the Atlantic Region tournament.

Seton Hill looks to rectify that in 2017. Hitting led the way last year, with this year returning senior Garret Vrbanic (.315 average, 63 hits, 18 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homeruns, 26 RBIs), and juniors Mark Colella (.314 average, 50 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 11 homeruns, 33 RBIs), Tyler Sullivan (.302 average, 54 hits, 11 doubles, 1 homerun, 33 RBIs) and Colton Carney (.275 average, 28 hits, 11 doubles, 3 homeruns, 19 RBIs).

The Griffins are always noted for their pitching, though 2016 was a sub-par year by their standards. Coach Marizzaldi looks to get back to that standard this year with returning junior Perry DellaValle (90.2 IP, 1.79 ERA, 84 strikeouts) and senior Tyler Morder (54 IP, 3.00 ERA, 32 strikeouts).

If the pitching improves, the Griffins will be back challenging things in the PSAC. They will need to, because several teams will be competing at a very high level in 2017.

The West Chester University Golden Rams (PSAC), at #3, are coming off a very good season in 2016. They won the PSAC championship, putting them in the Atlantic Region tournament. Unfortunately, they went 1-2 in the region tournament, ending their season.

Coach Jad Prachniak will try to step up the Golden Rams’ game this year in order to build on the success of last year. Helping him do that will be a young bullpen that pitched by committee in 2016. Returners include seniors Andrew Gernert (), Mike Cipolla (), Eric Close (), and closer Josh McCain.

Hitting should do well this year with returning juniors Zach Sheranko (.398 average, 35 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 17 RBIs), Shane Dresser (.331 average, 54 hits, 9 doubles, 6 homeruns, 46 RBIs), seniors Nick Bateman (.347 average, 52 hits, 11 doubles, 5 homeruns, 35 RBIs, 7 stolen bases), Anthony Salomone (.274 average 48 hits, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homeruns, 32 RBIs) and Joe Sheeran (.256 average, 34 hits, 11 doubles, 5 homeruns, 29 hits), and sophomore Nick Ward (.310 average, 62 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homeruns, 26 RBIs, 6 stolen bases).

West Chester had a young team last year and did well. They should have matured in the off-season. And they will need an improved performance to get through the PSAC and Atlantic Region.

The Mercyhurst University Lakers (PSAC), our #2 Atlantic Region pick, had an impressive season last year, winning 43 games and making it to the Atlantic Region fi

nals. The one thing that kept them from Cary last year was the Millersville Marauders. The good news is that Millersville looks mortal this year, and Mercyhurst looks to be on the rise.

The pitching staff for Coach Joe Spano put up an awesome 2.96 team ERA in 2016 and will lose its top three arms for 2017. Junior Matthew Minnick (54.1 IP, 3.48 ERA, 61 strikeouts, .227 BAA) will have to lead a new set of arms for this season.

At the plate, the Lakers are looking real good with returning seniors Cameron Balego (.357 average, 61 hits, 12 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homeruns, 35 RBIs, 6 stolen bases), Jimmy Latona (.333 average, 53 hits, 11 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homeruns, 33 RBIs, 12 stolen bases), Chris Gonzales (.313 average, 62 hits, 20 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homeruns, 52 RBIs, 16 stolen bases), Sabatino DiNardo III (.239 average, 38 hits, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 10 homeruns, 47 RBIs, ), as well as juniors Daniel Elliott (.324 average, 58 hits, 11 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homeruns, 56 RBIs, ) and Collin Fantaskey (.283 average, 36 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homerun, 19 RBIs, 10 stolen bases).

Coach Spano can look forward to another successful year. And while Millersville is not inevitable like last year, they are still very good. We believe the PSAC and the Atlantic Region may come down to both teams again in 2017.

And…..our #1 2017 Atlantic Region Pre-Season pick is:

If any team out there in college baseball is as hungry as the Millersville University Marauders (PSAC) it would be hard to imagine. Any team that has the season they did (they won 53 games), rolled through the first three games of the College World Series to sit in the championship game, only to lose two straight close games to the eventual champion…well, that has to leave a taste in your mouth that is not quite welcome.

When we looked at the roster of the Marauders at the end of last season, it appeared they were still loaded and ready for another run. Then, Major League Baseball came in with its 2016 Draft and pulled some of the key players out of Millersville line-up for 2017, hamstringing their efforts to finish what they started last year.

Coach Jon Shehan is no stranger to the post season, though. His Marauders have been in the Atlantic Region tournament the last four years. We expect him to reload the Marauders in 2017.

Coach Shehan does have a good group of returning players coming back who will need to lead the newer and younger players back to the promised land. At the plate, the Maruaders return seniors Mitch Stoltfus (.414 average, 91 hits, 17 doubles, 10 homeruns, 64 RBIs, 7 stolen bases), Chas McCormick (.412 average, 91 hits, 9 doubles, 5 triples, 2 homeruns, 53 RBIs, 33 stolen bases), David Summerfield (.356 average, 62 hits, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homerun, 39 RBIs), Dan Neff (.275 average, 47 hits, 6 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homeruns, 27 RBIs, 26 stolen bases), and Ted Williams (.273 average, 47 hits, 11 doubles, 24 RBIs, 10 stolen bases).

On the bump, the Marauders posted an impressive team ERA of 2.99 on the year. But the two big arms are gone. That doesn’t mean there are no pitchers left, as the Marauders’ bullpen was deep last year. Returning to the mound will be sophomores Cordell Shannon (79.2 IP, 2.94 ERA, 57 strikeouts, .263 BAA) and closer Mike Mock (19.2 IP, 1.37 ERA, 23 strikeouts, .203 BAA) to lead a new-look set of arms.

Millersville lost three big arms and two big bats to the MLB from that line-up last year. If those guys had returned, we would put our money on Millersville to run the table right to the National Championship trophy. Coach Shehan has a good core of players this year though and has shown he can reload. So we will wait and see if the MLB has made the Marauders mortal.