Rowan made an early exit from the 2021 D-III College World Series but has a team that is favored to return. d3photography.com photo by Larry Radloff.

By Mark Fraenkel for D3baseball.com

The newly named Region 4 features some of Division III Baseball’s up and coming teams. No stranger to national relevance, Rowan finished last season ranked 7th nationally in the D3Baseball.com Top 25 Ranking of 2021. After ending their season in Cedar Rapids, Mike Rapid’s Rowan squad will start their season on the road against Swarthmore.

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Receiving votes in the final poll of last season, Pete Egbert’s Misericordia team seeks to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2022. They’ll travel to Winchester, VA on February 19th for a doubleheader with Shenandoah. Penn State-Harrisburg, who also received votes in the final poll of last season, begins their 2022 campaign on the road against Ferrum. Over in Hoboken, N.J., Kristaps Aldins’s Stevens team enters the 2022 season seeking revenge for a loss to Misericordia in the MAC Freedom title game last year. Finally, after losing in the NJAC Championship at the end of the 2021 season, William Paterson will begin the new season by hosting Stevens on February 19th in Wayne, N.J.

New Faces

Ryan Osborne earned a promotion this summer as he was named to be the interim head coach for the Bloodhounds. John Jay athletics photo

Five programs in the region will have new head coaches in the 2022 campaign.

• Delaware Valley: Delaware Valley hired former Arcadia assistant coach Kyle Lindsay. Lindsay has a challenge set out for him, as Delaware Valley finished the 2021 season 3-27 overall and 3-25 in the MAC.
• John Jay promoted Ryan Osborne to the position of interim head coach prior to the 2022 season. Osborne, a former player at John Jay, was an assistant to former head coach Joe Mandile during both the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
• Lancaster Bible chose Caleb Abney to lead the Chargers in the 2022 campaign. Abney, who after his college playing days played a season in Australia, worked in the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, and Atlanta Braves organizations as well as college experience with Division II King University and his alma mater Covenant College.
• After spending the past five seasons at Division I George Washington, Rick Oliveri has been tasked with restarting Lycoming’s program. Oliveri comes to Williamsport with tremendous player development accolades, as two of Oliveri’s pitchers at GW were drafted.
• Penn State-Abington hired David Miller to serve as their next head coach. The former MLB player served as the head coach at Division I La Salle University for four years. The Clemson alum has coached at University of Hawaii-Hilo, Rutgers-Camden, Villanova and William & Mary. He was also a high school coach at William Penn Charter High School.
• Penn State-Berks hired Mark Jackson to serve as head coach for the 2022 season. Jackson most recently coached at Penn State Greater Allegheny after guiding programs at Point Park University and the University of Pittsburgh. He directed dramatic turnarounds at both Point Park and Pitt and is being asked to do the same at Berks.

Key Games

Starting in the middle of February, the Region 4 schedule is packed with high quality games. The key games begin with an important three game series between Stevens and William Paterson on February 19th, 20th. In Baltimore, on March 2nd, Penn State- Harrisburg and Johns Hopkins will play each other in a midweek matchup. Down in Florida, Misericordia and Marietta will play on March 8th with another great matchup with Rowan vs. Keystone on March 11th. Just five days later, Rowan challenges itself again with WIAC power Wisconsin-La Crosse on March 16th and Endicott on March 20th. Other important regional games include: William Paterson vs. Keystone (Mar. 24th), Penn State- Harrisburg vs. Rowan (Mar. 30), William Paterson vs. Rowan (Doubleheader on April 2nd), William Paterson vs. Scranton (April 19th)

Conference Previews

City University of New York Athletic Conference: The CUNYAC hasn’t had a season with significant games since 2019. Back in 2019 three games separated the top team in the conference, Baruch, from the second-to-last place team, Lehman. With a coaching change at John Jay, the worst team in 2019, the conference is up for grabs. In the past, the CUNYAC teamed up with the North Atlantic Conference with a play-in between conference champs. With the added members in the NAC, this is expected to go away, putting the CUNYAC back into Pool B with the likes of UAA teams and independents. This essentially will block any CUNYAC team from the playoffs unless they recruit enough teams to reach the six team minimum required for an auto bid.

FAVORITE: Baruch

Senior Issac Snyder pitched Misericordia into the final day of the 2021 St. Paul Regional and returns in 2022. He is one of five pitchers with multiple starts in 2021 to return this year. d3photography.com photo by Calem Williams

Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom: Misericordia is the team to watch in the MACF this year. After going 31-10, the Cougar won the conference a year ago. They return junior first baseman Derrick Vosburg, senior second baseman Brady Madden, senior third baseman Austin Miles, senior designated hitter Owen VanNewkirk, senior outfielder Santino Manganella, junior outfielder Garrett McIlhenney from their St. Paul regional team. In addition, Misericordia also returns key members of their pitching staff. Namely, junior Brendan Gray who was 8-2 and had a 2.79 ERA over 58 innings, senior Tom Jacob who was 7-2 and had a 4.61 ERA over 52.2 innings, junior Joe Valenti who had a 3-1 record and a 3.24 ERA over 41.2 innings pitched, and junior Tyler Leonard who was 3-1 and had a 3.55 ERA over 16 innings all return for the 2022 season.

Don’t sleep on Stevens. The Ducks went 24-12 a season ago. They return senior Brett Mendez, grad student Thomas Paulich, junior Michael Reyes, sophomore Johnny Albrecht, senior Ryan Wall, junior Ben Tobio, 2023, senior Chris Silos to their lineup. Stevens also returns pitchers  Ryan Shea, Leo Bristow, Anthony Pron, Alex Smith, and Jacob Buurman. The Ducks add freshman outfielder Eli Somer from Palos Verdes, CA, freshman right handed pitcher Jordan Fisse from Ridgewood, NJ, sophomore middle infielder transfer from Brookdale Community College Will Hopkinson, freshman outfielder and left handed pitcher Zachary Boykin from Heathrow, FL, sophomore middle infielder Evan Pravato, and sophomore left handed pitcher Matt Villapiano to the 2022 roster. These new players will help fill the roles of Nathan Zuckerman, Chandler Brierley, and Roy Iversen who all graduated in 2021. Nathan Zuckerman who played catcher and outfield for the Ducks was First Team All-Conference is a player to watch. Left handed pitcher Chandler Brierley, a First Team All-MACF pitcher, and right handed pitcher Roy Iversen, appeared in 12 games, starting nine and posted a 4-3 record with a 4.86 ERA over 46.3 innings.

Arcadia also returns some of their key players from a year ago. Junior Alex Madera, junior Justin Massielo, sophomore Emilio Pallante, junior Ryan Smolen, senior Zach Sekelick, junior Trey Obarowski, sophomore Joe Kumar, senior Connor Cheeseman, senior Nick Opalkowski, junior Hunter Curley, senior Luke Fournier, junior Zach Steiger, senior Owen Margols, and sophomore Nadell Booker all return from their 21-12 2021 season. Bryan Torresani’s team only lost MAC Freedom Player of the Year first baseman Trevor Mattson to graduation. DeSales (23-9), despite losing their top hitter and starting pitcher from last season’s second place finish in the MACF, returns a core group of ball players including Colin Trembley, Billy Scanlon, Robert Lamm, Liam Kile, Gavin Zavorski, Hunter Spalt, Tom Berg, Ian Kacergis, and Ryan Rieber. After finishing sixth in the MACF last year, FDU Florham (8-22) is also poised for a strong 2022 season. They returning five position players and four pitchers from last season’s starting lineup, Jamie Quinn's team adds 11 new players to this season's roster.

FAVORITE: Misericordia

Montclair State made the NJAC championship tournament for the first time in six years in 2021. Montclair State athletics photo

New Jersey Athletic Conference: In the NJAC, Rowan and William Patterson are both teams to watch. Rowan looks to defend their 2021 NJAC title in 2022. They went 29-6 and lost just one game in the highly competitive NJAC. They followed this up with a win at the Marietta Regional. Eliminated by Wheaton (Mass) and Cortland in the College World Series, Rowan returns senior Ryan Murphy, senior Ryan Mostrangeli, senior Trip McCaffrey, senior Eric DiDomenico, sophomore Garrett Smith, senior Hunter Wroniuk, junior Chris Curcio, junior Marc Hernandez, senior Jason Bobiak, sophomore Ryan West, junior Eli Atiya, senior Donald Zellman, junior Jason O'Neill, and senior Christian Bascunan. The roster is also supplemented with two Division I transfers. Sophomore third baseman Anthony Schooley and junior second baseman Tyler Cannon transferred from Villanova and Iona respectively.

William Paterson is trying to once again challenge Rowan for the NJAC title. William Paterson went 27-8 and ended their season by losing to Rowan in the NJAC Finals. On April 2nd and 3rd, Mike Lauterhahn’s William Paterson team will get their first chance to take down Rowan at Jeff Albies Field. Montclair State went 20-10 in 2021. Senior Peter Cosentino, sophomore, Michael Murphy, and senior Andrew Ollwerther, all return as hitters in the lineup. Additionally, left handed pitcher Patrick Cuccurullo and relief pitcher Brian Reiss are strong arms returning to Dave Lorber’s roster. After a 3rd place finish in the NJAC regular season in 2021, Ramapo (13-10) will be another strong team in the NJAC this season. Losing many key contributers in 2021, Ryan Rinsky looks to his underclassmen to step up and make an impact during the 2022 season.

FAVORITE: Rowan

United East Conference: Penn State-Harrisburg is poised for a strong 2022 campaign. Going 29-9, Penn-State Harrisburg beat Texas Lutheran but lost to Wisconsin-Whitewater and Adrian in Whitewater regional. They will be without the services of power hitter Bret Williams, whose presence coincided with the rise of the program.

Wells (12-16) is poised to move above the .500 mark. Although young, have a strong core that will compete for a conference title and beyond. Keep an eye out for sophomore shortstop Max Odum. He batted .290 with 11 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. While his offensive numbers are not eye-popping, his .970 fielding percentage is. Senior pitcher Zach Kemp is back for his senior season, having recovered from an early season injury. He was on a tear with a 3-0 record in 20 innings, striking out seven batters for every walk he allowed.

Penn College (10-13) will be itching to get back on the diamond and play a full season for the first time since 2019. The Wildcats will have six regulars with three key pitchers back on the roster. The best player is starting pitcher Justin Porter who was 3-2 in 27.1 innings. He established himself as one of the top pitchers in the conference and gives his team a boost to all play at their very best. Penn State Berks dropped to 3-17 in 2021 after posting a 25-14 mark in 2019 and without a recharge in this years recruiting class will be sitting home when the NCAA playoffs opens.

FAVORITE: Penn State Harrisburg

Independents: The only Region 4 team in the UAA is New York University. The last time NYU played was the pandemic shortened 2020 season where the Violets went 4-1 with wins over Roger Williams, Stockton, and John Jay. Without a season in 2021, it is like starting the program from scratch. With three recruiting classes that have played very little, The Violets will have to do the little things to be successful. NYU will face UAA powerhouse Washington University in St. Louis four times on the last weekend in March for NYU's first UAA games in three years.