By John MGraw
for D3baseball.com
| Oswego State has three wins over Cortland in the last two years. Oswego State athletics photo |
Thirteen was Cortland’s lucky number last June as the Red Dragons, in their 13th trip to the Division III World Series, captured the New York region’s first national championship since Ithaca hoisted the Walnut and Bronze in 1988. Joe Brown’s Cortland squads have represented New York at the Division III World Series in four out of the last six years and the Red Dragons have made the NCAA tournament for the last 23 years in a row.
As the calendar turns to March in the Empire State and the snow begins to melt, the defending national champions again stand atop of the region and appear poised to make another run to the World Series through Auburn.
The New York region boasts over 40 teams, however at last May’s Auburn, New York, regional at Falcon Park, of the eight teams competing, just four were from the New York region – Cortland, Oswego State, Rensselaer and Old Westbury. Two Empire State sides, Cortland and RPI, competed for the regional championship however out of region sides Oberlin and Keystone advanced to the final two days of the tournament. As a new season dawns, 43 teams across the region will throw out a first pitch. A 44th team, Wells College, will begin play in 2017.
Conference re-alignment is on the horizon with Ithaca College in the early stages of departing the Empire 8. The Bombers, winners of 13 Empire 8 championships, will join the Liberty League as a full member no later than 2018-19. When Ithaca leaves, this will have the Empire 8 with six baseball playing members – St. John Fisher, Stevens, Elmira, SUNY Canton, Houghton and Utica. Meanwhile in terms of more immediate change, the Skyline welcomes in St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) this season.
For the second year in a row, the New York regional tournament will be hosted by Cortland at Auburn’s Falcon Park, home of the Auburn Doubledays, the Washington Nationals short-season Class A affiliate. Cortland has claimed seven championships at the diamond in the Finger Lakes. Will the Red Dragons claim an eighth in May?
Outside of Cortland, the best New York region team may reside in…New Jersey. Stevens went 29-14 last season and recorded a .674 winning percentage in-region but the Ducks were not selected as an at-large NCAA qualifier in a crowded Pool B and C field. Stevens returns one of its most talented teams yet under Kristaps Aldins. The Ducks feature the reigning D3baseball.com New York Player of the Year and D3baseball.com All-American Jayson Yano, who is coming off a stellar summer in the Northwoods League. But, the problem for Stevens remains, needing to play almost flawlessly to gain one of the very few Pool B spots in the postseason.
New FacesDavid Valesente, Wells –The Express will not take the field until next spring however the school has already announced that David Valesente will be the first head coach in program history. Valesente, the son of longtime Ithaca College head coach George Valesente, begins his head coaching career at Wells after working as an assistant coach at St. Joseph’s (Pa.) under former Ithaca All-American Fritz Hamburg as an assistant coach for the Division-I Hawks. The 2010 St. Joseph’s graduate also spent a season as an assistant coach at Arcadia. On the field, Valesente was a four-year contributor for the Hawks and he went on to play two seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. |
Another Cortland competitor comes from the Red Dragons’ own backyard in conference foe Oswego State. The Lakers were perhaps the second-best team in the region last year and qualified for the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection. Oswego holds three wins over Cortland over the last two years and a rising Laker program with a veteran core looks to be a bigger player on at the top of New York and on the national scene.
From an always competitive and crowded Liberty League field shines Union. A 2014 NCAA tournament participant, Union returns nearly a full house from a 21-win team last season including an upper-class group that has won two conference regular season crowns. Utility man Jake Fishman, a D3baseball.com second team all-region choice, will be among the favorites for Liberty League Player of the Year.
Downstate, Old Westbury should pick up where Farmgindale State left off. The Panthers slayed the seven-time champion Rams in the Skyline championship round last year to end Farmingdale’s run of seven straight NCAA tournaments. Old Westbury returned to the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2001. This year, a pitching-heavy Panthers side should give the Skyline fits. Defending regular season champion St. Joseph’s (L.I.) will be lurking if Old Westbury falters. A 13-game winner in the league last year, the Golden Eagles have a 12-man senior and nearly every starter back from 2015.
Back upstate, St. John Fisher could also provide a challenge out of the Empire 8. Against a tough schedule last year, Fisher compiled 25 wins and a modest SOS (51) and OWP (.570, 32nd) but did not make the NCAA field. Another tough schedule awaits Brandon Potter’s Cardinals, a two-time NCAA participant over the last 7 years.