Maritime Tournament Central
 
THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – After a regular season in which the team finished with a 12-16 record, with a 7-7 mark in Skyline play, the Maritime baseball team returns to the Skyline Conference Tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
 
With only nine teams in the league for 2015, the tournament field had been reduced from six teams to four this season. This year, Maritime achieved its highest seed over that span with the fourth seed in 2015.
 
This season, the field will feature fourth-seeded Maritime up against top-seeded St. Joseph's (LI) at 1 p.m. on Gregg Alfano Field in Patchogue on Friday, May 1, the second matchup of the day will see second-seeded Old Westbury battle with third-seeded Farmingdale to kick off the double-elimination tournament.
 
Two teams will be eliminated on Saturday, with the champion of the league being crowned on Sunday. The winner of the league will advance to the NCAA Division III National Tournament, which will commence the following weekend at a time and location to be determined.
 
Scouting the Privateers
Maritime reached the tournament as the fourth seed and will take on St. Joseph's to start the tournament for the fourth consecutive season. The Golden Eagles won their first round matchups against Maritime in 2012 and 2014 to eliminate the Privateers, but Maritime moved past St. Joseph's in 2013.
 
Several players have led the Privateers this season, as six players reached double-figured in RBIs in 2015. Senior captains Joe Longo (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) and Matthew Sollin (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) were tied for the team lead with 22 RBIs apiece, while the pair combined for seven home runs and 41 runs scored. The pair collectively broke several team records this year, with Longo breaking the modern-day hits record, and Sollin connecting on his 11th career home run, most all-time.
 
Freshman Chris Deddo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) made an immediate impact during his rookie season as he led the team with a .385 batting average and was second on the team behind Longo with 30 hits. He also chipped in with a team-high 11 doubles to go along with 18 runs scored and 16 RBIs. Sophomore Brian McLaughlin (Massapequa, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) had a .330 average following his all-conference rookie season and scored a team-best 22 runs while driving in 16 of his own.
 
Junior Kevin Monahan (Seaford, N.Y./MacArthur) has played a multitude of roles as he has moved up and down the lineup in the batting order, and chipped in with 17 runs scored and 14 RBIs, while collecting a .296 average. Freshman Joe DiLeo (Naples, Fla./St. John Neumann) also had 10 RBIs on his 14 hits this season. Seniors Albert Doerbecker (Point Lookout, N.Y./Long Beach) and Pat Kirk (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), junior Bruce Tyler (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place), sophomore Chris Stewart (Bethpage, N.Y./Chaminade) and freshman Aaron Schiavoni (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson) have all gotten at least 40 at bats on the season as well to provide added depth to the lineup and bench.
 
On the hill, Maritime has been led by freshman Anthony D'Ancona (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) with four wins and a team-high 38 1/3 innings on the season over his 13 appearances on the hill. Classmate Tyler Stuart (Palm Coast, Fla./Matanzas) was second on the regular season with three wins, including conference wins over Old Westbury and Farmingdale.
 
Senior Ryan Alsdorf (Bethel, N.Y./Sullivan West) was the only other Privateer to collect multiple wins on the season as he finished the year second on the team with 30 innings on the hill. Senior Paul Pfundstein (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) leads the team in earned run average with a 2.70 entering the playoffs, followed by classmate James Very (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), who has a 3.68 ERA in 13 appearances.
 
Freshmen Eric Kwiecinski (Commack, N.Y./St. Dominic) and Brian Hughes (Maspeth, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) have also gotten a lot of work on the hill this season with a combined 51 2/3 innings between them with 43 strikeouts in a combined 18 appearances.
 
Scouting the Golden Eagles
St. Joseph's (LI) in uncharted waters as the team will be the first team other than Farmingdale or Old Westbury to host the tournament in nearly 10 years. St. Joseph's has a 19-13 record with two non-conference games to play prior to the start of the tournament, with a 13-1 league record.
 
The team is led by Nick Girardi and Joseph Calabrese offensively, as Girardi has a .416 batting average with 23 runs scored and 22 RBIs. Calabrese to this point in the year has a .356 average with a team-best 23 RBIs, and two home runs to go along with 20 runs scored.
 
Anthony Bonilla has a .363 average with 41 hits, including a team-best 11 doubles, while he has also scored 26 runs. Brendan Sullivan has a .409 batting average with 20 runs scored and has driven in 22 on the year.
 
On the hill, sophomore Josh Outsen leads the team with a 1.17 ERA in a team-best 46 1/3 innings, with five wins and four complete games. Classmate Ryan Aloise was second on the team with four wins in 41 2/3 innings and has a 4.10 ERA, while Matt Mills has come out of the bullpen this season, and pitched to a 2.45 ERA in 18 1/3 innings of work.
 
Scouting the Panthers
After hosting the tournament as the top seed a year ago, Old Westbury took home the second seed with a 22-8 overall mark with 10 wins in league play. Despite being one of the steadiest Division III baseball programs in the land, the Panthers have not been able to get over the hurdle that is Farmingdale to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The offense has been led once against by senior Nick Yip, while sophomores Dean Sheridan and Tommy Ziegen have also been amongst the team leaders in offensive categories.
 
Yip puts a cap on his career after a season in which he hit .422 with five long balls and 29 RBIs; he led the team as well with 35 hits on the season. Sheridan collected a .517 batting average with 30 hits in 58 at bats, and also had 19 RBIs in his second collegiate season, while Ziegen led the team with 26 runs scored and was second on the team with 27 RBIs.
 
Tim Ingram leads the pitching staff as he accumulated six wins on the year, while tossing 50 innings and allowing just seven runs for a season ERA of 1.26. Ingram has also struck out 68 batters while walking 13 and holding opponents to a .165 batting average. Caleb Olesen has five wins with a 2.14 ERA, while Nick Schoen has a 4-2 record with a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings of work.
 
Scouting the Rams
Farmingdale enters as winners of the seven past Skyline Conference Championships, but only enter as the third seed in this year's tournament following a 16-14 overall season with an 8-6 mark in Skyline games.
 
Senior Michael Marino led Farmingdale this season with a .494 batting average to go along with a team-best 43 hits, and was second on the team with 19 RBIs. Junior Dalton Marino held the team lead in runs driven in with 21 on the season with his team-best two home runs. Senior Tom Rydzewski became the Farmingdale all-time leader in hits with his 33 this season, while also scoring a team-best 31 runs on the season.
 
Freshman pitcher Ryan O'Connor led the team with five wins on the year and had an ERA of 2.97 over his 30 1/3 innings pitched on the season thus far. The rookie appeared in nine games, and emerged late in the season as a conference starter.
 
O'Connor joined junior Kevin Cashman, who led the team with a 2.10 ERA in a team-high 34 1/3 innings while striking out 29. Matt Seelenger had 29 strikeouts as well in just 20 2/3 innings pitched on the season. Despite a 5.66 ERA, the sophomore had a pair of victories with 12.63 strikeouts per game in eight appearances this year.