CALDWELL BASEBALL RANKED 28TH IN PING! DIVISION II PRESEASON RANKINGS
Courtesy of Matt McLagan, Caldwell SID
CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College baseball team is ranked
28th nationally in Ping! Baseball's 2009 Division II Preseason
Rankings, the online publication announced. The ranking follows a
2008 season that saw the Cougars capture the Central Atlantic
Collegiate Conference Tournament and advance to their second
straight NCAA Northeast Region Tournament. This is the first
national ranking for Caldwell in the 13-year history of the
program.
The Cougars return 16 players from last season's team, including
five of their top eight hitters and their top four starting
pitchers. Junior outfielder Adric Saxon (Coral
Springs, FL/Broward CC) and junior infielder Ray
Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) lead the returning
bats. Saxon hit .312 with 10 home runs and 42 runs batted in en
route to earning first team all-Northeast Region and all-CACC
honors. Keelan, a second team all-CACC selection, batted .312 with
nine homers and 30 RBI as a sophomore in 2008. Junior centerfielder
Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City) led
the team in runs and received all-CACC honorable mention.
The pitching staff, which ranked fifth nationally with a team
earned run average of 3.11, has virtually everyone back, including
2008 CACC Pitcher of the Year Robert Casal (Howard
Beach, NJ/St. Francis). Casal, who also was named to the
all-Northeast Region first team, went 9-4 with an ERA of 1.89 and
106 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings. First team all-CACC pitcher
Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Acad.), who
was 5-4 with an ERA of 1.75, and Eric Hines
(Milltown, NJ/Spotswood), who was 5-2 with an ERA of 3.23, are back
for their senior seasons. In the bullpen, junior Buddy
Riggs (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) returns after setting
a school record for saves with five in 2008.
Jay Messina takes over the program after serving
as an assistant coach at Caldwell for the past five years. During
his time at Caldwell, the Cougars have made three appearances in
the NCAA Northeast Regional, won two CACC Tournament titles and
clinched two CACC regular-season crowns.
The Cougars open the 2009 season on Mar. 12 with a non-conference
game at Pace University.
Click here to view the full preseason poll.