2002 CUNYAC Baseball Preview

Unlike any of the previous seasons, the 2002 CUNY Athletic Conference baseball season features four young squads and no clear favorite for the CUNY title. At the same time two new head coaches have injected the league with newfound optimism, one that is expected to translate into a highly competitive conference despite the vast change in personnel, both in the dugouts and on the playing diamond.

The team hardest hit by change is the defending champion, Baruch College (17-16, 3-3). The Statesmen lost seven of their eight starting position players, six of them to graduation, along with the head coach Scott Losche. His assistant coach the last two seasons, Basil Tarasko, has been promoted to head coach, while junior catcher Kevin Clark (Xaverian / Brooklyn, NY) will shoulder the load on the field as the main returning veteran.

"It's a pleasure to be back as a head coach in CUNY," said Tarasko, who was the head coach at CCNY for eight season, winning CUNY's in 1994. "We're a very young team and we will continue to develop throughout the season."

Other returnees for Baruch are sophomore infielder Kelvin Medina (Clinton / Bronx, NY), sophomore pitcher Tom Alter (Massapequa / Massapequa, NY) and senior hurler Vinny Torregiano (Farrell / Brooklyn, NY).

The Statesmen will feature eleven underclassmen, including six freshmen, who will contribute right away, as Tarasko looks to continue Baruch's new found success.

After clinching the Regular Season championship last year, Staten Island (14-21, 6-0) lost ten of their final 14 games, suffering through the first losing season in head coach Bill Cali's seven-year tenure.

"We're going to have stronger pitching and defense this season," said Cali, who owns a 133-98 career record at CSI. "I don't feel as confident in our offense like I usually do. If we don't score enough runs, we won't win enough games," he concluded with a Yogi-ism.

The Dolphins only return one CUNY all-star, Brian Gibbs, a 6'8 senior first baseman from St. Peter's HS in Staten Island. In 2001, Gibbs batted .330 and had 27 runs batted in, both CSI team-highs. But they added two other All-Stars, including sophomore Eric Zinke, the CUNY Rookie of the Year at Baruch last season. Zinke was the catalyst that started the Statesmen's run to the title with a .320 average, 33 runs scored and 29 stolen bases. Cali is also fired up about is the return of senior Tom Consolmagno (Tottenville / Staten Island, NY).

"Having Tommy back this year healthy is big," said Cali about the 2000 CUNY Tournament MVP who sat out last season with a knee injury. "He's one of our best pitchers and best outfielders. Whenever you need a stolen base, a single or need to put out a fire- Tommy's our man." In the 2000 CUNY finale, Consolmagno, who was also CUNY's Soccer Player of the Year this fall, had an RBI and a run scored while playing left field and gave up only one hit in four innings of work on the mound while pitching in relief.

Cali will also look for contributions on the mound and at the plate from 6'4 sophomores Nick Secchini (Tottenville / Staten Island, NY) and Andrew Parrino (New Dorp / Staten Island, NY).

Lehman College finished the 2000 season on an 8-2 streak, but took a step back in 2001, despite returning the bulk of the lineup. In 2002, that won't be the case. Third year head coach Kiko Reyes only has six returnees, including junior OF Giovanni Nunez (A. P. Randolph / New York, NY) and senior pitcher Moises Rivera (Dodge / Bronx, NY). Nunez led the Lightning with a .314 average and 14 stolen bases, while Rivera was solid on the mound with a 4.28 ERA.

"After Rivera our pitching is so young that whatever we get from them is a plus," said Reyes, a two-time CUNYAC Player of the Year in 1994-95 at Lehman. "Unfortunately, we experienced a huge loss in the offseason when we found out that Wilson Rios would not be playing." Rios was the top returning starter in CUNYAC with nearly 100 innings pitched.

But don't count the Lightning out- "We're not starting all over again," said Reyes. "We picked up several junior college transfers that should help us immediately."

Expected to be near the top of the lineup for the Lightning are the two Norwalk transfers in SS Hector Henriquez (Kennedy / New York, NY) and C Joharry Burgos (Kennedy / Bronx, NY), Bronx transfer catcher Carlos De los Santos (Taft / Bronx, NY) and freshman Fredi German (Columbus / Bronx, NY).

Another school faced with an uphill battle this season is John Jay College, but the Bloodhounds are armed with a new coach and a new attitude.

"We're facing a tough task," said first-year coach Dan Palumbo, "but I firmly believe that with everyone's hard work and dedication we can surprise people along the way."

If the 'Hounds are to get back into the pack, senior 1B Brian Ferguson (Kennedy / Bronx, NY) and sophomore SS Moises Walters will have to pick up their respective games. "No one worked harder in the offseason than Brian," claimed Palumbo, "and Moises has all the tools to progress his game further."

The ace of the staff is senior southpaw Kevin Kozub (Lindenhurst / Lindenhurst, NY), the only remaining player from Jay's last CUNYAC Championship team in 1999. As for the new, freshman P/ C Miguel Jaquez (Telecommunications / Brooklyn, NY) will bat in the middle of the lineup along with new 3B Mike Ramirez (Spackenhill / Poughkeepsie, NY).

One sad note though from the John Jay camp as former head coach Lou DeMartino, who coached the Bloodhounds for 24 years and a record 424 wins, passed away after a short illness on February 1, 2002. The CUNY Athletic Conference and John Jay College will celebrate his legendary spirit at the upcoming CUNY Championship.

The Tournament semifinals will be played on Saturday, April 27th at the College of Staten Island, with the final date and site to be determined. The four CUNY teams also compete in the 10-team Knickerbocker Baseball Conference, whose champion receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

--CUNYAC--