Garden City, N.Y. – The Adelphi University baseball team enters 2012 with some unfinished business. While most would be satisfied with a conference championship and three trips to the NCAA Tournament in five years, the Panthers have set a higher goal. The defending Northeast-10 Conference Tournament champions sniffed a shot at the College World Series last season, only to fall in the NCAA East Region Finals. 2012 is about more than defending the NE-10 title – for Adelphi, all sights are set on reaching the biggest stage in college baseball.
 
The 2012 NE-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll predicts Adelphi to finish third in the Southwest Division behind Southern Connecticut State and Le Moyne. SCSU comes off a trip to the 2011 College World Series, and Le Moyne is in its first season as a Division II program after 24 seasons at the Division I level. Despite winning the NE-10 Tournament last season, Head Coach Dom Scala recognizes that fighting to the top of the NE-10 is no easy task, and that a third place pick is anything but disappointing.
 
“I think that is a fair spot that we were picked to finish,” Scala said, citing the graduation of three All-Conference pitchers and two All-Conference position players. “But as I always say, this is why you recruit to fill those voids. 'Will they come through?' is conjecture. They've all been working hard and I feel that we will compete with anyone in the conference.”
 
2011 in Review
 
2011 proved to be a year for the record books. In just their second season in the NE-10, the Panthers took second place in the regular season standings before knocking off SCSU and Franklin Pierce in the NE-10 Tournament, claiming the team's first NE-10 title. Scala earned NE-10 Coach of the Year honors while leading the Panthers to three wins in the East Regional Tournament. After toppling Dowling and Wilmington, Adelphi took one game from SCSU for a chance to seize the Regional crown, but the Owls won two in a row to earn a trip to Cary, N.C., for the Division II College World Series and sent Adelphi packing.
 
The one-two punch of graduate student outfielder Omar Velazquez and senior catcher Rich McCarren sparked Adelphi's offense throughout the year and led a group of six Panthers on the Northeast-10 All-Conference teams. Velazquez shattered the Adelphi single season stolen bases record by swiping 42 bags while batting .335 with a team-best five home runs, 14 doubles and 30 RBI at the top of the order. McCarren batted .328 as the team's No. 3 hitter and led the Panthers with a .423 on base percentage.
 
Adelphi rode the arms of one of the greatest pitching rotations in program history, featuring the likes of senior starters Robert Nixon, Mike Scudero and Jonathan Gonzalez, and reliever Oren Rasowsky. The three starters combined for an earned run average of 1.72, helping the Panthers post the second best ERA in the NE-10, while Rasowsky was nearly untouchable out of the bullpen with his team-best 1.01 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 25 relief appearances. The four hurlers went on to crack Adelphi's top 10 in seven different single season records.

With the aforementioned players having hung up their Brown and Gold jerseys, the Panthers will rely on consistent veterans to fill their shoes, while a host of newcomers will be asked to challenge for everyday spots.
 
Infield
 
Junior first baseman Anthony Zarrella returns as the team's top slugger. A 2011 NE-10 All-Tournament Team selection, Zarrella finished third on the team with a .302 batting average, second on the squad with a .475 slugging percentage, and clubbed three homers while driving in 28 runs.
 
“Zarrella has improved 100 percent and his work ethic is outstanding,” Scala said. “It rubs off on all our players because they see his success and say that is how you get better by doing extra work.”
 
Senior utility player Jamie Liebowitz, a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-East Region Second Team pick, batted .272 with 10 doubles last season and should find time at one of several positions. Joining Liebowitz is what Scala calls one of the best shortstop/second base combos in the league in seniors Lucas Romeo and Craig Matteo, who have been working together up the middle since they were freshmen. After a strong rookie season, sophomore Rich Mejia should complete the infield with the nod at third base, and freshman Vincent Sharkey can fill in as the designated hitter when not backing up Matteo.
 
Scala says the starting catcher job will be a “dogfight” between freshmen Rich Cambria and Tyler Barrett, sophomore Kevin Hutzel and junior Jacob Beard, who transferred from Monroe College. Finally, sophomore Steven Lander and freshman Donato Signore will have the opportunity to challenge for playing time in the middle infield with their slick defense.
 
Outfield
 
Senior Justin Farnum will be a key piece up the middle for Adelphi, and should patrol center field after batting .282 and driving in 20 runs last season. Sophomore John Campbell is perhaps the speediest Panther and should see time at the top of the order and at a corner outfield position, while Chad Houghton could see an increased role this season after hitting .266 with a home run and seven RBI in 27 games last year.
 
Junior Vinny Gaetano joins the Panthers after transferring from Herkimer County Community College and will swing between the outfield and first base, while junior Anthony Infante and freshman Nick Zito will push each other for time as reserves.
 
Pitchers
 
Scala believes the Panthers possess one of the deepest pitching staffs in program history. “I have the same situation as the Yankees right now,” Scala jested. “We both have six starters but can only use five. That's a good thing.”
 
Who gets the ball every fifth day is no mystery, but nothing is set in stone. Scala wants his hurlers to earn their tag as a starter. “I told them, 'may the best five win,'” Scala said. “Competition is good for everyone.”
 
Expect junior right hander Dillon McNamara, who is back to full strength after an injury-shortened sophomore season, to be the ace of the staff and start where Nixon and Scudero left off. “McNamara is the anchor,” Scala said. “He is more mature physically and mentally and I expect a solid year from him.”
 
Senior captain Michael Carletti and sophomore Stephen Bove should both make more appearances this season after combining for six wins and a 2.19 ERA last year, and junior Jimmy Milani will make the move from the bullpen to the starting rotation. “Milani was in the pen but I always knew he was better suited as a starter,” Scala said of his closer who earned five saves, posted a 2.61 ERA and struck out 19 batters in 20.2 innings in 2011. “He has also matured and is throwing the ball well.”
 
The addition of graduate student Joe Lombardo, a 6-foot-6 right handed transfer from Duquesne University, beefs up an already stacked rotation with his three seasons of Division I baseball and two summers in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. “Lombardo has come with high expectations and he has electric stuff,” Scala notes, adding that Lombardo's velocity and late movement could allow him to serve as a closer until his stamina allows him to take the ball as a starter.
 
Senior Chris Murphy should be the top option out of the pen after inheriting Rasowsky's signature submarine delivery. “Murphy's been revitalized with this style and I'm confident that he can do what Oren did for us last year,” Scala said.
 
Also in the pen, senior lefty Chris Pabisch rivals the league's top southpaws and could see spot starts against lefty-heavy lineups, Scala said, and Vincent Messana, the squad's only other lefty, could be key in late-inning lefty-lefty matchups.
 
The remainder of relief duties will be filled by juniors Jeff Andersen and James McCormack, sophomores Matt Abramowitz and John Donnelly, and freshmen Mike Cranston and Vincent Caputo.
 
Schedule
 
The 2012 schedule pits the Panthers against three nationally ranked opponents and eight regionally ranked squads, including College World Series semifinalists and NE-10 rival SCSU. Perched at #14 in the country in the most recent Collegiate Baseball national poll, the Owls eliminated Adelphi in the 2011 East Region Finals before going on to win two games and finish third in the College World Series. #6 Le Moyne and #16 Franklin Pierce account for the other two nationally ranked heavy weights on the 2012 schedule.
 
Wilmington (Del.), Barry, UMass Lowel, Stonehill, Molloy and New Haven round out the list of regionally ranked teams featured on this year's slate. Adelphi posted a combined 13-6-1 record against the aforementioned teams in 2011.
 
With all the tough opponents and key matchups, Scala says it's impossible to highlight one game as more important than the others.
 
“Honestly, they are all key games,” Scala said. “You cannot afford to lose many games, but the beauty of the NE-10 is that [the conference] is well respected and we play great schedules. So if you don't win the conference championship you can get to the Regional by winning at least 30 games.”
 
The Panthers open the season with a five-game home stand against a handful of New York teams, beginning with Mercy on February 24. Adelphi then hosts Dowling, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Nyack before heading south for six games in Florida.
 
The club opens its Florida trip against Wilmington (Del.) on March 10 at the Santaluces Sports Complex in Palm Beach County as part of the Palm Beach Challenge. A pair of off-site games will see Adelphi square off against Lynn and Barry, two of the top teams in the ultra-competitive Sunshine State Conference. The squad then returns to Santaluces to take on some familiar faces in American International and UMass Lowell to wrap up the Florida campaign.
 
The Panthers will host Bentley in their NE-10 home opener on March 23 as part of a nine-game home stand which includes a grudge match against SCSU and a three-game series against Le Moyne.
 
Of Adelphi's 23 games in April, 15 are on the road as the Panthers dive into the heart of their NE-10 schedule. Back-to-back road doubleheaders against Franklin Pierce on April 6 and Southern New Hampshire on April 7 will test Adelphi's endurance at the tail end of six road games in seven days. Felician, Dominican, Bridgeport and Molloy make up Adelphi's non-conference schedule in April.
 
The final stretch of 2012 is perhaps the toughest. SCSU and New Haven, the only two teams to sweep an NE-10 regular season series against Adelphi last year, make up five of the final nine games. On May 6, the Panthers host the Chargers for a doubleheader on the last day of the regular season prior to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, which begins on May 8.