The Quadrangle

Issue date: 2/23/05 Section: Sports

The Manhattan baseball team has been hard at work in Draddy this offseason preparing for a tough schedule

The Manhattan baseball team is preparing itself for an exciting spring 2005 season. This year they will have to overcome a very tough schedule by playing non-conference teams such as Davidson, Texas Christian, 14 seed in the nation, and George Washington among others. The team will also start the season with an eight-game road trip before playing in front of the home crowd on March 9 against Fordham.

In the 2005 Preseason Coaches' Poll the Jaspers were picked fourth in the MAAC; the top three teams were Lemoyne, the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions, Niagara and Marist. Despite being selected fourth, the Jasper team is very optimistic about the upcoming season after accomplishing great things in 2004. Last season the Jaspers posted a 25-27-1 record and for the first time in Manhattan baseball program history the Jaspers advanced to the Championship round in the MAAC Tournament. Coach Steve Trimper commented that the 2004 season was the best the team ever had in all of the years of baseball in Manhattan.

This season, the Jaspers will try to build upon their success with the great returning players as well as the new recruits. Among those great returning players the Jasper have four excelling pitchers which are sophomore, left-hand-pitcher, Josh Santerre, junior Chris Cody also a left-hand-pitcher, and two high-quality right hand pitchers - junior Steve Bronder and sophomore Jesse Darcy. These starting pitchers have formed a unique balance for the Jasper team. Other returning players include sophomore catcher, Nick Derba and senior second-baseman, Gary Díaz.

In order for members of a team to continue with their success they must do good recruiting; the Jaspers have done so with their new addition to the line-up. Freshman infielder, Matt Rizzotti of Floral Park, N.Y. turned down a baseball deal with the Minnesota Twins in order to continue his education at Manhattan. Other additions to Manhattan are Nunzio Franzese of Brooklyn, N.Y., Pat Reynolds of Avon, N.J., Ryan Marcux, Matt Nevins of Beacon, N.Y. and Eric Nieto of Miami F.L.

Only the four best teams of the conference are able to participate in the MAAC Tournament and Manhattan has good chances of being part of that four. With their great potential, the Jaspers will have to conquer a tough schedule with many road games as well as higher ranked teams out of their conference. The Jaspers' main goal is to win the MAAC tournament this season. Trimper says, "We have a very good mix in the pitching and we are a fast team, we run pretty well." Trimper and his team has high expectations about the outcome of this season.

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