Baseball

Baseball 2009 Season Outlook

The 2009 Wilmington University baseball team is looking forward to fighting for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) title. This year’s team is full of talent with twelve letter winners returning and many promising new faces. The 2009 schedule is challenging again, facing conference rivals Caldwell College and Dominican College, as well as other strong opponents from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, including West Chester University, Millersville University, Mercyhurst University, Mansfield University, and Kutztown University. The Wildcats will also have a difficult three game set in Florida with St. Thomas University (Miami). The season will highlight an annual match-up against Division I rival, the University of Delaware.

The 2009 Wildcats will have to rebuild their pitching staff from a year ago. This year’s staff returns starters, junior left-hander Cameron Saienni (McKean/Wilmington, DE), sophomore right-hander Anthony Cimabue (Delcastle/Wilmington, DE), and junior right-hander Steve Messick (William Penn/New Castle, DE). Top pitching recruits include sophomore southpaw Joe Harris (Daniel Boone/Douglassville, PA), junior right-handers Jerry McLaughlin (Hodgson Vo-Tech/Bear, DE) and Bryan Woolford (Northeast/ Pasadena, MD), and freshman right-hander Jordan Oncay (St. Marks /Newark, DE). The bullpen should be a strong point for this year’s team with junior righty Phil Aviola (St. Marks/Newark, DE), senior lefty Cody Holliday (Havre de Grace/ Havre de Grace, MD), sophomore right-hander Drew Anusky (Gloucester Catholic/National Park, NJ), and junior right-handers Greg Snyder (Chesapeake/Millersville, MD) and JT Gregory (Gar-Field/Woodbridge, VA). Others giving depth to the staff will be junior right-hander Jason Wyatt (Polytech/Dover, DE), and freshmen right-handers Mike Godwin (A.I. duPont/Hockessin, DE), Nick Galinskie (Salesianum/Wilmington, DE), and Kyle Hitchens (William Penn/New Castle, DE).

The offense returns only two starters from last year’s squad, senior captain and outfielder, Cody Holliday (1st Team All-CACC). Other returners include junior catcher Phil Aviola, sophomore first baseman Drew Anusky, and sophomore utility player Matt Umba (Gloucester Catholic/Woodbury, NJ). The catching duties are going to be taking over by Aviola, with sophomore Dave Levin (Brandywine/Wilmington, DE) and freshman Mike Godwin backing him up. The infield will be completely new this year. Drew Anusky will hold down the defense at first, while sophomore Brandon Scott (Dickinson/ Wilmington, DE) will play second base. At shortstop, we will have junior JT Gregory, and rounding out the defense at third base will be junior Bryan Woolford. Adding depth in the infield will be freshmen Kyle Hitchens and BJ Janney (Rising Sun/Rising Sun, MD), sophomore Evan Zechman (St. Marks/Wilmington, DE), and junior Jason Wyatt.

The outfield returns only right fielder senior Cody Holliday. The other two starters will be freshman Jordan Oncay in left field and sophomore Matt Botting (Newark/Newark, DE) patrolling center field. Umba, Wyatt and freshman DJ Wood (Hodgson Vo-Tech/New Castle, DE) add depth to the outfield. The designated hitter spot in the lineup will be in the hands of Umba. The offense features both speed and power, and has a chance to put up a great deal of runs this season.

With a whole new attitude and the drive of the incoming players, the Wildcats hope to make a serious run at this year’s conference title.