The Monmouth University baseball team will play its 2009 home opener on Friday in West Long Branch.
Coach Dean Ehehalt’s Hawks, who were chosen by the Northeast Conference coaches as the 2009 NEC favorite, will play Bryant Unversity (Rhode Island) in a four-game series that begins Friday at 3 p.m. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon and conclude the series with a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Hawks are coming off a 2008 season in which they were 37-16 overall and 20-5 in NEC play.
“We had a great season in 2008 and fell one day short of our goals (the NEC title and an NCAA berth),” said Ehehalt. “I really believe the 2009 team can compete for a spot in the NEC Tournament and then it all comes down to who plays the best that weekend.”
Monmouth ranked second in the NEC in earned run average (3.99) last year and the Hawks have junior starters Ryan Buch (Yardey, Pa.) and Brett Brach (Freehold Township). Those two hurlers combined for 10 wins last season.
Buch was 6-1 with a 3.66 ERA and he had 66 strikeouts in 51.2 innings of work.
Brach went 4-3 with a 4.76 ERA and worked 51 innings. A control pitcher, he was only touched for three home runs and struck out 39 hitters. The former Freehold Township High School standout also recorded two saves for Monmouth.
Also returning to the pitching staff is lefty Kyle Breese (South Brunswick). He was 6-2 in 2008, appearing in 17 games, including seven as a starter.
Nick Vallillo (Northern Regional) and Andy McDonald (Archbishop Carroll, Pa.) are trying to crack the starting rotation.
Everyday players around whom the Hawks are built include infielders Chris Collazo (Wall), Ryan Terry (Harry S. Truman, Pa.) and Paul Bottigliero (Jonathan Law, Conn.), and outfielders Brett Holland (Baldwin, Pa.) and Nick Pulsonetti (Northern Valley Regional-Old Tappan).
Terry was the 2008 NEC Rookie of the Year, batting .328 with 24 extra base hits.
Pulsonetti was named First Team All- NEC after batting .326 and slamming 11 home runs (second in the conference).
“This year’s team should be fun to watch,” said Ehehalt.
The Hawks have completed their Southern swing which took them to North Carolina and Florida. Monmouth was 1-6 on the trip.
Pulsonetti picked up where he left off in 2008, batting .409. Collazo is hitting .320. Bottigliero hit .240 with three home runs and had nine RBIs on the trip. Tim McEndy (Malvern Prep, Pa.) led the Hawks in batting average (.412).
Among the freshmen who are expected to contribute for Monmouth this spring are Howell resident Owen Stewart (St. Rose of Belmar) and Ocean Township’s Jamie Rosenkranz, both of whom are infielders.
Monmouth will begin its NEC schedule at home against Long Island University in a four-game series that will begin on April 3 with a 3 p.m. game. The teams will play a doubleheader on April 4 starting at noon and a single game on April 5 at 1 p.m.
The NEC Tournament, which sends its he winner to the NCAA Tournament, will be played on May 21-23 at a site to be announced.