The 1998 University of Massachusetts baseball team finished
with their fifth straight Atlantic 10 regular season title and a
27-12 record. Head Coach Mike Stone became only the second coach in
UMass baseball history to reach the 300 win plateau, and saw three
players from last year's squad taken in the Major League Baseball
draft, including pitchers Scott Barnsby and Ryan Cameron and
outfielder Doug Clark.
The 1999 version of the Minutemen will have to fill some big
shoes, including the loss of two All-Americans in Clark and Muchie
Dagliere, and team MVP Pete Gautreau. However, Stone feels he has a
good mix of seniors and underclassmen to attempt to fill the void
left by the seven letterwinners lost from last year's squad.
This year's team is a young one, with only five seniors, but
all five should play an important role in the success of the club.
Back for their senior years are co-captains Bill Cooke (left handed
pitcher) and Seth Kaplan (shortstop), as well as outfielder Aaron
Braunstein, third baseman Bryan Mazzaferro and catcher Brian Samela.
Cooke will lead the way for the Minutemen on the hill this
season, coming off an impressive 8-2 campaign last year with a
team-low 3.06 ERA on the way to earning second team All-Atlantic 10
honors. He will be followed by Travis Veracka, who was bothered by
injuries last season, but should be ready to show why he is a highly
regarded pro prospect.
The Minutemen will have to replace three of their top six bats.
Gone is second team All-American Dagliere, who led the team and
ranked seventh nationally with a .444 batting average and also led
the team with 49 RBIs. Last year, he became the first Minuteman ever
to be named All-American by both the American Baseball Coaches
Association and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Also gone is third team All-American outfielder Clark, who ranked
fourth on the team with a .369 batting average while accounting for
eight home runs and 37 RBIs. Another positional player who will be
missed is Gautreau, who hit .346, with a team-high 10 home runs.
Together, the group hit over half the team total for home runs (19,
the team had 36) and had almost half the team RBI total (133 RBIs,
the team had 283).
Stone enters his 12th year at the helm of the Minutemen with a
319-193-1 record, which includes two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
The team again looks to compete with the top teams in the East in
search of its sixth straight Atlantic 10 regular season crown, and
another Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship.
Catcher
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Senior Brian Samela returns
as the
starting catcher.
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Senior Brian Samela returns to anchor the Minuteman catching
staff. A solid hitter and gritty competitor, Samela hit .303 last
season with 29 RBIs. He showed his patience at the plate, drawing 21
walks, the third-best mark on the team. One of only two players to
start every game for the Minutemen last season, Samela will be
expected to hit in the clutch, possibly seeing some time at the
cleanup spot.
Battling for time with Samela will be newcomer Chris Morgan. A
talented freshman from Cranston, R.I. and Bishop Hendricken H.S.,
Morgan comes to UMass having helped Bishop Hendricken to a three-year
record of 72-8 and Class A State Baseball Championships in 1997 and
1998. A two-time All-State selection, he hit .533 with 28 RBIs while
throwing out 67% of runners (four-of-six) his senior year.
First Base
Stone has three potential first basemen, who should all see
time at the right corner. Sophomore Nate Lang possesses the
strongest glove of the group, and has the potential to become a solid
hitter at the position. He played in 19 games, starting 11, while
splitting time with Matt Wolcott (lost to graduation) at first base
last season.
Joining Lang at first base will be Gavin Clark and Keith
O'Connell. Gavin, the younger brother of former Minuteman Doug
Clark, is beginning to show signs of being a solid bat in the
Minuteman lineup. Although used sparingly last season (seven games)
Clark could become a major part of the UMass offense this year.
O'Connell enters his junior year as another potential first baseman
for the Minutemen. At six-foot-four and 215 pounds, he possesses a
solid swing and some pop, which could make him valuable to the UMass
lineup.
Second Base
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Junior Shaun Skeffington set
a
single-season record last
year with 20
doubles.
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The loss of All-American Muchie Dagliere at second base will
definitely be felt by the Minutemen, but Stone thinks he has a solid
player ready to come in and take over right away in Shaun
Skeffington.
A scrappy player with great speed, Skeffington will return this
season as the leadoff hitter for the Minutemen. Last season,
Skeffington played in 38 of the 39 games, starting 36 as the
designated hitter. He set a UMass single-season record with 20
doubles, breaking the old mark of 19 set by Drew Comeau in 1990. He
finished second on the team with 13 stolen bases and will again be
looked upon as a catalyst for the Minutemen. Skeffington possesses
good range in the infield and should be solid up the middle.
Also looking for time at second base, and really around the
left side of the infield will be redshirt freshmen Steve Fiste and
Keith Hutchinson and true freshman Aaron Senez. As a senior at Lynn
Classical High School, Fiste hit .386 to help lead the team to a
Northeast Conference title. He possesses good speed, swiping 97
bases in 88 career games. Fiste is also sound defensively and
possesses a strong arm. Hutchinson posted a four-year batting
average of .412 with five homers, 54 RBIs and 70 stolen bases while
at Framingham High School. He should also add an offensive punch in
the Minuteman lineup. Aaron Senez has been coming on strong since
the fall season and will also look to contribute around the infield.
He was an All-Western Mass. and All-League selection in both baseball
and football at Springfield's Central High School.
Shortstop
Senior co-captain Seth Kaplan earned the starting shortstop
role for the Minutemen following an impressive junior campaign.
Originally a walk-on to the Minuteman squad, Kaplan became the
starting shortstop last April. He began the season as the bullpen
catcher and earned a spot in the lineup as the season progressed.
His stability at short was a key reason for the Minutemen's success
down the stretch. He finished solid at the plate, ending up third on
the team with a .370 batting average in 31 games (22 games started),
while collecting at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games.
Also vying for time with Kaplan will be Fiste, Hutchinson and
Senez.
Third Base
Senior Bryan Mazzaferro should hold down the starting position
at third base to begin the 1999 season. Mazzaferro saw time at short
last year, before being moved back to third base when Kaplan took
over the starting role. Mazzaferro spent the majority of the 1997
season at the "hot corner", where he hit .400 despite missing 18
games following surgery on his ankle. Mazzaferro combines a strong
arm with good speed to anchor down the third base spot. Last season
he collected 22 RBIs in 38 games, while stealing six bases and
leading the team with 33 bases on balls.
Mazzaferro will be backed up at third by Fiste, Hutchinson and
Senez, who should all see time around the left side of the infield.
Freshman John Seed could also see some time at third base, coming
from New Bedford High School where he holds school records for career
hits (113), doubles (20) and RBIs (82).
Outfield
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Senior Aaron Braunstein was
named to
the 1998 Atlantic
10 All-Championship Team
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The outfielders on the 1999 UMass baseball team have a
couple of serious holes to fill. Trying to fill the gap left by the
departure of Clark and Gautreau will be a host of Minutemen, led by
senior Aaron Braunstein. Braunstein is coming off a season where he
saw his power numbers decrease, going from 14 home runs in 1997 to
three home runs last season. However, he still hit .322 while
starting 32 games in left field for the Minutemen. Hopefully he will
get the pop back in his bat this season.
Joining him will be redshirt freshman Scott Anderson, junior
Steve Asadoorian, sophomore Gavin Clark, sophomore Nick Gorneault and
freshman Mike Kulak.
Anderson joins the Minutemen from Fairfield Prep in Easton
Conn., where he hit .400 with 26 RBIs and stole 20 bases his senior
year, while earning Connecticut Post All-State honors. Asadoorian
saw time in both left field and at third base for the Maroon &
White last season. He had a great fall season, and is really
starting to come into his own as both a hitter and a fielder. He
started 16 games for UMass last season and hit .403 with 17 RBIs,
while going three-for-three in pinch-hitting appearances. He will be
a key to the outfield this season.
Along with spending time at first base, Clark will also see a
good amount of time in the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup.
Gorneault saw time in eight games last season, hitting .357, and has
the potential to be a big contributor to the outfield corps of the
Minutemen.
Pitching Staff
The Minutemen lost three major contributors to last year's
pitching staff, in Ryan Cameron (led team in appearances and innings
pitched), Scott Barnsby and Jeff Puleri, but have some key returnees
and talented underclassmen to fill the holes.
Headlining this year's pitching staff will be senior co-captain
Bill Cooke. A workhorse for the Minutemen over the past four years,
Cooke has been one of the most consistent pitchers. The crafty
lefthander compiled a team high eight wins last season (8-2) with a
team-low 3.06 ERA. Cooke notched a perfect 6-0 record in Atlantic 10
regular season games last season, and is expected to bring stability
to a young UMass staff.
Joining Cooke at the top of the rotation is junior Travis
Veracka. The lefthander is one of the top pro prospects on the
Minuteman roster, having been drafted out of high school by the
Cleveland Indians. He is coming off a sophomore campaign where he
battled through injuries but still managed a 4-0 record with the
third-best ERA on the team at 3.53, while leading the team with seven
relief appearances. He could have a breakthrough season this year,
and establish himself as an impact pitcher on the collegiate
level.
A group of talented sophomores including David Loonie, Nick
Skirkanich and Craig Szado will all vie for starting spots in the
Minuteman rotation, having seen action on the hill for the Minutemen
last season. All three made at least six appearances and started at
least one game for the Minutemen last season, and have the potential
to impact the UMass rotation this season.
Also competing for innings are newcomers Brian Blumsack, Brain
Hourigan, Jesse Santos and David Williamson. Blumsack compiled a 5-2
record with a 0.91 ERA on the mound last year at Malden High School,
striking out 62 while collecting two one-hitters and four shutouts.
Hourigan compiled an 8-2 mark with a 1.20 ERA his senior season at
Masuk High School. Santos compiled a 17-1 mark with a 1.22 ERA over
his career at Chelmsford High School. Williamson comes in as the top
pitcher out of New Hampshire, where he collected a two-year record of
9-2 while averaging just under two strikeouts per inning pitched over
his career at Manchester West High School.
Schedule
The 1999 schedule will test the Minutemen early, with two
perennial NCAA contenders. UMass heads to North Carolina State for a
three-game series to start the season from March 5-7. North Carolina
State enters the season having finished in third place in last year's
NCAA Tournament West Regional. The Minutemen then return down south
on March 12, where they begin a three-game set with South Florida, a
team that has been to the NCAA Tournament four of the last six years.
Following the South Florida series, the Minutemen head to Ft. Myers,
Fla. where they will take on a group of northern teams in Canisius,
Lafayette, Niagara and Central Connecticut from March 16-20.
On April 27 and 28, the Minutemen return to Fenway Park to take
part in the Tenth Annual Beanpot Tournament. UMass will face
Harvard, a 1998 third place finisher at the NCAA Tournament South II
Regional, in the first round of the tournament on April 27. The
Minutemen will be looking for their third Beanpot Tournament crown.
Last year's championship game which would have pitted the Minutemen
against the Crimson, was rained out.
UMass will face Atlantic 10 Eastern Division foes Temple,
Fordham, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure and St. Joseph's in addition
to Western Division teams, Xavier and Duquesne. The Atlantic 10's
NCAA automatic bid will be determined at the conference tournament
held May 20-22 in Boyertown, Pa.
Other important games this season include a home-and-home
series with Connecticut on March 30 in Storrs and April 8 in Amherst,
and matchups with New England rivals Providence, March 23 in Amherst
and Maine, May 13 also in Amherst. The Minutemen will take on Yale
in a home-and-home series, playing two at Yale on March 27 and one in
Amherst on March 28. The Minutemen will also see Harvard one more
time, facing the Crimson at Harvard on May 5.
Wrap-Up
The Minutemen will look to capture their sixth consecutive
Atlantic 10 regular season crown this year, the first time in
Atlantic 10 history that has been accomplished since Rutgers won
eight straight from 1986-93.
This year's squad is young, but has a considerable amount of
talent both in the field and on the mound. A great deal of the
team's success will depend upon the seniors and their leadership both
on and off the field in "seasoning" the younger players to the
collegiate level. If the young players come along as the season
progresses, and the seniors pull their weight, this Minuteman squad
could be one to be reckoned with.
The Minutemen have one major goal this season, making it back
to the NCAA Tournament. With the right combination of veterans and
underclassmen and the guidance of Head Coach Mike Stone, the 1999
Minutemen will make a run at reaching their goal.
