Coaches pick Salve Regina baseball for third

NEWPORT, R.I. - Coming off a season with its second-most wins (29), Salve Regina baseball has been tabbed third in the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) coaches' pre-season poll, released Thursday by commissioner Gregg Kaye.

The top two picks - defending champion Endicott College and runner-up Western New England University - both advanced to the 2013 NCAA regional where they each won three games before being eliminated by eventual national runner-up Southern Maine.

Salve Regina (29-12, 12-4 CCC) first-year head coach Eric Cirella returns every starter from last season. The entire pitching staff is back as well, with the exception of Dan Kehew.

"I think we have one of the deeper teams in our program's history," says Eric Cirella. "We have a lot of depth in a lot of key areas and if we stay healthy we have the potential to score a lot of runs."

In addition, shortstop Daniel Donohue and closer Thomas Betros return for 2014, both were lost last season due to injury. Ryan Kelly, the 2013 CCC Rookie of the Year, looks to continue his stolen base streak (29-for-29) while patrolling centerfield and handling the leadoff batter duties.

"Defensively, we are a lot better than a year ago," continued the successor to 14-year head coach, now assistant, Steve Cirella - Eric's dad, "and I think our bullpen will be one of our strengths, especially with match-ups and closing out close games. We will have to rely on some freshman pitchers to start some games for us on the mound ... and if those guys develop over the course of the year we should be able to compete with anyone in the region."

"Our schedule is probably the most challenging in the history of the program so we will get tested early and often. The goal is to be playing our best baseball towards the end of April heading into tournament time. Overall I am excited to leave the gym and get the season started down in sunny Florida."

Pre-season All-American catcher Dominic Di Sano brings his bat and leadership with the pitching staff, which features veteran starters Kyle Pheland, Vincent Roth, and Alex Croce, while newcomers Garrett Franzoi, Frank Lemieux, and Cory Poplawski expect to crack the rotation.

First-team All-CCC outfielder Tyler Colby led the league with his .420 batting average in 2013; he's tabbed for the third spot in the batting order while manning left field for the Seahawks. Steady infielder Sean Becker bats ahead of Colby and led the league in bases on balls (28). Another All-CCC outfielder Ryan Sweenor contributes positive numbers in all offensive categories (.339 batting average, 31 runs batted in, 26 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases).

Salve Regina topped the conference in several offensive categories in 2013: batting average (19th in nation), doubles per game (41st in nation), on-base percentage (10th in nation), and scoring (17th in nation).

All nine CCC baseball teams will start their quest for the 2014 conference title within the next three weeks. The top six teams in the 2014 regular-season conference standings will qualify for the conference tournament, which gets underway Thursday, May 1, and will continue through Sunday, May 4.