PG-13: Salve Regina baseball picked 13th in nation by Perfect Game
NEWPORT, R.I. (Thursday, February 15, 2024) - Perfect Game, the world's largest and most comprehensive scouting organization for baseball, released its pre-season predictions on where the NCAA Division III baseball schools will finish at the end of 2024, along with substantial previews written by Nick Herfordt. The Seahawks are picked 13th by Perfect Game.
Text from perfectgame.org by Nick Herfordt:
After four years in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the DIII Baseball Championship will move to Eastlake, Ohio. Predicting who will be the last team standing in the Cleveland suburb this June is an arduous task. A different team has won the title in each of the last 11 tournaments, and only one team, Salisbury, has advanced to the finals twice since 2012 (champion in 2021, runner-up in '22). There is a vast amount of high caliber baseball being played across the country at all levels, and the teams listed below demonstrate why it is so difficult for a school to continually finish on top. Despite this, the number one team headed into the new season is the number two team from last spring. While many teams have rosters full of elite athletes, the squad from Johns Hopkins is the most complete both in the regular lineup and on the mound. In addition to having the talent to win the title, JHU has added motivation which comes from watching another team celebrate a championship.
13. Salve Regina Seahawks (39-10-1)
The Seahawks advanced to a Regional final for the second straight season and were a win away from taking it a step further, but were outslugged by Misericordia. Nevertheless, SR set a program record for wins with a 39-10-1 record and were undefeated (20-0) in games played at home. They finished behind Endicott in the Commonwealth Coast Conference regular season standings as well as the conference tournament, but won't get a chance to avenge the losses as they will play in the NEWMAC this spring. Or perhaps they will… The Seahawks have a stocked and talented roster which could meet the Gulls in a deep postseason run.
Second baseman Christian Homa batted .472 last season with 75 hits which broke the school record held by the Seahawks Head Coach Eric Cirella. Homa also had 20 extra base hits and 22 walks for a .538 OB%. His partner in the middle infield, shortstop Michael Breen also returns. Breen has a .306 batting average over three seasons at the plate and a .947 fielding percentage on defense. Graduate students Tyler Cannoe and Wil McCarthy play the corner infield positions. Cannoe is a slugging senior who led the team with eight home runs last season while hitting .295. McCarthy hit .339 with 12 extra base hits. Brandon Grover is a team leader and will be playing his third full season in centerfield. He hit .422 last season, stole ten bases and had 12 extra base hits. Matt D'Amato is another long time member of the team. He has a .340 average over 447 at bats.
Brayden Clark and Sean Mulligan top the starting staff. Clark has a 3.08 ERA over 155 innings accumulated over three years on the staff. He has struck out 161 batters in 155 innings while only allowing 139 hits. Mulligan had a 2.58 ERA in 52 ⅓ innings as a freshman. He only allowed 31 hits (.169 B/AVG) and stuck out 50 batters. Seven of his 16 appearances were starts last season. Joe DeRienzo and Nick Callano should pick up much of the remaining starts. DeRienzo only saw a couple of innings last year as a freshman. Callano started in nine of 10 appearances and had a 3.65 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 44 ⅓ innings. Andrew Wertz and Hayden Duke are transfers from DII schools with high ceilings.
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Salve Regina finished 39-10-1 in 2023 with its second straight trip to an NCAA regional final, and opens the 2024 season at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., in a three-game series that also features Stockton and Western New England (February 23-25).