With the first weekend of the season in the books, we will debut the 2018 weekly Power Rankings to take inventory of each team that began their season this weekend. From this point through the remainder of the college season, we will post this column each Monday morning.
The methodology is as follows: the teams are ranked based upon their performance against their opponents. This mean that teams are not favored due to quality of opponent but simply quality of their own play.
Without further ado, we present the first edition of the 2018 Power Rankings:
- St. John’s (Record: 3-0, Stock UP)
Well, the Red Storm have picked up right where they left off in 2017. They dominated the first weekend this season against Campbell University, allowing only two runs in the process. According to the school’s archives, it’s the first time they have accomplished that feat since 1967. The pitching staff is unbelievable–typically pitchers will tire quickly in their season debut and hit a wall in the fifth or sixth inning. That was not the case this weekend, as Sean Mooney was lights out in Game 1, and the combination of Kevin Magee and Joe Kelly struck out 18 batters without issuing a walk. Today Michael LoPresti was phenomenal. Offensively, they only put up 11 runs in three games but Jamie Galazin, John Valente and Luke Stampfl all have came out of the gate hot.
They will have a big challenge on Wednesday playing at North Carolina, but they did defeat them last year so the feat factor is not what it usually would be for a New York team.
2. Stony Brook (Record: 3-0, Stock UP)
After talking to Coach Senk last week, it did appear he was very confident in his team’s pitching staff–specifically the return to freshman form for Bret Clarke and the potential of a dominant backend of the bullpen with Aaron Pinto, Cole Creighton and Teddy Rodliff. It does appear, after the opening weekend, that those predictions were on par with reality. They swept Nicholls State, although it was by a total of five runs, but it’s a far cry from their recent early-season struggles. This is the first time they began undefeated since the historic run of 2012.
Now, I’m not going to make any predictions like that but I really love their pitching staff. I was able to watch the game on ESPN3 on Friday night and I really think Greg Marino will take that next step and be a work horse this year. If not for a poor throw on a bunt, his line would’ve looked much better on Friday. Clarke was dominant yesterday, and despite some erratic control, Brian Herrmann was also effective today. Small sample size, but Bobby Honeyman and Michael Wilson have led the way offensively, and Brandon Alamo has the lone HR. Freshman Mike Palazzolo had the game-winning hit on Saturday, great sign from the athletic shortstop.
They will look for the rare four-game sweep tomorrow in Louisiana.
3. Fordham (Record: 1-1-1, Stock EVEN)
I was surprised to see Reiss Knehr struggle on Friday, but it’s always understandable when a pitcher doesn’t have the best command in a season debut. That was a wild one, as they erased a 7-1 deficit thanks to a three-run shot from Jake McKenzie but they lost in 10 innings. They bounced back with a big win on Saturday with both runs coming in the first inning and a well-pitched game from Ben Greenberg, Matt Mikulski and Alvin Melendez shut the door with the save. I watched Melendez throw about a month ago and he looked really sharp and ready to dominate this year. They will host Army on Wednesday as they look to get back in the win column.
4. LIU Post (Record: 2-2, Stock EVEN)
Coach Mike Gaffney was adamant that Julien Arcos was ready to step up and take a rotation spot this year after seeing him pitch in the summer and fall. He was right, Arcos dominated and recorded a win in Game 3 of the series with six strong innings. They also got a great start from Noah Lorenzo the night before, but that’s almost to be expected from the southpaw at this point. After struggling in the first inning, he told me he really calmed down his nerves and mixed in his change up. They also lost two games, but it was a good sign to see freshman Joe Valentino throw five innings and perform well enough to win this afternoon.
Offensively, they’ve already smacked 37 hits over four games, with Zach Fritz, Dave Brehm, Anthony Vaglica and Ramger Iglesias all with four hits and Rob Andreoli with a 4-for-7 start to the year.
They will be in Myrtle Beach this week and will have see some familiar Northeast-10 foes.
5. Molloy (Record: 1-2, Stock EVEN)
They got their first ‘W’ on the board today with a nice win over Chowan University. Kevin Hiss fired the first five innings and Lucas Burton recorded the two inning save.
Nick Marino has picked up where he left off and has done nothing but hit. Jacob McCarthy and Matt Overton have gotten their collegiate careers off to nice starts, and appear that they will be tasked with hitting in the middle-of-the-order.
They will also will compete in the tournament in Myrtle Beach this week
