Improvement on 2019's 13-19 record was the catchword for a 2020 season that never got off the ground for the State University of New York at New Paltz Baseball team, so the 2021 season will be the proof of how high the Hawks can soar given that expectation.
 
SUNY New Paltz returns 21 players from the 2020 roster. Six seniors, seven juniors and eight sophomores makeup the returnees. All six seniors have strong playing experience from 2019 and before, while most of the juniors and sophomores have yet to really make their marks on the collegiate baseball diamond.
 
"With the our returners, our sophomores and freshmen this year we have a great possibility to win a SUNYAC Championship," said Hawks junior second baseman Michael Boccarossa. "That has been our mindset since I have gotten to campus and that is our goal. Win a SUNYAC Championship and we'll take it from there. We work every day at that goal as hard as we possibly can and I do think we have a chance this year with the guys that we have."
 

Although the fall and typical preseason was condensed due to the pandemic, the Hawks put in the work in the weight room both at home and since they've gotten back on campus following the cancelation of the 2020 season. SUNY New Paltz coach Thomas Seay was pleased with the way his guys came back in shape to prepare for a hopeful 2021 campaign.

"I think the biggest thing from the pandemic through the summer and the fall, and even the early part, you are limited from a baseball skills standpoint, but they weren't really limited from a physical standpoint," Seay said. "We are definitely going to be stronger. We are definitely a more physical program than we were last year or even the year before that. So, I am really optimistic about impacting the baseball from an offensive standpoint, but also being strong and physical and durable on the mound."
 
Leading the Hawks will be two First-Team All-SUNYAC selections from 2019, seniors Matthew McGee (Monroe) and Dean Stalzer (Shoreham). McGee, one of the best returning hitters in the SUNYAC hit .384 in 2019 and led the team in hits with 43, including 12 doubles and one triple, scoring 26 runs and driving in 15. In the short 2020 season he was hot with a .429 batting average with six hits to lead the team. Stalzer batted .306 in 2019, with 22 hits, 15 runs scored and 18 RBI. For the short 2020 campaign, he led the team with 16 at-bats with four hits, and two RBI. 
Veteran position players Michael Boccarossa (Port Chester), John McCarrick (Shoreham), Jesse Keshner (Shoreham), Ryan Geraghty (Washingtonville), contributed as starters in 2020. Senior pitchers Anthony Amoroso (Monroe), Bobby Ramsey (Holtsville) will bring game experience to an otherwise young pitching staff.

"On the mound, we're definitely young. I think we're OK from a standpoint of a starting rotation," Seay said. "We have three guys that have quite a bit of college experience and we'll really lean on those guys to have really quality starts. But we do, we have a young bullpen. Outside of Scott Wagner and Bobby Ramsey, pretty much everybody else is a freshman. So, they are young and sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes that can be a little bit of negative, but I think we're really talented and dynamic. It's just going to be are we going to have enough opportunities to give those younger arms some real game experience throughout this year."
 
"We have a lot of young guys. A lot of them are really mature physically though. They are a strong group of guys," Amoroso added. "They throw hard and they have pretty good knowledge of the game. I just try to bring my experience and certain situations I've been in, any questions on plays, just stuff that I've done and any mistakes that I've made I just try to teach them the best I can really. I think we've developed a pretty good relationship where they trust me and they trust what I say. I don't try to talk down to them, I just try to make sure that we're all one and if they have any questions, I just try to guide them any way I can."
 
Keshner had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2020 in the brief action the season brought. In 11 at-bats, he recorded five hits, one run, three RBI and led the team with in batting average (.455) and OPS (1.083). Geraghty, meanwhile, in his first season with SUNY New Paltz, batted .250 in 16 at-bats, recording three hits, one run and led the team with four walks.

"Positionally we are very experienced," Seay said. "I think we return all but one starter from last year, so we do have a very veteran positional core. We are really deep behind home plate, which is always a bonus and then we've got two guys who play the middle infield who has a ton of experience. Those skilled areas really, really help you out. We're really experienced in the outfield. Two of our three starting outfielders have three-years plus college baseball experience under their belt. So positionally, I think we're in good shape."
 
Boccarossa and Amoroso were named captains over the fall and both will be leaned on heavily. Boccarossa enters year three as the Hawks' starting second baseman. Over the course of his career he has started in 33 of 35 games with a fielding percentage of .986. Offensively, he had a solid start in 2020 after recording three hits, two RBI, one run and three walks in 12 at-bats. Amoroso, a fifth-year graduate student, is the most veteran to the program. He made one appearance in 2020, which came against Mount Saint Mary and threw four innings, striking out three and giving up five hits in a no-decision.
 
Also adding game day experience is junior Matt Laurelli (Nesconset), a 2019 transfer from LIU-Post. He never had the opportunity in 2020 to show why he was a Newsday Top-100 Baseball select; hopefully 2021 will be his breakout year. Pitchers Billy Moeller (Mahopac), Nick Harvey (Nesconset) and Scott Wagner (LaGrangeville) earned valuable starting experience in 2020's short season, while second-year Justin Harvey (Nesconset) has the opportunity to see more time behind the plate. 
 
"I think we'll be led by our pretty veteran defense," Amoroso said. "I think our defense will be our best part and our offense is good. Our young guys and our pitching staff is really going to have to step up this year, but I think if we pitch it well and we trust our defense and all those veteran guys I think the bats will take care of it. I think we'll have a lot of success this year."
 
Eager to break into collegiate baseball after a year's inaction will be juniors Joshua Pena (Bronx) and Brandon Bernard (Monroe) and sophomores Connor Olson (Monroe), Daniel Pero (Brooklyn), Nick Zangara (Staten Island), Adam Webber (Schenectady) and Frank Arena (Lake Grove).
 
SUNY New Paltz coach Thomas Seay recruited 10 freshmen and one sophomore transfer for 2021 to beef up the 2021 squad. The first-year Hawks came in with a wide range of experiences. Matthew Polestino (Greenlawn), Jack Greco (Greenlawn) enter as highly regarded prospects, both having been Newsday Top-100 Baseball selects for 2019. Sophomore transfer Steven Campione (Highland Mills/Salisbury University), a 2019 Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason All-American, will join All-CHSAA Justin Ortiz (Middle Village, NY), left-handed pitcher James Trink (Ronkonma, NY), to go along with Willie Veras (New York, NY), Vincent Siano (LaGrangeville, NY), Anthony Abraham (Yonkers, NY) Kyle Gaertner (Wantagh, NY) and Matthew Harper (Bellport) who will all help bolster the programs depth and its chances for success in the SUNYAC East Division.
 
To limit travel the conference will split into two divisions – East and West – with SUNY New Paltz pitted alongside Plattsburgh State, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Potsdam in the East. Each team will play one non-division opponent and for the Hawks that opponent is defending SUNYAC Champions SUNY Oswego. To add on, SUNY New Paltz will play perennial programs Cortland the Lakers to open up SUNYAC play. However, Seay made sure to add non-conference contests so his team is prepared entering league play with the team opening up the season on the road against Skidmore College March 20.

"We're really fortunate to play Skidmore this weekend. I really credit our administration with giving us that ability," Seay said. "A couple of weeks ago I didn't know if we were going to be able to play any non-league games, and going right into Cortland and Oswego are two programs over the last 10 years that have really dominated, not only the SUNYAC, but the New York Region. So, getting the doubleheader against Skidmore is going to give us an opportunity to kind of evaluate some things. Get some people in there to see what they can do and get some guys some experience for those four games, but we're going to play Cortland I believe four times this year. We're going to play Oswego twice, so those are going to be six really competitive games and like I've really stressed to the guys from last year, and even this year is, those are the teams that we want to compete with that we want to beat, because those are the guys that are on top right now. That's where you want to be and those are the programs that you want to emulate then you really get excited about playing the likes of those two programs."
 
SUNY New Paltz played the Thoroughbreds in 2019 and suffered a 7-4 loss on Loren Campbell Memorial Field. The Hawks will look to bounce back this spring and end a three-game losing skid against the program. The two teams will play in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.



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