Baseball Looks to Contend in Inaugural Skyline Campaign

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Building on three-straight 20-win campaigns and fresh off a fairy tale run at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series, the St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) baseball team now has a league to call their home and has high aspirations in joining the Skyline Conference this season with a potential NCAA Division III Championship berth on the line.

Under first-year head coach Jerry Sidman last season, the independent Bears compiled an 8-3 record against their future Skyline rivals and finished with a 24-18 mark that culminated with a fourth-place showing at the Small College World Series, their best finish in program history. Sidman returns for his second season at the helm—the ninth varsity season for the program—guiding the Bears into the Skyline where they were picked to finish fifth by the head coaches in their annual preseason poll. 

The Bears graduated six seniors last year, including D3Baseball.com All-New York Region Third Team selection Thomas McKenna—SJC's all-time leader in batting average, hits, runs and stolen bases—but leading the way on the field will be junior starting pitcher Mitch Brigando (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and senior infielder/pitcher Brian Luebcke (Astoria, NY/Monsignor McClancy), who were named among NCAA Division III Players to Watch for in 2016 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

With the experience of three Small College World Series trips under their belt, Sidman will turn to the senior leadership of Luebcke, Rosario DiLorenzo (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and Sean O'Melia (Woodside, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) to help guide a squad that features eight newcomers as they contend for their first Skyline title.

Brigando compiled an 8-1 record and 2.44 earned run average to highlight an outstanding sophomore campaign on the mound. The righty hurler collected Association of Division III Independents Pitcher of the Year honors and was named a USCAA All-American honorable mention.

Luebcke was named to the AD3I All-Independent First Team for the second time in 2015 batting .370 last season with 24 runs and 21 RBI. The versatile utility player also made eight appearances on the mound, starting in six, and compiled a 4-2 record with a 3.69 earned run average.

In the Bears season opener in Florida two weeks ago, both lived up to their Players to Watch billing and had strong outings on the mound. Brigando struck out six over seven innings while Luebcke struck out a career-high 10 over nine innings, both allowing just one earned run in no decisions against Brandeis.

Luebcke was also one of the top hitters, the only Bear to successfully hit in all five games in Florida, returning to Brooklyn with a .389 average, with three RBI, two runs and two stolen bases. Also wielding a big stick in Florida was junior Nicholas LoPrinzi, a two-time All-AD3I first-team honoree who was named to the USCAA All-Tournament Team at last year's Small College World Series, and matched Luebcke with a .389 average and three RBI.

Despite coming back from the Sunshine State still searching for their first win, the Bears suffered three one-run defeats and will look to reverse those outcomes back in the northeast, tuning up for the start of league play with 11 non-conference games throughout the month of March.

St. Joseph's will return to the diamond with a five-game road stand against CUNY foes Staten Island (Mar. 12) and Lehman (Mar. 13) followed by a trip to Madison, N.J to visit Drew (Mar. 17). The Bears will then close out the month of March playing seven-of-eight at home, hosting City College of New York (Mar. 19), Maine-Presque Isle (Mar. 26) and Baruch (Mar. 31), sandwiched around another road trip to the Garden State to battle NJAC foe New Jersey City (Mar. 23).

The Bears open Skyline play in a busy 25-game April, beginning with a pair of road tests at Maritime (N.Y.) on April 2nd—the first of the 16-game league schedule for the nine-team conference. One week later, St. Joseph's welcomes preseason favorite Old Westbury (Apr. 9) to Padavan-Preller Field for a doubleheader clash, after splitting the series last season with the defending champs. The Bears then meet Yeshiva the next day for two more conference affairs.

Circled on the calendar is the matchup against sibling rivals SJC Long Island on April 16th at home, just the second varsity meeting between the two squads. Last season, the two sides settled for a split with the Bears opening with a 7-1 victory before falling 11-7 in game two. Another busy weekend of conference play ends with Purchase College (Apr. 17) visiting Preller Field.

Highlighting the non-conference slate in April is a three-game set against New York University (Apr 6 & 21) at MCU Park—home of the Brooklyn Cyclones—trips to Pennsylvania to face Penn State-Abington (Apr. 3) and Cairn (Apr. 26), and a home tilt against future Skyline foe Merchant Marine Academy (Apr. 13) who joins the league next season.

The final two weekends of April sees Bears making a final push to qualify for one of six spots in the Skyline Championship, wrapping up league play with a home senior day doubleheader against Farmingdale State (Apr. 23)—the only league rival the Bears have never faced previously—a road double dip at Mount Saint Vincent (Apr. 24) and a home twinbill against Mount Saint Mary (Apr. 30).

The top six teams in the league will qualify for the Skyline Championship that kicks off on Wednesday, May 4 with the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship at stake for the winner.

2016 St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) Baseball Schedule

2016 Skyline Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll 

Team (2015 overall record, 2015 Skyline record) - Points (first-place votes)
1. Old Westbury (26-13, 10-4) - 63 (7)
2. St. Joseph's-Long Island (20-17, 13-1) - 56 (1)
3. Farmingdale State (19-17, 8-6) - 51 (1)
4. Maritime (12-18, 7-7) - 39
5. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn (24-18 overall) - 37
6. Mount Saint Mary (11-18, 6-8) - 29
7. Purchase (9-17, 5-9) - 22
8. Mount Saint Vincent (10-25, 7-7) - 19
9. Yeshiva (2-22, 0-14) - 8