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WATERBURY, Conn. – With each year under the guidance of sixth-year head coach AJ McNamara, the Post University baseball program has inched closer to its first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship and its first trip to the NCAA Regional. The Eagles finished 24-18 in 2011, and 12-8 in the CACC, a third place finish. It was the Eagles' best regular season finish in the history of the program.
 
After Post dramatically defeated Chestnut Hill in the first round of the conference tournament, the Eagles fell to regular season champion Dominican in the semifinals to end their season. Although the Eagles lost 11 key players from the 2011 roster, a nice blend of talented returners, coupled with a deep and gifted group of newcomers give the Eagles hope and tempered excitement for this upcoming year.
 
“We lost a lot of big contributors from last year, but we return some key pieces and we did a very nice job of recruiting some talented ballplayers to fill in the gaps,” McNamara said. “We may be a more complete and athletic team this year, than in any other year during my five seasons at Post. I like what we have in place from the start of the year, but it's always a long and challenging road.”
 
PITCHERS
The Eagles return some of the top pitchers in the CACC for 2012. In the starting rotation, the combination of seniors Steve Corbett and Cutler Ruby give Post a dynamic and durable tandem, which could be two of the better arms in the region. Corbett had a fantastic year in his first season in Green and White. The local hurler finished 6-2 with a 1.77 earned-run average, in 71 innings pitched with five complete game shutouts. He broke single-season records in both ERA and shutouts. His performances earned him First Team All-CACC and Preseason Second Team All-Region as selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
 
“Steve just competes; he's aggressive in the zone and attacks hitters,” McNamara said. “We look for him to have another solid year.”
 
The hard-throwing Ruby was the unfortunate beneficiary of some tough luck outings as he easily could have won two or three more games last year. To his credit, Ruby still finished 3-2 with a 2.26 ERA, with 56 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.
 
“Although his record won't indicate it, Cutler had an outstanding year for us last year,” McNamara said. “Hopefully we can close out some games to get him more wins this year.”
 
John Jeanes, a third quality starter in the Eagles rotation, is also back for the upcoming season. The hard-throwing right hander from Alabama finished 2011 with a 3-2 record, a 3.98 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 43 innings pitched.
 
“John will be looked upon to fill the holes left by the graduation of Steers and Tommy Sirois,” McNamara said. “We are excited about his progress and continued development.”
 
Two newcomers will look to step into starting roles this year as transfers Kevin Collinge and Jackson Geary will be called upon to continue the success of the Eagles' starting rotation, which broke the school record for ERA at a 2.70 clip in 2011.
 
Collinge, transferred from Gateway Community College in Arizona, went 6-3 with a 2.05 ERA last year and led his program to the Division II Junior College World Series. He finished with only 19 walks in 66 innings pitched and was named Second Team All-Region.
 
Geary is welcomed to the rotation after he transferred from Division I powerhouse Coastal Carolina University. Geary pitched two years for the Chanticleers as they advanced to the NCAA Division I regional in 2011 before they lost to Connecticut. Geary also had an outstanding summer pitching in the NECBL, finishing 2-2 with a 2.26 ERA, while striking out 55 batters in 42.1 innings of work. He was named the 38^th-best draft prospect in the prestigious summer league.
 
“Collinge and Geary are two very talented pitchers who provide a ton of stability, flexibility and depth to our starting rotation,” McNamara said.
 
The bullpen was an area of concern last year, but returners Hayden Allred and Steve Kimmelman got valuable experience and showed they can handle the grind of coming out of the pen on a regular basis. Allred finished 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 22 innings of work, while Kimmelman finished with a 3.60 ERA and struck out 10 batters in nine appearances.
 
“Hayden [Allred] will return as our long relief guy as I think he's very effective in that role, but Kimmelman hopefully can mold himself into a quality set-up guy or closer,” McNamara said. “He's key to our back-end bullpen. If he continues to develop and mature like he has shown, there's no telling how big of an impact he will have.”
 
A big factor to the staff will be lefties Andrew Harris from Cedar Valley Community College, Taylor Carr from St. James, Ontario as well as returner Phil Sirois. Harris was used as a reliever at his program as the lanky left-hander. He finished 2-1 with 13 strikeouts in 30 innings of work. Carr, who went 7-1 on his AAU team, is another option on the back-end as a hard-throwing southpaw out of the pen. Sirois has battled inconsistency his first two years but looks to make a bigger splash coming out of the bullpen as a specialty arm.
 
Sophomore reliever Sean Sylvester displayed more consistency his second year, and looks to factor in as a possible mid-week starter or long reliever. Sophomore Nick Bologna is turning heads after being converted into a hard-throwing quality arm, with good breaking pitches and an outstanding reliever's mindset.
 
An intriguing piece could be transfer Garrett Cornwell, who won seven games at two different colleges, and also won 10 games his senior year. Cornwell was an honorable mention All-State choice at Seymour High School.
 
“I like where we're at with our staff thus far,” McNamara said. “This could be the deepest we've ever been here. We'll be good if everyone buys into their roles and believes in what they're doing.”

OUTFIELD
The Eagles' outfield will take on a whole new look as the entire two-deep depth chart from last year moved on. Not to be seen as a weakness, Post brought in some quality newcomers to make the outfield a source of strength for the upcoming year.
 
Joe Diz, a talented player from New Mexico will step into a starting role as he transfers in from Dodge Community College in Kansas where he hit .291 with nine doubles, three triples, one home run, 38 runs scored and 21 RBIs.
 
Joining him will be fellow newcomer Alex Villar, a transfer from Gateway Community College and Chase Loudenback, a transfer from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Villar joins the Eagles after he boasted a .330 average with eight doubles, one triple, 51 runs scored and 27 RBIs. Loudenback hit .314 with four doubles, one home run, 16 runs scored and 14 RBIs. He will be a good contact hitter in the bottom third of the Eagles' lineup.
 
Also moving up the depth chart will be transfer Bobby Rodriguez who knocked in 69 runs in his two years at Westchester Community College. Also in the mix will be freshman Erik Rodriguez, who provides a good bat with very good athleticism after finishing a successful career at Miami Christian High School.
 
“We look for these guys to give us a solid top third of the lineup, adding good speed and aggressiveness, which was something we sorely missed last year,” McNamara said. “I'm confident in rotating five or six guys to keep everyone fresh and at a high amount of repetition. Overall the speed of the outfield is very good and could very well be the best we've ever had in my tenure. There is a ton of depth and it provides us some really good stability up and down the lineup.”
 
INFIELD
Although the Eagles lost First Team All-CACC and Second Team All-Region third baseman Brendan Barry to graduation, they still return half their starters from what proved to be the best defensive unit in the history of the program, and second best all time in the conference. The middle infield tandem of senior James Wong and junior Todd Blair will be back for the 2012 campaign. Wong also battled through injuries last year but the dependable and speedy middle infielder looks to come back strong in his senior season after having a stellar summer playing in the Arizona Summer League. Blair struggled with injuries all year and looks to be returning healthy and energized to get back to his freshman form.
 
“Todd might be the most talented player I've ever coached; hopefully with continued work he realizes how good he can be,” McNamara said.
 
Seven newcomers and one returner look to replace the output of Barry and provide some additional depth. Returning sophomore and part-time starter Kevin Fearon hit .182 last year in his rookie campaign and can play both corner positions.
 
Junior College transfers Sam Sena and Zach Brecht as well as incoming freshmen Erik Rodriguez and Taylor Carr look to inject some talent and flexibility around the diamond. Sena transferred from Lamar Community College in Colorado. Brecht comes to Post from Southeastern Community College in Iowa. Carr will get the first shot at first base and will look to hit somewhere in the middle of the lineup, while Rodriguez can play both corner positions.
 
Jesus Nunez also joins the infield as a talented corner guy capable of playing multiple positions around the infield. Nunez transferred in from the University of Tampa.
 
“Our infield will be deep, athletic and very flexible,” McNamara said. “Defensively, we should be able to pick it very well.”

CATCHER
The catching core returns two dynamic players behind the plate as two year starter Russell Sirko returns after he hit .267 with three doubles, one triple and 15 RBIs. Sophomore Jeff St. Pierre is back as well. He appeared in 20 games with three starts in his rookie campaign.
 
“Both Russ and Jeff provide us with quality depth and experience behind the plate,” McNamara said. “Both will see extended time and allows us some flexibility late in games.”
 
Also joining the mix will be transfer Alexandre Beland who comes to Post by way of Cochise Community College in Arizona. Belend will provide the Eagles with another quality bat, as well as good defensive skills behind the plate.
 
“I'm cautiously optimistic about this squad,” McNamara said. “We have the ability and the depth to be competitive but we lack experience in certain areas and some of these young guys will be called upon early to play under fire. We're athletic and we certainly have much more speed than what we had last year. One of the things I like is this squad seems to have really good team chemistry which will help us when times are tough. It will come down to if we can focus day in and day out, play consistent and hopefully get a bit of luck along the way.”