After rattling off an 11-game win streak near the end of last season, the RPI baseball team looked poised to make another playoff run. The team had been selected to 13 straight NCAA tournaments, a Division III record, and had captured nine straight league titles. League foes Clarkson and St. Lawrence had other ideas, however, and robbed the Red Hawks of a chance to make it 14 in a row.
“I don’t want to look at last year and say we had a bad year,” Rensselaer Head Coach Karl Steffen recalled. The team finished with a solid 25-15 record, and Steffen picked up his 500th win, but they fell short in the league tournament. “[The team] took things for granted last year. We settled for being good.”
Steffen, who is entering his 21st season as head coach, says there is a new feeling in the dugout this year. “There’s a greater sense of determination in terms of what they want to accomplish.”
The team was a victim of graduation this offseason, as all NCAA teams are. Some of the big names are gone from the roster.
“Dan Quinn was a fixture for us. And Sully [Chris Sullivan] pitched all our big games,” Steffen admitted. “But we’ll be able to handle the loss of the players.”
The Red Hawks were the number-two hitting team in the nation during the 2005 campaign, hitting an astounding .362, only .001 away from the leading team. Even with the loss of Quinn, infielder Joe Ihnatolya (.392, 3 HR, 51 RBI) and outfielder Mike Passante (.427, 0 HR, 12 RBI) will be back, recently named as co-captains. Adam Lasek, Rich Mundy, and last year’s freshman phenom Stevan Slusher (.347, 3 HR, 17 RBI) will also return to Steffen’s lineup card.
A lot of new faces will be showing up on the field as well. “There’s a couple freshman vying for third base, and a couple freshman pitchers who have looked good,” Steffen acknowledged.
Coach Steffen is also focusing a lot of his attention on the pitching staff this season. With the expansion of the league schedule to 24 games from 12, he believes pitching will be key.
“It’s obviously what you’ve got on the mound that makes a difference,” he said, adding that, “it will be their best pitchers against our best pitchers.”
RPI, which has a very strong pitching staff every year, will return one senior starter, Charlie Yarnold. Last year, Yarnold posted a 5-3 record with a 3.34 ERA. He struck out 49 while walking only nine. Look for him to step up and fill the shoes of the departed ace Sullivan.
Still, the remainder of the young staff earned valuable experience last season, and will continue their progression into this spring. Tim Klein, who led the Red Hawks in ERA at 2.83 last season is a “year older and a year stronger,” said Steffen. Joe Zongol led the team with 62 strikeouts as a rookie, and Luke Calzone pitched a complete game no-hitter down the stretch last year.
“At times last year, those guys were just unhittable,” Steffen boasted.
The team will travel to Florida for its annual spring break trip consisting of eight games. This will give the coaching staff a chance to evaluate the direction the team is moving in, and will give some of the new players a chance to adjust to the speed of the college game.
Steffen made an analogy to sum up how hard it is to get a team ready in Upstate New York. “Think of the hockey team trying to practice with rollerskates in the gym. We need the Florida trip,” he said.
When the squad returns, they will jump right into league competition. They will host Clarkson the weekend of March 25. Steffen says this year will be very exciting for the Liberty League.
“Rochester’s going to be a very good team this season. St. Lawrence really came on strong in the end of the year last year. And Clarkson, year in and year out, has been very competitive.”
The road will be tough for the Red Hawks, but they are ready. “Our expectations are high,” the veteran skipper said. “We’d like to get to the World Series.” The current seniors are one year removed from the last trip to the pinnacle of NCAA baseball, and “they’ve been working towards that end.”
Steffen, however, won’t let his team lose concentration. “We have to go out and play well every day. We need to stay focused and try to win the regular season first.”
