The baseball team finished with a 5-3 overall record in  its eight game Clemente Cup series in Puerto Rico.

   The Cougars recorded two shutout wins in the Cup and ended the trip on a hot streak, winning three consecutive games, including impressive 13-0 and 18-1 victories over Oneonta State and SUNY-Canton respectively.

   The Cougars, selected as the unanimous pre-season favorite to win the MAC Freedom conference, are poised to win their sixth consecutive conference championship en route to a NCAA tournament birth.

   With four consecutive conference games upcoming, let’s take a look at who I expect to be big time contributors to this ball club.

Chris Borosh

   Borosh was the 2015 Freedom Conference Championship MVP. He finished his junior season with a team-high .409 average, while collecting 26 RBI and hitting 15 doubles. Borosh is also a threat on the bases, going 10-11 in stolen base attempts.

Kyle Lindsay

   The senior second baseman didn’t quite put together the season he had in 2014 but finished the 2015 season as a First Team All-Freedom selection. He was one of two players to start all 44 games (alongside Borosh) where he hit .325 with 10 doubles, two triples, and 32 RBI in 163 at bats.

D.J. Navoczynski

   The senior transfer from Lackawanna Junior College started 42 games for the Cougars last season. He finished the year hitting .310, ripping 12 doubles, three triples, four homers, and a team-high 38 RBI.

Ryan Dorosh

   The senior pitcher was a First Team All-Freedom selection last season. He finished the season with a 7-0 record and a 2.47 ERA in 11 starts. He led all pitchers with 69.1 innings on the mound where he struck out 58 batters.

Cory Vogeli

   Also a senior pitcher, Vogeli was the 2015 Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Year after posting an 8-0 record. He had a team low 1.14 ERA in 11 starts where he struck out a team high 63 batters while only walking 24.

   Adding strong support to the Cougar offense is Alec Iurato and Jeremy DeCotiis.

   Iurato, a sophomore, appeared in 31 games, making 22 starts in his freshman season. He finished with a .316 average with two doubles, two triples, and drove in 14 runs. Now a regular in the infield, I expect Iurato to be the Cougar’s breakout player and be among their best in offensive production.

   Decotiis started in 39 games last season and finished with a 2.33 average. He recorded seven doubles, two triples, and 18 RBI while adding 15 stolen bases. With a strong showing in the Clemente Cup, I expect DeCotiis to improve his numbers this season.

   On the mound, Michael Turton (So), Garret Pelko (Jr), and Tim Burek (Sr.) have all had strong outings so far this season combining for a 0.83 ERA. They will add great depth to the rotation throughout the season.

   With their strong rotation and depth from 1-9, I expect this ball club to put together another 30-plus win season under Coach Egbert and advance to the Freedom Conference Championship.