Baseball team...

Any more information that you can share?

Have we figured out the large donor?

Is the event not garnering interest?

New England Baseball Journal preview from this week…


PATRIOT LEAGUE
HOLY CROSS CRUSADERS

2022 record: 17-37 (11-14 Patriot, fourth place)

Coach: Ed Kahovec (fourth season, 32-67)


Sean Scanlon (Mark Seliger/Holy Cross Athletics)
The Crusaders are hoping that their first Patriot League postseason appearance since 2019 last spring can be a building block, as another youthful position player lineup will be backed by some experienced starting pitching in 2023.

Three of the team’s top four hitters from the 2022 team advanced to a semifinal series against top-seeded Army are now sophomores in first baseman Sean Scanlon, infielder Brendan Jones (Arlington, Mass.) and outfielder Connor Cooney, but many other pieces will be new or filling expanded roles.

“We’re young again on the positional side, but what stands out is the number of freshmen and sophomores who are ready to play right away,” Kahovec said. “What’s different this year is that experience on the mound, which we really haven’t had since 2020. Ever since, we have been really young on the mound, too.”

Kahovec’s club returns its top four pitchers in terms of innings, but senior Jack DiLauro (Glastonbury, Conn.) is the unquestioned No. 1 after ranking fifth in the conference with 65 strikeouts in 59 innings last season.

Dilauro will lead a rotation that will also see contributions from senior Luke Fox (West Hartford, Conn.), sophomore Tyler Mudd (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and senior Nate Chudy, the latter whose fastball has touched the mid-90s.


Tyler Mudd (Kyle Prudhomme/NEBJ)
Each starter has been through at least one full college season, but DiLauro, who has 21 career starts under his belt, has an improved overall repertoire.

“His fastball is so good that he’s had some success just living with that, which is really rare at this level, but we’ve been working on the development of his breaking ball for three years,” Kahovec said. “He really has a true arsenal this year to keep hitters on their toes.”

Mudd will return to the same role he held as a freshman, “a rare two-way player who can really do both” as a pitcher and center fielder. He will look to build off of a monster summer with the NECBL’s Ocean State Waves, going 2-0 with a 0.30 ERA in 30 ⅓ innings.

The experience gained last year, ending in a playoff setting, will go a long way for Mudd and many classmates who played important roles, but the southpaw’s contributions as a two-way player will not be stressed to as great lengths because of an improved roster.

“Really all of the sophomores who played were stars last year, so it’s really valuable for their development,” Kahovec said. “For Tyler, I don’t think (managing his load) will be as much of a challenge because we have more depth. … Our fourth and fifth outfielders are going to be legit players.”

After his .333 average was third in the Futures League last summer, Jones could slide from third base to shortstop after making an incredible year-over-year jump towards the top of the depth chart. Classmate Connor Peek (Sudbury, Mass.) is a candidate for the hot corner, with reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year Nick Wang now at Boston College.

Fox and Scanlon were 2022 All-Patriot League second-team picks. Scanlon hit a team-best .297 with 19 RBI, primarily as a designated hitter. Fox had a 2.623 ERA in 16 relief outings.

Kahovec is expecting more “legit” players to emerge from the newest class, including two local prep standouts in second baseman CJ Egrie (Phillips Andover) and outfielder Jack Toomey (Wellesley, Mass./St. Sebastian’s). Both are likely to hit between the top and middle of the lineup.

A center fielder for Phillips’ top-ranked New England club, Egrie brings strong defensive skills and game-changing speed to the Crusaders, where he has reunited with right-hander Jake Needham (North Andover, Mass.), who profiles as a future starter with a three-pitch mix.

“(Egrie is) absolutely dynamite on the bases,” Kahovec said. “He’s probably the fastest kid we’ve had since I’ve been here, and he’ll be one of the fastest in the conference, no doubt. … He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Toomey has the power and overall skillset to make an immediate impact in the outfield alongside the likes of Cooney, Mudd and junior Jake McElroy (North Andover, Mass.), who were all regulars in 2022.

“(Toomey is) just advanced in a lot of areas — tremendous glove, glides in the outfield, really strong arm and good pop,” Kahovec said. “He needs to get a little bit more consistent like most freshmen, but … we’ve got high expectations for him.”

North Carolina native Lucas Manning is expected to be the No. 1 catcher, bringing in an even more advanced offensive package than expected, following veteran Angelo D’Acunto’s graduation. Freshman outfielders Will Harding, Jake Jazits and infielder Cam Bryant could also impact the lineup.

While junior Matt Remley (North Andover, Mass.) and sophomore Luke LeMond are fully healthy for key relief roles, Needham is one of four freshman arms who Kahovec is excited to use. Among them are Danny Macchiarola, whose numbers in the fall were the best on the team, and Jaden Wywoda (Milford, Conn.).

I haven’t been able to track that detail down. He was in the transfer portal with Kirkpatrick and Wang but I can’t find a roster he is on.

50 teams ranked and an additional 61 receiving votes: www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2022-12-20/lsu-no-1-collegiate-baseball-preseason-poll-2023

Army the only team on the schedule that appears among the 111 schools.

Non-conference schedule seems realistic, but will still certainly be an uphill battle.

Probably. 

The only two "big" schools we are playing are Purdue in Texas and Penn State in North Carolina. 

Sadly, don't think the athletic office or administration cares that much about this program. In the land of the PL, we were respectable last season, making the PL Tournament. Barring the point where we reach "embarrassment"...hard to see changes made. 

Both Purdue and Penn State have weaker baseball programs than Army. Frustrating to see the lack of big time competition. It’s a huge recruiting miss. That is a large factor in kids that want to play games against the best competition. The good holy cross teams in the past played against LSU and Arizona State among others. These were formative experiences to bring back to conference play.

It’s just another example of a program going to die and an athletic department that doesn’t seem to care.

Oh, I know just most schools will play in multiple areas of the country instead of sitting in the same location for three weekends (two of them I assume are the start of spring break and end). 

Yale hired the former head coach at Eastern Connecticut State and Amherst. 

Well, he left Amherst for Eastern Conn and proceeded to win a National Championship. There is a spousal reason for him to make that move. 

I can see this thread possibly deteriorating with the mention about that group. Best to stop the stream of consciousness before it is too late. 🤣

Traveling to lsu, miss st, etc. provided guarantee payments that help fund the programs travel for the year. Playing games in Cary against northern teams doesn’t provide any guarantee payments. Pure laziness on the part of the AD and HC and rest of department who does scheduling. This program has turned into a joke and I am glad alumni are not supporting any longer as seen by poor lead off dinner attendance. Maybe the $$’s will speak because clearly a bunch of alumni expressing concerns to the AD has done nothing.

Building your schedule is a real challenge for the head coach who's trying to rehabilitate a program. Option 1 - Go play legit teams (maybe get some cash to help fund the program), get crushed and hope you don't get fired for a .250 win percentage. Option 2 - build a non-conference schedule around teams you should beat, hope for the best in conference, finish the year around .500 and live to fight another day.

For the AD, you've got to commit to a handful of years to allow a program to develop under a new coach, ideally with some more scholarship support. You better pony up some cash for the staff and get someone good, because if you made a mediocre hire or worse, you're a long way from seeing anything good happen.