La Plume, PA (3-4-11) – The 2010 baseball season saw the Keystone College Giants capture their second straight Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) crown, while also earning their third straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Following the season four players were selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft and that along with graduation left a void in the Keystone lineup.
Fast forward to spring 2011, the Giants have re-tooled as the team embarks on what they hope will be a return visit to the NCAA tournament and perhaps beyond.
A slew of transfers and talented freshmen help solidify the 2011 lineup for the CSAC pre-season favorites. The Giants earned all seven first place votes in the annual pre-season coaches' poll. The team, which early season prognosticators have forecasted to be a major player in the Mid-Atlantic region, also picked up a pair of pre-season rankings on the national level. D3baseball.com tabbed the team 21st in the nation, while Collegiate Baseball Newspaper had the Giants coming in 25th. Maintaining those early season rankings and perhaps moving up will be no easy task as seven of Keystone's opponents are ranked among the top team teams in the nation.
“This years team could be the best team I've had in the past 10 years,” boasted Keystone head coach
Jamie Shevchik. “It is by far the hardest working team that I have ever had.”
Last season the Giants, who were 30-9, ranked fifth in the nation in batting with a .370 team average, were second in slugging percentage at .634 and third in home runs with 76. The team actually led the nation in home runs per game with 1.95 hit per contest.
On the mound the Giants led the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.9, while coming in twelfth in team earned run average at 3.79.
Among the fire-ballers returning for the Giants is senior Jeff Frost. Frost, who was named as one Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Player to Watch this season, compiled a 5-2 record with a 1.88 ERA last season. His earned run average ranked him 14th in the nation, while his 5.86 hits per nine innings put him seventh best in the nation.
Joining Frost in the rotation will be fellow senior Brad Higgins. Higgins went 2-0 last season with a 4.78 ERA.
A trio of transfers is also expected to be a key piece of the Keystone rotation.
Blaine O'Brien joins the Giants after having spent the past two seasons at Middle Georgia Community College. A 34th round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, O'Brien went 14-2 with 94 strikeouts during his two year stint.
Rob Rogers comes to the Giants as a transfer from Division I Binghamton University. A member of the Hawaii Collegiate League last summer, Rogers turned in an ERA of 1.25 with 29 strikeouts in 36 innings.
Jeremy Beeching is another hurler that the Giants expect to play a big role. Beeching is a transfer from Tennessee Wesleyan College and former 2006 selection of the Seattle Mariners.
Other transfers expected to make an impact on the mound include: Mick Iunni (Savanna School of Art and Design), Zack Duffy (Camden County College), Adam Krebs (Monmouth University), Derek Alex (Middle Georgia College), Andy Eggleston (Herkimer Community College), Connor Smith (Brookdale Community College) and Patrick Cassidy (Monroe Community College).
Junior Esteban Meletiche returns to anchor the Giants defense, while also providing some pop at the plate. The 2010 CSAC Player of the Year, Meletiche was also tabbed as a 2011 D3baseball pre-season First Team All-American selection.
Meletiche batted .411 last season, knocking out a team high 60 hits. The slick fielding second baseman also banged out a team high 16 doubles to go along with five home runs and three triples, while scoring 48 runs and knocking in 36. Always a threat to be on base thanks in part to a .480 on-base percentage, Meletiche swiped 14 bases in 16 attempts.
The Giants also return a core of players that saw plenty of action as everyday players in Roberto Santana, Edwin Padua, Gabe Torres, Andy Vega and Brian Del Rosso.
Santana batted .353 and scored 15 runs while being used primarily as a utility player. Padua hit for a .396 average with 40 hits and 30 RBI, while Torres batted .404 with 16 RBI. Vega batted .373 with 20 runs scored, while the speedy Del Rosso batted .319 with 21 runs scored.
The Giants will also be adding a sampling of Division I and Division II transfer to the mix. Division I transfer outfielders Andrew Siano (University of Hartford) and Edwin Rohena (LaSalle University) are expected to make their presence felt, as Siano hit for a .319 average with 29 runs scored for Hartford last season.
Also joining the mix are Division II transfers Brian Henry (Chestnut Hill College) at catcher and Lance Ratchford (Mansfield University) in the infield. Henry batted .338 last season with a .522 slugging percentage as a Second Team All-Conference selection. Henry is also a Rawlings Gold Glove nominee and a Tino Martinez Player of the Year nominee. Junior College transfers Fernando Perez and Juan Arroyo from ASA in New York will be also be looked upon to contribute to the Giants.
The Giants will hit the diamond for the first time on Thursday March 10 for a 6pm contest at Methodist University. The team will then play nine games in Winter Haven, Florida from March 12 – 19, beginning with a doubleheader against King's (PA) College on March 12. The likes of Rowan, RPI, Wheaton and Messiah also dot the schedules.
Following their double dip with Rowan University on March 18 in Florida, the team will head back north for a showdown at perennial national power Kean University on March 20. The team's home opener is slated for Thursday March 24 at 3pm when they welcome Rutgers-Newark to campus.
