WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University baseball team is set to begin its 2021 season on Saturday, March 13. The Colonels will be hitting the field under third year head coach Kevin Gryboski '95 and ushering in the Bruggeworth Field era in earnest.

Wilkes went 4-5 during the shortened 2020 season before the pandemic stopped play just before the start of Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play. The Colonels were 16-20 overall and 8-13 in the conference during the 2019 season.

This year the schedule consists of MAC Freedom action only with seven four-game sets on the docket.

"With losing last season the guys are coming back hungry," Gryboski said. "They understand what they need to do as far as mask wearing and social distancing and they have worked hard through these times in the weight room and on the field."

The new Bruggeworth Field only hosted one official game last season so the new turf facility is another exciting element added to the 2021 season.

"The guys are fired up to be able to play on the nicest complex in the conference by far," Gryboski said. "We have had the opportunity to get out on a beautiful field and have fun while a lot of our opponents haven't had the opportunity on grass fields."

Wilkes will send a senior-laden team to the field in 2021 with half of the 34-man roster going into their fourth or fifth collegiate season. Infielder Brandon Reno (Hunlock Creek, PA/Northwest Area) will help lead the way after being named First-Team All-MAC Freedom in 2019 as a designated hitter. That season he hit .412 with six home runs, 10 doubles, and 35 RBI's. In the shortened 2020 season Reno was hitting .313 with two doubles and five RBI's.

Senior catcher Vinny Bobbin (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) also returns after being selected Honorable Mention All-MAC Freedom in 2019. Bobbin batted .310 with three doubles that year and was hitting .308 in six games last year. Senior utility player Michael Patrizio (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) was an Honorable Mention all-conference selection back in 2018. He was leading the Colonels last year with a .321 batting average and ranks seventh in the Wilkes record book with 46 stolen bases. Senior outfielder Matt Reinert (Telford, PA/Souderton) was also an Honorable Mention All-MAC Freedom pick in 2018 and is back for his fifth year. He hit .287 in 2019 and was hitting .318 in eight games last year.

Infielder Nick Pronti (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge) was leading the team with six RBI's and four doubles last season and hit the first home run ever at Bruggeworth Field in the Colonels lone home game last year. Catcher Nick Malatesta (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) was batting .320 in eight games last year.

"We have seasoned guys in key spots," Gryboski commented. "Reinert came back and he has stood out as a leader on and off the field. Reno (third base) and Pronti (shortstop) will hold down the left side of the infield. Bobbin and Malatesta have done a great job with the pitching staff and Patrizio has done a great job at helping the younger guys."

The senior class also consists of outfielder Dominick Bayo (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West), infield/outfielder Jared Angerman (Northampton, PA/Northampton Area), infielder Rob Iacono (Wantagh, NY/MacArthur), infielder Charles Giacometti Jr. (Dallas, PA/Dallas), infielder Bryan Nifenecker (Amityville, NY/St. Dominic), outfielder Jonah Harder (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), outfielder Jack Hines (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne), and outfielder Vincent Uzzi (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River).

Three senior pitchers are on the roster. Andrew Indzonka (New Windsor, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) did not allow a run in 4.1 innings last season and picked up three saves. He is second in the Wilkes record book with 14 saves, only two behind Jason McDermott's 16. Tony Molitoris (Hanover Twp., PA/Holy Redeemer) registered a 2-0 record and a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 innings last year. He went 4-1 for the Colonels in eight starts back in 2019. Frank Navatta (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville) has made 12 appearances with five starts in his Wilkes career.

Pitchers JT Hibschman (Millville, NJ/Millville) and Gage Coudriet (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) are the two juniors on the roster. Hibschman, a lefty, made nine starts and 10 appearances for the Colonels with a 2-3 record and 32 strikeouts in 2019 as a freshman. He had made two starts in 2020 going 0-1. Coudriet also went 2-3 as a freshman two years ago in five starts and eight appearances and made three relief appearances last year.

Nine sophomores return for the Colonels after getting limited time during their first collegiate season in 2020. Infielder Stone Wormuth (Carbondale, PA/Carbondale) was 5-for-8 (.625) at the plate in five games last year. Catcher Alexis Velez (Caguas, PR/Notre Dame), catcher/outfielder Peyton Schuck (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy), infielder Jason Spezzaferra (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack), and pitcher/outfielder Darren Kerdesky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) also return.

Kerdesky, Jonathan Martens (Mt. Pocono, PA/Scranton Prep), Sawyer Kemp (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick), Jack Gordon (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee), and David Wickiser (Mountain Top, PA/Holy Redeemer) will return to the mound. Martens had a 1.04 ERA over two appearances and 8.2 innings last year. Kemp started two games and Gordon one last year while Kerdesky and Wickiser each appeared in two games each.

Six first-year players join the Navy and Gold for 2021. Infielders Rocky DiBernardo (Gainesville, FL/Oak Hall School), Loch Williams (Elkton, MD/Tome), and Ruben Ortiz Montemayor (Veraguas, Panama/Iclave), outfielder Louie Stefanelli (Taylor, PA/Riverside), and pitchers Tim Gilhooley (Olyphant, PA/Holy Cross) and Ryan Sanderson (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) make up the class.

"Rocky, from Florida, is a scrappy infielder and I have been impressed with Sanderson and lefty Gilhooley on the mound, they have stood out and are vying for innings," Gryboski said.

The season gets started on Saturday, March 13 with a doubleheader at MAC Freedom newcomer Arcadia with first pitch of game one scheduled for 12:00 p.m. The two teams will transition to the Ralston Athletic Complex and Bruggeworth Field for a home doubleheader on Sunday, March 14.

The rest of the schedule consists of doubleheaders on consecutive days home and away against Misericordia (March 20-21), Stevens (March 27-28), FDU-Florham (April 2-3), King's (April 10-11), DeSales (April 17-18), and Delaware Valley (April 24-25). A seven and a nine-inning game will be contested each day.

"Playing four games and 32 innings in 30 hours will test team's depth and deeper teams will be successful," Gryboski said of the schedule. "Without our normal Florida trip on the schedule this season we are going into conference competition a little blind compared to a normal year."

Gryboski pointed out how the MAC Freedom got stronger with the additions over the past two seasons of Stevens and Arcadia to go along with previous perennial favorites Misericordia and DeSales.

The 2021 MAC Freedom Championship will then begin with quarterfinal play on May 1-2 with the semifinals on May 8-9 and the final on May 15-16. Each round will be contested as a three-game series with the higher-seeded team hosting a doubleheader on the first day and the lower-seeded team hosting the 'if necessary' game on the next day. The champion will receive the MAC Freedom's automatic NCAA qualifying position into the Division III Tournament.