WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University baseball team is set to take the field under the instruction of new head coach Mike Guy, who will lead the Colonels into their first season of competition in the Landmark Conference.
 
Coach Guy inherits a ball club that went 17-24 overall in their 2023 campaign and finished 11-13 in their final season in the MAC Freedom.
 
Although the team will be facing a new slate of opponents, the schedule will look quite familiar for Coach Guy, who previously served as a longtime assistant coach at the University of Scranton. He spoke to the strength of the new conference, saying "there's no easy weekends. There's definitely some juggernauts in the league… a couple of them had some preseason ranking votes as well for the top-25."  The skipper also noted that the team is "going to be challenged right out of the gate".
 
The Colonels' will field a 30-man roster comprised of one graduate student, four seniors, 11 juniors, six sophomores and eight first-years.
 
Grad student Max Alessi (Wallenpaupack, PA/Wallenpaupack) will return for his sixth season of collegiate baseball behind the dish. The 2023 All-MAC Freedom Honorable Mention catcher slugged .474, gunned down a team-high nine runners and held a share of the team lead with two homers last season.
 
Senior infielder Loch Williams (Elkton, MD/Tome) finished last season with a .316 batting average and a .308 on base percentage. Fellow infielder Ruben Ortiz Montemayor (Veraguas, Panama/Iclave) also returns for his fifth season in the Blue and Gold after appearing in five contests in 2023. Senior outfielder Ryan Cosby (Buford, GA/Mountain View (GA)) joins the program following a two-year stint at Keystone College. Rounding out the senior class is right-handed pitcher Ryan Sanderson (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell), who tossed 17 strikeouts through 28 innings in 2023.
 
The sizable junior class welcomes the likes of infielder Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman), who joins the Colonels after knocking in 25 RBIs and collecting 10 extra-base hits at Northampton Community College last year. The team will lean on 2023 All-MAC Freedom Honorable Mention Todd Kolbicka (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover) for offensive production, as the third baseman he raked 39 hits and bagged five stolen bases at Wilkes last season. Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) started all 41 games for the Colonels in 2023, knocking in 21 runs and turning a team-high 22 double plays on the diamond. Adam Grundt (Archbald, PA/Valley View) enters the season after finishing with a .429 batting average through seven plate appearances last season. Catcher Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) put together 23 hits throughout the 2023 season and threw out seven runners behind the plate. In the outfield, Jimmy Brazofsky (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) carries a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage into the new season while Connor Morgan (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) recorded 20 hits and stole a team-high six bases on six attempts. Splitting time between the outfield and the mound will be Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights), who posted a team-high .940 OPS, 29 RBIs and hit his way to 16 extra bases. The 2023 All-MAC Freedom honorable mention outfielder was also selected to the All-MAC Freedom Second Team for his work as a closer after clinching five saves and 13 strikeouts on the bump. Pitchers Colby Butczynski (Nanticoke, PA/Greater Nanticoke), Tegan Shortlidge (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) and Tyler Hoedl (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) finished last season with 25 appearances between the three of them. Butczynski and Shortlidge ended the 2023 campaign with 2.53 and 1.58 WHIPs respectively. The southpaw Hoedl sat down 19 batters across 18.2 innings pitched while only allowing 19 earned runs.
 
"I think our core is going to be a mix of new guys and returners," Coach Guy spoke about the squad's diverse leadership group. "There's a lot of leadership there between our upperclassmen - juniors and seniors - it's been a pleasure working with them." He noted their potential to elevate the team's play, adding "I think our leadership is going to take this group far."
 
Sophomore infielder Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) started 23 games for the Colonels, finishing the year with a .707 OPS He brings with him the most fielding assists out of all returning players with 60. Outfielder Evan Melberger (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area) posted a .378 on base percentage and 32 putouts. Devin Markert (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) knocked in eight runners last season. He will split time between the infield and pitching in 2024. Joining Markert on the mound from the sophomore class will be Daniel Storm (Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy), Hunter Lawall (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area) and Braydon Wuestner (Gales Ferry, CT/Ledyard). Storm joins the program after spending the 2022 season at Misericordia University. Lawall recorded 33 strikeouts in the Blue and Gold while Wuestner boasted a solid 2.16 ERA last season.
 
The first-year class is made up of catcher Aidan Nye (Hegins, PA/Tri-Valley), utility infielders Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) and Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) as well as outfielder Ryan Ruddy (Roaring Brook Township, PA/North Pocono). Rounding out the incoming class is infield/pitcher Wilton Abreu (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Liceo Americo Pérez Tolentino), pitcher/designated hitter Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and pitchers Ethan Jezewski (Millerstown, PA/Greenwood) and Caleb Butczynski (Nanticoke, PA/Greater Nanticoke Area).
 
Coach Guy praised the culture of hard work the team has already created together, sharing that "from the returners to the new guys, the team chemistry's been great. We're working hard in the weight room, we have a lot of early work that goes on throughout our practices. Even on our off days, guys are in the cage."
 
He also emphasized that the familiarity amongst players extends to the newcomers. "They've stepped right in and really haven't missed a beat. We have six freshmen and three transfer students. A lot of them are local to the area, a lot of them know the guys who were at Wilkes last year. They played with them in high school [or] they played against them in high school, so there's a lot of familiarity with the players. I think that's going to be what we lean on this year."
 
The Colonels open their season at Bruggeworth Field on Sunday, February 25 when they host SUNY Cobleskill for a doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The program plays their first-ever Landmark Conference game on Saturday, March 16 as they welcome Drew University to town for a 12:00 p.m./3:00 p.m. doubleheader.
 
"I'm excited to get out and compete. We've been practicing since September, guys have been doing individual work on their own since the fall season."