June 8, 2006

For Mount St. Mary's head coach Scott Thomson, the Northeast Conference playoffs have been an elusive goal.  In 2006, it was no different as another solid season ended with the Mount narrowly missing the playoffs.

After being eliminated from the playoff race on the final day of the season in each of the past two years, the 2006 Mount baseball team hoped to clear the playoff hurdle this season.  The Mount, however, narrowly missed the playoffs again, finishing the season with a 23-24 overall mark and a 12-11 NEC record.  The Mount missed the final spot in the playoffs by two games despite matching last year's record for NEC wins in a season.

The Mount started the season in record-breaking fashion, winning its opening three games for the first time since the school moved to NCAA Division I in 1989.  The Mount swept a pair from Maryland-Eastern Shore before earning a 9-4 win at Towson. 

The hot early start was tempered in Florida when Eric Smith, the NEC Preseason Player of the Year according to the Collegiate Baseball News, suffered a season-ending injury in the Mount's loss to Duquesne.  Losing Smith, who hit .362 with nine home runs and 35 RBI as a junior, was a tough blow to the Mount offense.  In four games, Smith hit .333 with two runs scored and three RBI.

The Mount lost its first three games in Florida before rebounding to win three of its final four games on its spring trip.  An 8-6 win over Toledo capped the trip, giving the Mount a 6-4 record as it headed back North.  The Mount lost four of its next five games and headed into its NEC opening series with Central Connecticut State with a 7-8 record.

Conference play started off strong for the Mount as the team took two of three from eventual regular season champion, Central Connecticut State.  Junior Dustin Pease tossed a one-hit shutout in the Mount's 7-0 win over the Blue Devils to earn NEC Player of the Week honors. 

After dropping two of three at Quinnipiac, the Mount rebounded to take two of three games against Wagner to improve its NEC record to 5-4 after nine games.  A win over Coppin State gave the Mount a three-game win streak, the momentum came to a halt when the Mount was swept in a three-game set at Monmouth.

The Mount split a doubleheader at eventual NEC champion Sacred Heart and got right back into the NEC playoff race with a three-game sweep of St. Francis (N.Y.).  The three-game streak gave the Mount a 9-8 mark in NEC play and had the team in contention for a playoff berth.

The Mount then stepped out of conference and gave No. 11 Virginia all it could handle, leading 3-1 in the top of the eighth before falling 6-3 on a three-run walk-off home run.  The Mount rebounded to defeat Coppin State and Long Island in the first game of a three-game NEC series, but the Blackbirds put a dent in the Mount's playoff hopes by taking the final two games of the series.

The Mount headed into the final weekend of the season knowing it need to sweep Fairleigh Dickinson and then get help to earn its first NEC playoff spot since 1998.  The Mount won the first two games of the series, but saw the Knights rally from a 6-0 eighth-inning deficit for an 8-6 win in the final game of the regular season to dash the Mount's playoff hopes.

Pease led the Mount pitching staff in 2006, posting school records for wins (10) and innings pitched (92.0) in a season while earning NEC Pitcher of the Year honors and First Team All-NEC.  Pease, who is the Mount's all-time leader in wins (23) and ERA (3.60), struck out 73 batters while walking just 11 on the season.  In NEC play, Pease was 6-2 with a 2.91 ERA while holding the opponents to a .191 average.

Sophomore Josh Vittek paced the Mount offense, leading the team in virtually every offensive category.  Vittek, who was named First Team All-NEC at first base, led the Mount in average (.340), runs (31), hits (55), doubles (20), RBI (39) and slugging percentage (.593).  His 20 doubles led the conference and broke the Mount's single-season record.  Vittek's career .347 average is fourth all-time at the Mount.

Junior catcher Stephan Fay earned Second Team All-NEC honors after hitting .314 with two home runs and 31 RBI in 46 games.  Fay, who hit .342 in NEC games, added 16 doubles on the season.  Fay was second on the team in at bats (156), runs (25), hits (49), doubles, home runs and slugging percentage (.455).

Junior second baseman Matt Trusch closed out the year with a 16-game hit streak to finish the season with a career-best .310 average.  Trusch led all Mount hitters with a .347 average in NEC games.  On the year, he had 10 runs scored and 15 RBI in 43 games played.

Junior Mike Gioioso provided the Mount with a solid glove at short stop.  Gioioso broke the school record for assists (113) while hitting .268 with 22 runs and 10 RBI.  Gioioso walked 13 times on the year and led finished with a .349 on-base percentage.

Sophomore third baseman Matt Eiden finished second on the team with a .320 average while scoring 21 runs and leading the team with a .435 on-base percentage and 18 walks.  Eiden hit .333 in conference play and led the team with nine sacrifice hits.  Eiden is 11^th all-time at the Mount in career on-base percentage (.414).

Senior Joe Kotula was the Mount's designated hitter, finishing the season with a .239 average with six doubles, four triples, four home runs and 26 RBI.  Kotula, who started 46 games on the season, finished second all-time at the Mount with 41 career doubles and 166 games played.  His four triples this season are tied for the second-best single-season mark at the Mount.

Junior Justus Yocum and freshmen Ivor Hodgson and Matt Staso rounded out the starting lineup for the Mount.  Yocum started 31 games and appeared in 43 in the Mount outfield.  He hit .257 on the season with a team-high 10 stolen bases.  Yocum came on strong down the stretch, posting a .394 average over the final 12 games of the season.

Hodgson gave the Mount a solid glove in center field.  The freshman appeared in 41 games with a .202 average and 16 runs scored on the season.  He led all Mount outfielders with 77 putouts on the year.  Hodgson was 3-for-9 with two doubles and a pair of RBI in the Mount's season-ending three-game series against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Staso emerged as the Mount's starting left field, hitting .373 with 12 runs scored and 14 RBI in 21 games as a freshman.  He became the first Mount player ever to win NEC Player and Rookie of the Week honors in the same week after a scintillating series against St. Francis (N.Y.).  In the three-game set, Staso was 10-for-11 (.909) with three doubles and 10 RBI to lead the Mount to its first three-game sweep of a conference rival since 1995. 

Also seeing time in the outfield were junior Joe Hayes and sophomores Joe Diserio, Ryan Murray and Brandon Woods.  Hayes hit .200 on the season in 23 games, including a 3-for-3 performance in the Mount's win at Georgetown.  Hayes had an on-base percentage of .368 on the year.  Diserio hit .237 in 22 games with a 2-for-2 day in the Mount's loss to Canisius.  Woods started 16 games while appearing in 27 on the season, posting a .239 average and a .397 on-base percentage on the year. He belted his first career home run in the Mount's home win over Coppin State.  Murray played in 24 games  with a .158 average and six RBI.  His two-run double in the ninth lifted the Mount to a 5-3 win at Coppin State.

Seeing time in the infield for the Mount were senior Blake Burkey and freshmen Bobby Plumb, Ryan Stamp and Andres Tamayo.  Burkey appeared in nine games his senior season for the Mount with one start.  He scored twice on the year and drove in a run vs. Northeastern.  Plumb hit .333 in seven games off the bench for the Mount.  Stamp hit .194 in 16 appearances on the year.  He had a pair of RBI in the Mount's win over Bowling Green.  Tamayo started eight times and appeared in 14 games, hitting .143 with two doubles and three RBI on the season.  He had an RBI doubles at Maryland.

On the mound, seniors Justin Davis, Brian Perkins, Steve Stone and Jim Serafin combined for 25 starts on the season.  Davis (3-5, 5.95 ERA) appeared in 15 games as a senior, striking out 22 in 42.1 innings of work.  Davis leaves the Mount second all-time in wins (12) and ERA (4.04), tied for sixth in appearances (57), fourth in strikeouts (152) and sixth in innings pitched (185.0). 

Perkins was 3-2 with a 3.71 ERA in 11 games (six starts) as a senior.  The left-hander is sixth all-time at the Mount in career ERA (5.22).  This season, he struck out 23 batters while walking just seven in 34.0 innings of work.  Perkins pitched five shutout innings to earn the win in the Mount's 4-0 victory over IPFW.

Stone (1-6, 6.29 ERA) leaves the Mount tied for top spot with 64 career appearances.  The right-hander had 35 strikeouts this season in 44.1 innings of work in 16 appearances (eight starts).  Stone struck out a season-high seven batters in the Mount's 5-3 win over Wagner.  He is seventh all-time in strikeouts (127) and ninth in innings pitched (170.1) all-time at the Mount.

Serafin was 2-1 with a 5.55 ERA in 12 appearances in his first season on the mound for the Mount this year.  A converted position player, Serafin struck out 20 batters in 24.1 innings on the season.  He pitched five scoreless innings with three strikeouts in the Mount's home win over Coppin State to earn the victory.

Junior Bucky Kosyk took over the Mount's closer role in 2006 and shattered the school record for appearances (27) and saves (10).  Kosyk was 1-1 with a 3.98 ERA in 40.2 innings on the season.  He had 34 strikeouts while walking just 11 on the year.  Kosyk led the Northeast Conference in both saves and appearances while breaking the school record of four saves set by Pease in 2004.  Kosyk started the final game of the year and pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Sophomore Andrew Germuth came on strong in the second half of the season to finish the year with a 2-2 record and a 3.83 ERA.  Germuth was 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA over his final 14 appearances of the season.  He tossed a six-hit shutout in the Mount's 7-0 win at Fairleigh Dickinson.  Germuth allowed just one run with five strikeouts in six innings in the Mount's 6-3 loss at No. 12 Virginia.  He finished the season with 30 strikeouts.

Senior Lynn Fuller, juniors Aaron Haslam and Ryan Millea, sophomore Craig Henson and freshman Jimmy Mudgett also saw action on the mound in 2006.  Fuller appeared in two games after missing the previous season with an injury.  Haslam appeared in three games, including a scoreless inning of relief in the Mount's 19-6 win over St. Francis (N.Y.).  Millea posted a 5.19 ERA in six games as a junior. He pitched three scoreless innings in the Mount's loss at Georgetown.  Henson was 1-2 with a 6.16 ERA in nine games and four starts for the Mount.  He registered 13 strikeouts in 19.0 innings on the season.  Henson allowed one run and struck out six in 6.1 innings in the Mount's 3-1 win over Bowling Green.  Mudgett appeared in four games with one start.  He struck out six in 5.2 innings in his fist collegiate start vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore.

The Mount has a strong nucleus of players returning next season, including the NEC Pitcher of the Year and eight starters in the field.  That should give the Mount plenty of confidence while trying to reach the NEC playoffs.