Xavier Baseball Preview

Coach: Richard Magner

2009-10 finish: 19-8 (8-0 SCC Housatonic); Lost in Class LL state championship game to Pomperaug 

Key Departures:  RHP Shaun Coughlin; 2B Greg Marino; RF Alex Pace; CF Nick DeRita, INF Oliver Hart; 1B Hayden Stanton. Key Returnees:  Jr. RHP Troy DeLeon; Jr. C Lou Iannotti;  Jr. INF Tom Lanzoni; Jr INF Pat Lenehan; Jr. OF/DH Nick Chapman;  Jr. OF Matt Burns.

Outlook:  Xavier came tantalizing close to winning its first Class LL state championship since 1980 last season.  The Falcons lost 2-1 to Pomperaug at Palmer Field last June.  They enter 2011 looking to avenge that loss, but there are some questions that need to be answered – mainly who will fill the voids left by All-SCC Quinnipiac first-team performers Coughlin and Hart?  Also, will the Falcons muster enough offense to be competitive in the unforgiving Southern Connecticut Conference? Magner, for his part, was confident about at least two key areas. “I think defensively we should be pretty decent and I think we have pitching depth,” he said. Sophomore Troy DeLeon is one player that Magner thinks will step up in the absence of Coughlin. “He’s got pretty good control,” Magner said of DeLeon.  “He throws pretty hard. He can throw a curve for strikes and an occasional changeup. He’s a pretty determined young man.” DeLeon will be complemented by seniors Anthony DiMauro and Taylor Serrano, juniors Tyler Cardi, Connor Landers and Glen Marrus and sophomore Matt Albanese. Offensively, Magner said he doesn’t expect the Falcons to hang too many crooked numbers on the scoreboard.  That means they’ll have to be very fundamentally sound. “If we struggle with the little things, we are going to struggle in a lot of areas because I don’t think we are going to score a lot of runs,” Magner said. The key offensively, according to Magner, is getting production from Lanzoni, Burns and Iannotti. “Those three have to hit for us to be successful,” he said.