LIU Brooklyn Baseball Open NEC Playoffs Against Bryant

Blackbird pitching coach Craig Noto believes that LIU Brooklyn junior pitcher Justin Topa is the top baseball prospect in the Northeast. Today at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, New Jersey Noto’s star pupil has a chance to prove his coach right.

At noon the 6-2 right-hander with an explosive fastball will take the mound for the biggest game of his LIU career: a contest against top seed Bryant University in the opening game of the 2013 Northeast Conference Championship.

A four-team, double-elimination tournament, besides fourth seed LIU (21-30-1; 16-14-1 NEC) and Bryant (40-15-1; 27-5 NEC), the NEC playoff field includes second seed and defending NEC champion Sacred Heart (32-22; 23-9 NEC) and third seed Monmouth (30-22-1; 19-11-1 NEC).

Today’s marquee match-up of Topa versus the conference’s top team is a rematch of LIU’s regular season game against Bryant on April 26. Topa held the host Bulldogs in check for six solid innings until an error led to an unsightly 6-run outburst by Bryant on the way to a 10-0 shellacking of the Blackbirds.  

According to Coach Noto, today’s game promises to be entirely different for Topa and the Blackbirds.

“We can score against Kelich,” confides Noto about Pete Kelich, Bryant’s senior pitching star who has complied a 7-3 record and a sparkling 2.07 earned run average in 2013. This year’s Blackbird squad is “a bunch of grinders with great character,” said Noto, as LIU bounced back from a tough early season schedule to qualify for the NEC playoffs in their final regular season game.

LIU’s head coach Don Maines also offered praise for the resilience shown by this year’s squad. "We had a strong second half and have been filling in the gaps whenever someone has fallen short,” said Maines, now in his 8th year at the Blackbird helm. “We just try to play each game and then worry about the next contest."

That Noto’s protégé is a major league prospect is not mere speculation. Baseball America rated Topa among the top 100 college prospects in America. He was also the NEC’s lone prospect for 2013.

The Cincinnati Reds agreed with BA’s assessment; even though Topa spent all of last year on the disabled list—necessitating a red shirt year—the Reds drafted him in the 33rd round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.

According to Coach Maines, LIU’s second NEC playoff berth in the last three years after an 11-year drought is about more than the return to form of his star pitcher.

"It's about continuous improvement, and Justin Topa coming back has helped,” said Maine. “We aren't depending solely on him, but on each new and returning player.”

Topa (7-6, 4.35 ERA, 75 strikeouts in 91 innings) will need to be at his best today against a Bryant squad that led the NEC in runs, RBIs and doubles and was second in hitting with a .286 average.

Besides Topa, LIU will need strong performances from shortstop John Ziznewski and outfielder Pete Leonello to beat a Bulldog team that boasts NEC Player of the Year Kevin Brown and Rookie of the Year AJ Zarozny. Ziznewski leads LIU in hits with 68, hitting with a .354 batting average, runs with 41, on-base percentage at .426, stolen bases with 15, total bases with 104 and is tied for the team lead with 5 home runs.

Ziznewski has been outstanding for LIU since transferring in 2012 from Rockland Community College. Last night at the NEC awards banquet prior to the tournament, Ziznewski was named to the 2013 All-NEC second-team.

If Ziznewski has been the Blackbird’s most accomplished hitter this season, junior Pete Leonello has been the team’s most consistent performer. An All-NEC first-team selection in 2012 and a second-team All-NEC honoree for 2013, Leonello has been a close second to Ziznewski in all LIU batting categories while starting every game for the Blackbirds since early in his freshman year.

In addition to Topa, LIU’s rotation has been buoyed by sophomore right-hander Jordan Wilcox, who will pitch Friday. With a 5-5 record and a 4.83 ERA, 2013 wins over Bryant and Monmouth, and victories in two of his last three decisions, Wilcox has pitched well when the Blackbirds needed it most.

Boasting Evan Zerff, Kevin Needham and Tito Marrero, LIU has a decided bullpen edge over their NEC opponents. Zerff, a senior right-hander, is LIU’s career save leader with 18 and now sets up junior closer Needham, who leads the Blackbirds with 3 saves. Needham is a triple threat for LIU, as he has been a reliable spot starter, first baseman and closer in 2013 while leading the team in runs batted in.

Senior Tito Marrero is another dual threat for the Blackbirds, alternating with Needham at first and contributing important relief for LIU’s starters, as he too has pocketed three saves this season.

Expressing optimism that anything is possible in the NEC’s short series format, Coach Maines said: “Players show up at different times, and now that we are in the tournament at 0-0, it can only get better."

The crowd today at FirstEnergy Park will not only be full of Blackbird and Bulldog fans. Topa has been scrutinized this season by every major league team so it’s likely that a flock of scouts will be in the stands with radar guns at the ready. To catch all the action live tune in to NEC Front Row.