NEWPORT, R.I.-- Eric Cirella enters his 10th season as the Seahawks head coach with his team in search of its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Regionals (2019, 2021, 2022) and its fifth CCC Championship in seven years (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021). The 2022 Seahawks won the CCC regular season with a 14-0-2 record (30-13-2 overall) and an at-Large berth into the NCAA Tournament where they ended their season in the Lynchburg Regional Finals with a loss to No. 3 Birmingham Southern.
Despite the loss of some premier arms from a season ago – Dominic Perachi (Pittsburgh Pirates 11th round draft pick), Patrick Maybach (graduation/Billings Mustangs), and Andrew Roman (ACC, Boston College) – Salve Regina returns eight of nine starters (six All-CCC returners) from a team that batted .311 with 88 doubles, 89 stolen bases and an .885 OPS. Senior first baseman Tyler Cannoe (Schenectady, N.Y.) (.335, 20 extra-base hits) and junior centerfielder Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) (.301, six home runs) both had 41 RBI a season ago. Shortstop Michael Breen (Auburn, Mass.) returns from an injury shortened season ago that saw him hit .378 with 11 extra-base hits, a 1.025 OPS and 13 stolen bases. Graduate student infielder Dustin Siqueira (Trumbull, Conn.) (.312, 14 stolen bases), senior third baseman Wil McCarthy (Pembroke, Mass.) (.344, .959 OPS), graduate student Sean O'Malley (Darien, Conn.) (.373, .667 slugging percentage), junior outfielder Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) (15 extra-base hits, 41 runs), and senior outfielder Matt D'Amato (Midland Park, N.J.) (36 runs, 11 stolen bases) round out the returners.
On the mound, the Seahawks will turn to some veterans as well as many newcomers to fill the innings lost from a year ago and a pitching staff that led the country in strike outs (483). Brayden Clark (Beverly, Mass.) (6-2, 60 IP, 2.83 ERA), Graham Jeffries (Chelmsford, Mass.) (49 K, 33 IP), Tommy DelVecchio (Westfield, N.J.) (13 appearances, 2.51 ERA), Zach Lopez (New Canaan, Conn.) (3.27 ERA), Eddie Hardiman (Danvers, Mass.) (11 appearances), and Holden Ferrari (Dover, Mass.) (3.86 ERA) will all be in the mix this spring.
"What we look like in February and then in May could be drastically different as we continue developing a very talented freshman class – the most talented freshman class in my tenure here," said Cirella. "And along with that, we have some proven returners and an excellent core of leaders who will work to keep us trending in the right direction. There are a lot of guys on this roster who have played in multiple NCAA Regionals and that's important to the culture of our program and as times get tough in season.
-Salve Baseball defeated Clark University in both teams respective openers.
-Salve Baseball Travels To Catholic University No. 20 ranking in the D3baseball/NCBWA preseason poll. for a non-conference match up 2/25 - 2/26
