Eastern Connecticut State University's Andrew Scully Joins Well-Stocked Baseball Team in Season Opener

2015 Mar 6

Andrew Scully '16, of Stratford majoring in Business Administration, opens the season with Eastern Connecticut State University's men's baseball program.

The Warriors will enter the season looking to defend their 2014 Little East Conference championship and build upon a strong 32-9 overall record under the guidance of head coach Matt LaBranche.

Entering his second year at Eastern and 16th overall as a collegiate head baseball coach, LaBranche (461-106 overall record) was optimistic about his team's chances in 2015.

"I think we have a nice mix of guys, and I think that our chemistry is strong," said LaBranche. "I think we have a chance to have a very strong lineup offensively, and I have confidence that we're going to put as good of athletes on the field as anybody we play."

LaBranche became head baseball coach at Eastern prior to the 2014 season, replacing longtime head coach Bill Holowaty, who retired after developing one of the most successful college baseball programs in Division III history. After being in an unfamiliar position coming in to his first year, LaBranche is hopeful that a carryover of coach and player chemistry will contribute to the team's success in 2015.

"It's been an easier transition in preseason this year," admits LaBranche. "It's been a better pre-season in that there's a core group of guys who know what my expectations are and how we're going to work in our indoor space, and they can help the new players get up to speed much faster. That's made practices more efficient and hopefully that translates to us getting better quicker and being ready to play when we can get outside."

After finishing with a record of 32-7 record (which included two ten-game win streaks) and winning the Little East Conference regular season and tournament championships, Eastern went 0-2 in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament at Harwich, MA. This year, the team will look to return to the tournament, and take its game to the next level. However, the Warriors must now face the challenge of playing without a number of key players from a year ago, among them outfielder Nik Ververis, infielders Brendan Lynch, Mike Vaccarelli (all three All-New England selections last year), and Gavin Lavallee, and frontline pitchers Greg Porter, Pat Barnett (All-New England), and Brent Pelella.

"It'll be a group effort (to replace their production)," said LaBranche. "There's always a few surprises, and early returns are that I'm optimistic that we're going to be pretty well-balanced offensively and have a lot of good offensive players in the lineup a?" guys who bring power and guys who bring some speed."

In terms of replacing three top pitchers, one of the key contributors' figures to be junior right-handed closer and second-team All-New England pick Adam Merritt. In his first year with the varsity in 2014, Merritt went 2-2, pitching 26 innings to the tune of a s0.00 ERA. Merritt also led the team in saves with six, the final one coming in the LEC tournament championship game against the University of Southern Maine.

"I don't expect him to post a zero (ERA),"noted LaBranche. "Because, when you're trying to be perfect, you set yourself up for failure. But we're going to ask more of him this year than last year. We may put him in some spots where it's tough to be perfect, but absolutely we expect him to be the anchor of the staff. We have some young arms that we need to incorporate and the idea is for him to take the pressure off some of those guys. If we can get to the last third of the game with a lead, we have that weapon that we can go to."

Junior righty Patrick O'Neill figures to be the opening-day starter, with senior righties Tyler Cyr (Bristol) and Sam Kosterich forming a solid starting rotation. Senior lefty Matt D'Orsi will be one of the first pitchers out of the bullpen for the second straight season. Sophomore righty Luis Vega could see plenty of time in the bullpen this year after being hurt most of last season. Much-improved sophomore lefty Ron Buchetto could also add depth.

At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Division II sophomore lefty transfer Orlando Gonzalez could be a major addition to the staff as one of several promising January transfers, as could freshmen righties Jason Staub and Hunter Hamlin. Staub pitched his high school team to last year's state championship, going undefeated in post-season and tossing a one-hitter in the title game.

Junior Tim Budd, who played for LaBranche at Western New England in 2013, is the starting catcher again. Other starting returnees include three seniors Joe Perez in center, Kyle Hart in right, and Corey Keane at second. Junior Andrew Scully may take over in left in place of Ververis after splitting duties at DH a year ago. Sophomore lefty-hitting Pat Sirois , a Division I transfer who enrolled in January, could also land a starting position in the outfield.

Junior Jeffrey Zajac and sophomore Christian Budzik are candidates to replace Lynch at short and Division II transfer Chad Adams is the likely choice to start at third.

Candidates at first base and/or DH are freshmen: lefty-swinging Zach Wilkins, Kyle Pileski, and Ivan Guadalupe, the latter a January addition.

One of the players expected to be a key factor in the lineup and defensively is Perez, who started 40 games in center field last year in his first season as a fulltime starter. Perez found out just before the team started preseason practice in February that LaBranche had named him captain.

"I was thrilled, to be honest," Perez said with a smile. "My overall goal is to guide my team in a winning direction and just be a leader to them, to fulfill the captain position as everybody before me has done.

"Joe was selected captain first and foremost for his positive energy," said LaBranche. "He has a great passion and enthusiasm for the game and he is willing to lead with his voice, which is critical skill for any leader."

In contrast to many other collegiate baseball teams, Eastern will have Perez serve as its one and only captain, as the team did last year with Vaccarelli.

"Over the years, I have come to believe that every team should have a broad base of leadership but at the end of the day there should be one captain," said LaBranche. "There are several guys on the team that I look to for additional leadership, that are given responsibilities of leadership, that help assist Joe in leadership, but at the end of the day there is one guy 'in charge' so to speak."

Now in his fourth season, Perez played his first two seasons under Holowaty and will play his final two seasons under LaBranche.

"Coach LaBranche lets you play the game, and he does his thing in practice and off the field, and coach Holowaty kind of wanted the games and practice to go his way," said Perez, explaining the differences in the coaching styles of the two."It was definitely a change of pace, because coach Holowaty was more of a life coach and he was really intense. Coach LaBranche can be intense at times, but he's also more laid back and (allows you to) get the job done. He sees something happen, then fixes you on what happens."

In each of his three seasons at Eastern, Perez's numbers have steadily improved. He attributes his improved play to more consistent playing time.

"Freshman and sophomore year, I was on and off starting, getting an at-bat here or there," said Perez. "Then last year I finally got to play a full season, and my confidence went up. Coach LaBranche ensured that the spot was mine to lose, and I took that to heart. I was able to play like myself and not have to worry about somebody taking my position."

Perez is expected to hold down the leadoff spot for the 2015 season. By being in this position, he hopes to be able to accomplish one of his longtime personal goals: hit a leadoff home run.

"I've led off since high school and I always wanted to do it," he said. "You start a fire that way."

Even with his personal home run goal in mind and his impressive on base and stealing numbers, Perez said that the aspect of his game that he takes the most pride in is his ability to play defense.

"I see the pitchers, they have confidence in me, and they know if (the ball) is hit to the outfield that most likely it's going to be caught. Our rightfielder (Hart) feels the same way. We have a no-fly zone. Nothing lands in the outfield whether we have to lay fully out or run into a wall, it doesn't matter. Our job is to defend our ground, and that's what we take the most pride in."

Perez says that Pete Rose, the former Cincinnati Reds star, is his inspiration for going all out on the field.

"I always saw his fire in his game. He always had so much intensity. I try to play like that whether I'm having an off day or on day. I always try to keep in the back my mind to play at 100 percent like Pete Rose did."

With his final season at Eastern set to begin, Perez takes pride in his time playing for Eastern, and looks forward to improving on the team's performance from 2014.

"Eastern has tradition, and it has a name for itself. It's a great Division III school in New England, and it's an honor to play for Eastern," says Perez."Being able to play for two coaches that have been successful beyond belief, it's an honor. (Last year) we were looked upon to move through regionals relatively easily, and we got held back. I carry a chip on my shoulder to not only repeat LECs, but take regionals in full gear to show we have what it takes."

"For this program, the ultimate goal is always to bring in that next national championship," points out LaBranche."It would be a great accomplishment to be part of the team that put Eastern back on that stage. I think we're all motivated to demonstrate to our competitors regionally and nationally that Eastern is very much alive and well, and back on the road to the (national) championship game."

Following two games at Farmingdale State, March 8, the team will travel to Auburndale, Florida to participate in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational March 13-19. The Warriors are scheduled to open at home March 25 against Manhattanville College.

If further information or photographs are requested, please contact Sport Information Director, Bob Molta at, 860-465-5172, molta@easternct.edu. Information about the player, including quotes about the player from the coach, can be found at http://www.gowarriorathletics.com/sports/bsb/2014-15/roster.