BB: SUNYAC

[BaseB13]

Agreed tripleplay.. Isn't Cortland's best pitcher out of Rochester?  Seems they always have a couple guys who contribute a lot to the Cortland roster.  Brockport is usually the #2 team in the SUNYAC and they are always loaded with Rochester players as well.  Not to mention SJFC, UR, and RIT are all very respectable every year and have rosters filled with Rochester players. 

[BoomerIL]

Not to get away from DIII, but Dupra who plays for Notre Dame and who played at the Cape last summer, is a good representation of talent from the Rochester/Western New York talent.

[Bob Maxwell]

Having been a head coach for 18 years and living on the strenght of athlete that came into our program, I can say from first hand experience that recruiting from an area is cyclical... every year there are players in all areas, but the depth of talent is what makes an area strong in a particular sport.  That depth is what is cyclical... there are always players in every area.  The question is how many, and what is the competition to attract them to your school.

There was discussion last year about why someone ends up at a Division III program.  while the reasons are endless, most times it has nothing to do with the sport.  That being said, some schools are stronger year in and year out because of the type of academic programs they offer.  While that is a big stereotype, I don't think to many people would argue that in most cases, Physical Education majors are better athletes/ball playrs then music, business or many others. 

I know there are exceptions to that big sterotype.  My son Rob is a perfect example... he attened Brockport, and had a very good career there, but he was not a PE major like I was, he was a Math major and computer science minor (with a 3.75 over all GPA when he graduated). He went to Brockport for a myriad of personal and family reasons... Like a few dozen other D-III players who are playing at D-III schools in NY state, he could have played at and been a major on the field contributor with any D-I program in NY state.  He just chose Brockport because he was comfortable there. So there are exceptions...  being a PE major myself I can say that without it being a snub as I know how difficult the circulum is, you have to want to study it.

Every area has its share of talented ball players, you just need to be their choice of school to attend.  Like BaseB13 says, Matt Tone is from the Rochester area, so are many other top players on both Ithaca and Cortland.  its only a 1.5 - 2 hour drive to either place from Rochester so they are really in their back yard.

In NY, D-III recruiting is harder then D-I because in most cases your base recruiting area is only a few hours drive away from campus... and you have more D-III schools to compete against within that area.  The past few posts mention several competative programs.  AND you still need to overcome the perception of ther recruit that they are gonig to play major leage ball and deserve that D-I scholarship...

[scuba16]

If NY was like NC, SC, Georgia etc... in that they have way more d-1 schools than d-3's u would naturally see alot more d-1 baseball players in ny. that being said, there are countless #'s of ny d-3 kids now and in the past that could have played and contributed at an array of d-1's, from the worst in the country to the very best!
demographics is the key here. how or why would a coach from a small d-1 in georgia see, let alone recruit a hs baseball player from syracuse, utica or rochester? he would rather take a home state kid that is just as good, keep the recruiting ties with the local coaches and he is never the wiser. are there ny hs players that could play at d-1's all over the country? yes but the chance of a coach seeing a kid enough, that is not a hard throwing pitcher, to justify throwing $ at them is slim to none! the only way is to expose yourself by attending camps and showcases in southern states or have a coach with some southern contacts that trust that coach quite a bit!

[scuba16]

Brown is a great recruiter no doubt about it.  But the school is also in an ideal location for NY baseball.  Think about the other SUNY schools.  New Paltz, very little talent comes out of that area.  Brockport and Fredonia, I wouldn't say baseball is prime in the Rochester area.  Plattsburgh is in the north country, not very inviting up there.  Oswego, same deal with the weather.  Oneonta I guess isn't too bad, but it just seems like Cortland being in the middle attracts all.  Again I'm not taking anything away from Brown but the location is ideal for him to recruit out of many areas.

I think that if u are a d-1 player that left ny and u don't like your current situation, cortland is the logical choice when thinking about coming home. proven program, great facilities, win every yr, play the game the right way and a chance to play in a world series! JB does a great job recruiting ny and it also doesn't hurt that the first place d-1 transfers call that want to come back to ny is 607-753-4950. that would be the phone # at the baseball office at cortland! Awesome job JB, keep up the grat work!! SS

[Big Louie]

Joe Brown doesnt even have to recruit....guys fall into his lap stop making it sound like the guy is a genius. The program recruits itself.

[bball 14]

be around joe for awhile,watch how he and his assistants build and motivate, sure he gets quality players interested.  but don't underestimate what Joe and his crew do year after year, and how he runs that program..... just my 2 cents

[BoomerIL]

Good points by all of you.  In addition to that, like 'scuba' stated, the home-grown player is probably easier to get and makes the most sense considering that the costs involved in recruiting players from across country is really starting to limit coaches from attending all the camps, showcases, and games to see the top players.  This is even true for the DI schools.

I think the biggest factor for kids to consider a program like Cortland is first, the baseball and their history, but also having some insight as to whether they will play right away.  Unless a DI is knocking on their door, or you have attended a Perfect Game Showacse and been put on the national radar, or even been drafted out of high school, the chance of playing DI ball right away is so hard.

We had kids from our state, All-Staters, not start right away at a DI school.  So after two seasons, they quit!  If they had gone to a DIII or DII, they would have probably played right away.  No, that's not always the case, but most kids at a DIII also understand that besides baseball, many of the DIII schools provide a superior education, not taking any thing away from the DI's.  Many kids don't have the A-typical body type that a DI school looks for, so they decide to look into a DIII program, plus other factors to numerous to mention here.

You know as well as I do, that players are drawn to winning programs, hence Cortland being the example here.  There are many others.  Do you think that Linfield will get more attention from prospective high schoolers since then were successful in getting to play in the post-season, especially with Coach Brosious?  Absolutely!!  Coach Brown has that reputation, and rightfully so.

[John McGraw]

Cortland has posted its' 2009 roster.

Nothing shocking really (Dimino brothers are indeed gone) aside from that there's only a couple transfers from upper division schools - Kevin Jackson from UMaine and Andrew Pezzuto from Franklin Pierce. Other than that, the usual transfers from SUNY community colleges including Ulster's Mike Appell and Monroe's Brandon DeRosa just to name a few. There are five captains listed - Rowlands, Potrikus, Zilnicki, Benson and Avery. (Side note - two of the five are four-year guys).

The part about the roster I find interesting is the coaching staff. Assistants now listed as Andy Brown, Andy Mead and Mike Ondrako with Shawn May also on there as a volunteer assistant. Last I knew, May was the head baseball coach at Fabius-Pompey. Anyone know what happened to Craig Kerner? I know Mike Hubbs left a few years ago.

Here's the complete low down:

Mike Appell, Jr., Westbury, NY - four-year starter at Clarke HS down on Long Island, first-team all-state as a senior, was named second-team All-Region XV last season at Ulster CC

Shawn Bailey, Jr., Rochester, NY - out of Webster Schroeder HS, has played at Monroe CC and California, Pa. Son of former MCC coach Skip Bailey

Matt June, Fr., Colonie, NY - Multi-sport star from capital district that played football and baseball as well as indoor track.

Brandon DeRosa, Jr., Fairport, NY - Transfer from Monroe CC, one of the top arms from the Trib's bullpen, had a team-high three saves last year, pitched well down the stretch as team went to JUCO World Series

Kevin Jackson, Jr., Wappingers Falls, NY - Transfer from UMaine, America East All-Rookie team in 2007 with .318 batting average in 41 games, hit just .250 in limited action last year, was part of several very good teams at RCK

Zach Reynolds, So., Yorktown, NY - Transfer from Centenary (NJ), batted .373 for Cyclones last season, was second on team in batting average, hits and defensive assists. He was also named second-team all-conference.

Ed Southworth, Jr., Cortland, NY - Transfer from Alfred State as far as I can tell, pitched and hit during his sophomore season with a 4-3 mound mark and .303 batting average with 24 RBI. He was named all-state while playing at Cortland High

Tyler Forger, Fr., Clayton, NY - True freshman out of Thousand Islands, was named a Player To Watch last spring by the Watertown Daily Times

Andrew Pezzuto, So., Hastings, NY - Transfer from Franklin Pierce, appeared in four games for the D-II Ravens last year, batted .525 as a senior in high school with eight home runs and 34 RBI

Brendan Hourihan, Fr., Yorktown Hts, NY - He was among the leaders last year in lower Hudson county with 56 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched as a junior. Last spring, he was named the Section 1 MVP by the Journal News. He also posted a 0.86 ERA for Lakeland HS last spring.

[Dave Bradley]

Guys, I seen a lot of these Sunyac players this past summer in the Albany Twilight league, what do you guys think of Oneonta's Steve Juedes, he was very good this summer, played for a bad team that went 7-16 but he was 5-2 and led the league in strikeouts and was second in ERA at 1.61, I see he led the SUNYAC in ERA last season with 2.11 but didn't get much recognition. I heard some pro teams are watching him. To me he seemed to have pretty good stuff, I would guess high 80's fastball and a nice slider. I think Oneonta could challenge Cortland if their offense can put some runs on the board, I know the Myers kid set a school record for RBI last season, and I think behind Juedes that they have Filak who throws in the 90's, a JUCO transfer from Schenectady named Brett Miservay who I hear is pretty good and a freshman from Clifton Park Jeff Carter who was an Empire State games pitcher, they should have a pretty good staff, just not sure who really hits for them after Myers, I saw the SS Dubbin in Twi light league, he's not bad, but I don't know what else they have on offense.

[wetsu215]

I noticed your other post as well - as far as the Reds scout - if that's the same older gentleman who is always at Oneonta games then I wouldn't put too much stock in that.  I'm not sure what his background is but I know the story about the Reds scout at a Oneonta St. game that has been told for years and years.  No offense meant to your guy - great numbers last season but he's not on the level of Tone or Maxwell (who he lost to second time around against Brockport, Maxwell had 10 K's).  I don't see him getting drafted but what do I know.

Oneonta doesn't swing the sticks well enough.  Especially when you're saying I don't know what they have after one main bat.  Cortland beat them the first two times around with Assman and Ratliff and when it mattered, Tone struck out 13 in 6.  Myers is very good and so is Oneonta for that matter.  Juedes is good, Filak is good but they aren't the elite SUNYAC arms.  It's not even close in the regular season and a tournament is anyone's game but double elimination favors C-State.

[Dave Bradley]

Yes, Maxwell beat Juedes the 3rd time that Juedes pitched against Brockport last season, you forget that Juedes beat Maxwell 8-0 the 1st time around and Maxwell gave up 11 hits that game. The game Maxwell won, Juedes only gave up 2 earned runs, 2 of the runs were unearned. I don't know about the Reds scout you could be right about him, but I seen juedes pitch 4 or 5 times over the summer and he improved from what I saw at the SUNYAC tournement, he was a strikeout pitcher in Twi Light league. That being said I wasn't saying he was better then Tone, I just said he is good and could be drafted late maybe.

[wetsu215]

Oh good point Dave I didn't see the first OState-Brockport game, or in the boxscores when I was checking.  Twighlight is wooden bat right or am I wrong?  From what I know good set-up but might lead to some extra K's.  Steve has the size for sure, will be very fun to watch as he gets the big SUNYAC starts and if he has a big season you may be very right on his draft status.

[Dave Bradley]

Yes, twilight league is a wood bat league so that does help the pitchers, but there is some real good players in that league, many St Rose guys D2 team, Albany St and Siena guys both D1 schools and many guys from different Sunyac schools and Empire 8 schools like RBI, Union and some 2 yr school guys from HVCC and SCCC plus some ex pros. That Zgorelski guy from Cortland plays on the St Rose based team. One team even has a pitcher who made it to the majors several years ago with the Colorado Rockies. Yep I am looking forward to seeing some of these players this year, I do think the Tone kid will get drafted and probably before the 15th round, I know Salamieda was drafted in the 13th rd from Oneonta a few yrs ago, I would guess Tone to be around there some place and it would be nice to see a couple of others get drafted as well, maybe Juedes will be another guy from this league, we'll have to wait and see, I think he needs some better strikeout numbers to get drafted but that is what I saw in twilight league, we'll see if he can do that in the Sunyac.

[scuba16]

I think Oneonta could challenge Cortland if their offense can put some runs on the board, I know the Myers kid set a school record for RBI last season, and I think behind Juedes that they have Filak who throws in the 90's, a

Problem for Oneonta or anyone else vs cortland will be scoring some runs, like u said. Lets just say they end up 1-2 sunyac's, what do you do if your oneonta in the sunyac tournament? Save Juedes for day 2 vs cortland and risk losing game 1. You know if Cortland knows the best competition in coming from Oneonta, they are getting Tone spun at them! I like tone in the matchup because cortland is going to score some runs but oneonta scoring runs off tone will come few and far between.
Cortand is deep on the mound and they will rake as a team. The transfer from maine is going to put up serious power #'s and like i said before jason simone will hit over .400! Add in the other position guys avery, gardneretc... and mr tone and a deep staff and any way u slice it, its going to be an uphill battle for any sunyac team to unseat cortland at the top of the sunyacs. Its possible but unlikely!