GETTYSBURG, Pa. After two limited seasons on the diamond, the Gettysburg College baseball team is ready to get back to action and play a full schedule as it aims for a return to the Centennial Conference playoffs and a run at the league title this spring.
Gettysburg roared out to a hot start in 2020, winning six of its eight games and hitting a robust .430 as a team before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and cancelled the rest of the season. Last spring, the Bullets missed out on the normal routine of a fall season and full preseason before playing a 14-game slate against conference foes.
“Last year, we didn’t have a normal fall or a normal preseason,” noted Head Coach John Campo, who heads into his 36th season at the helm. “We did the best we could do with the situation we were put into. We played hard every single game, and I believe we were competitive when we stepped onto the field.”
Gettysburg heads into this spring with a roster of 46 players, including nine veteran seniors. Six position players return as starters and five pitchers return who started at least one game in 2021. Since early fall all facets of the team, from the experienced veterans to the young up-and-comers, have been competing and working together toward common goals.
“We had a good, competitive fall and a solid off-season workout program,” said Campo. “I think we’ve had a great preseason. Now it’s time to move into the season and see what we’ve got. We have three goals: record a winning record overall; get to the conference playoffs; and win the conference championship.”
Infield
Gettysburg returns four starters to the infield, including All-Centennial Conference second baseman Andrew Donlan (Haddam, Conn./Avon Old Farms). Donlan led the team with a .348 batting average in his debut season. He’ll be joined on the right side of the field by senior co-captain Andrew Decker (Baltimore, Md./Towson), who slides out from behind the plate to assume a new role at the corner. Decker is a career .335 hitter and had totaled 25 RBI and 33 runs in 43 career games.
Senior co-captain Matt Muir (South Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) heads into his third season as the team’s starting shortstop. Muir posted a field percentage of .933 last spring and led the team with 30 assists. At the hot corner, junior Preston Toothman (Orlando, Fla./William R. Boone) has emerged as an early favorite to earn the starting role after a strong fall and productive preseason.
Behind the plate, juniors Matthew Peipher (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) and JR McCloskey (Huntington, N.Y./Chaminade) have seen time in the starting lineup in previous seasons. In six games last spring, Peipher mashed .364.
Junior Aaron Kirby (Sandy Hook, Conn./St. Joseph) and sophomores Kody Clausius (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) and Jack O’Neil (Deerfield, Mass./Deerfield Academy) along with a contingent of versatile freshmen give the team added depth.
Outfield
After three years as the starting first baseman, senior Mark Seibert (Yardley, Pa./Holly Ghost Prep) will take over a spot in the outfield. The senior is an on-base machine, sporting a career batting average of .318 to go with 17 walks and 29 hit-by-pitches in his career. Senior Shane Manieri (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College) gives the team a strong lefty bat in the lineup and a solid defensive presence in left field. Manieri has slugged seven home runs and plated 34 RBI in 56 career games.
Between the two seniors will be junior Kyle Miller (Montclair, N.J./Montclair). Miller showed great range in center field in his first season as a starter and has the potential to be a jump-start to the offense from the top of the batting order.
Additional returners that have seen playing time in the outfield include sophomores Emmanuel Ajewole (Floral Park, N.Y./Stony Brook School), Tristan Neels (San Diego Calif./Francis W. Paker), and David Preziuso (Middletown, Del./Caravel Academy).
Pitching
Five seniors return to the mound for Gettysburg this spring. Senior Myles Burbank (Rye, N.Y./Rye) returns for a fifth season and has racked up 26 appearances and 12 starts during his career. Senior Nate Masteralexis (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) did not pitch in 2021, but in his first two campaigns the lefty went 3-1 with 22 strikeouts in 31.1 innings of work.
Senior Sammy Sestito (Sea Girt, N.J./Saint Rose) was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and six strikeouts in two appearances a season ago, while seniors Tim Fay (Easthampton, Mass./Williston Northampton) and Teo Torrado (New York, N.Y./Polytech Prep Country Day) have each recorded multiple starts in their careers.
Junior Ken Spadaccini (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) was one of the team’s most consistent arms last spring and posted a 1.78 ERA and two saves in six relief appearances. Juniors Brett Leighton (Collegeville, Pa./Pope John Paul II), Mike Giammarino (Basking Ridge, N.J./Gill St. Bernard’s), Andrew Weinbrum (Weston, Conn./Weston), and Connor Sikora (Easton, Pa./Easton) all give the coaching staff additional experience and flexibility on the mound. In total, the Bullets feature 19 pitchers on the roster, including several newcomers who could make an early impact this spring.
“Everybody is a starter and everybody is a reliever,” stated Campo. “My approach is just focusing on the game we’re playing now. We’ll have a starting pitcher, but if we’re in a position to win the game, I’m going to use the next best pitcher. Then when it’s over, we reassess how the game went and take a look at our pitching situation for the next game.”
Schedule
Gettysburg has a full 40-game schedule on tap for 2022. The Bullets open the year with a 10-game slate over six days in Florida against teams from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, and Vermont. It will be the team’s first trip south in two years and will provide early insight into what the players are capable of.
“Down there it’s about playing baseball and maximizing game time,” said Campo, who is Gettysburg’s all-time leader in wins with 626. “The more playing time people get on the field, the better they will get. It’s also more evaluation time for us as coaches. That’s why I schedule as many games as possible during spring break. It gives everyone an opportunity to play, allows us to look at players in game situations, and win some ball games.”
Upon returning to the friendly confines of Kirchhoff Field, Gettysburg embarks on a non-conference schedule for the remaining two weeks in March. Nine of those games will take place on the home diamond, including a three-game set with former Gettysburg player and assistant coach Nathan Bashaw ’03 and his Westfield State University team on March 18-19.
Gettysburg will dive head-first into the Centennial Conference schedule in April, beginning with a doubleheader at Muhlenberg College on Saturday, April 2, at noon. The Bullets were picked to finish ninth in the conference preseason poll, which serves to add more motivation to a brand new season.
“Winning is an all-the time thing,” said Campo. “It’s about leadership. It’s not just about showing up on game day. It’s how you conduct yourself all the time, in practice, in the locker room, in the classroom, and everywhere else. That’s how leadership is developed and I think our leadership has been great. They’ve done everything they need to do to prepare themselves, be a team that competes at a high level, and potentially win the conference.”
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.