The Albertus Magnus baseball team will open the 2012 season on Sunday, March 11 as the Falcons head to Virginia to take on Washington & Lee University in non-conference action. The Falcons' season-opener kicks off their spring break trip, which consists of six games in six days before returning to Connecticut.
On Monday, March 12, the Falcons will face Christopher Newport, a program that is 9-2 on the year and is ranked third in the nation by D3baseball.com. On the following Friday, the Falcons will face ninth-ranked Salisbury as the Sea Gulls currently have a 7-2 overall record.
The Falcons, who were tagged to finish the 2012 season sixth in the GNAC according to the 2012 GNAC Preseason Baseball Poll, will open conference play on Saturday, March 31 at Saint Joseph's College of Maine. The Monks are the 2011 defending GNAC Champions and have been picked first in the 2012 preseason poll.
Head Coach Brian Leighton is in his eighth season at the helm of the program and believes that the new faces of the team will help add depth as well as talent to his squad this season. "Our newcomers will be the key to the success of our season as a vast majority of our team is in their first year with the program," Leighton said.
In regard to his strength of schedule, in particular his opening week of play, Leighton responded; "Our young team needs the experience in order to mature. Our goal is to be playing our best baseball towards the end of the year.
"The speed of that development is contingent upon our captains and returning players' leadership," Leighton added.
The Falcons' 30-man roster consists of only nine upperclassmen, with 18 newcomers joining the ranks. The depth and talent is there for the squad, who finished the 2011 season with a 12-20 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the league standings.
Some key players for the Falcons this season will be redshirt-senior Kyle Calechman (North Haven, Conn.), senior catcher Malcolm Mendez (New York, N.Y.), junior Rob Gambardella (North Haven, Conn.) and junior Matt Finkenzeller (Wolcott, Conn.). Sophomores Patrick Dornfried (Berlin, Conn.) and Zak Sokolis (Meriden, Conn.) will also be key contributors for the Falcons this season, while transfers Dan Kmiechick (Barnegat, N.J.) and Brian Levchuk (Branford, Conn.) will make an immediate impact for Albertus this season as well.
Albertus will host Suffolk on April 14 in a conference double-header as the Rams were picked to finish the year in second place according to the preseason poll. The Falcons will also welcome Emerson (April 15) and Anna Maria (April 21) to Quigley Stadium this year as the AMCats from Anna Maria will play their first season in the GNAC and have been picked to finish the year in fifth place.
The Falcons' 2012 schedule can be found at AlbertusFalcons.com or by clicking here.
