2003 Baseball Season Outlook

2/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Feb. 12, 2003

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WASHINGTON, DC -- With their first game against Norfolk State postponed until April 1 at 2:00 pm, the GW baseball team will begin the season this weekend at the Stetson Invitational Tournament in DeLand, Florida. The Colonials will open the season against host Stetson on Friday, February 14 at 7:00 pm. They face Kentucky on Saturday at 5:00 pm and Maryland on Sunday at 11:00 am.

With six players selected in the Major League Baseball draft last year, the 2003 GW baseball team is characterized by youth.The Colonials roster includes only four seniors and two juniors this season.This will be the first year at George Washington for 14 of the 27 players on the roster. Of these 14 Colonials, 10 are true freshmen while the other four are transfers from other universities.

The 2002 season was the best in GW history. The team posted a single season wins record with 42, won it's fourth Atlantic 10 Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. GW won the Atlantic 10 crown over rival Richmond and beat the 14th-ranked Spiders in a best-of-three series to claim their first title in 10 years.The team then participated in the Southeast Regional in Winston- Salem, NC, where they could not hold a 4-1 lead versus 6th-ranked Wake Forest, eventually losing 12-6. Two Colonials freshmen, Anthony Raglani and Joe Michalski received freshmen All-America recognition. Seniors Mike Bassett, Mike O'Connor, and Matt Krimmel received All-East honors along with junior Greg Conden. All-Conference honorees included first teamers Mike O'Connor, Mike Bassett and second teamers Matt Krimmel, Greg Conden, and Jake Wald.

This year's team will be led by seven position players returning with at least 125 at-bats and a combined 53 home runs. On the mound, GW returns five of last year's top eight pitchers including Conden, the team's ace for the past three years.

Seniors Tony Dokoupil (a career .316 hitter with 38 SB and 12 HR), Chris Barry (a career .287 hitter with 36 SB and 17 HR) and Travis Crowder (a career .319 hitter with 47 SB) return to lead the way in LF, CF and at DH respectively. Junior Jeff Fertitta (who last year hit .328 with 12 HR and 46 RBI) and sophomores Raglani (who last year hit .276 with 5 HR and 37 RBI), Michalski (who last year hit .318 with 7 HR and 31 RBI), and Ryan Roberson (who last year hit .271 with 5 HR and 16 RBI) will play 1B, RF, C and 3B. Newcomers Tom Shanley (Stamfordville, NY/Pine Plains) and sophomore transfer Geoff Milsom (New York, NY/Notre Dame University) will start at SS and 2B. Battling for starting positions and serving as valuable reserves will be junior transfer Brad Rosenblatt (New Orleans, LA/Tulane University) and freshmen Paul Garner (Mandeville, LA/ Mandeville) and Matt Owens (Fayetteville, GA/Fayette County). Sophomores Nick Koken and Billy Powell and freshmen Mickey Shupin (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall), Steve Santy (Guilford, NH/Laconia), and Jay Quinn (New York, NY/Bronx Science) round out the position players battling for time.

Conden anchors the Colonials pitching staff once again with 28 wins over the previous three seasons, placing him second all-time at GW. He pitched a school record 11 wins last year going 11-3 with a 4.22 ERA. LHP Dan Sullivan (2-1, 5.96 ERA) is the team's number two starting pitcher while transfer Nate CasaGrande (Bridgewater, NJ/College of New Jersey), freshmen Dan Pfau (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and Josh Wilkie (Alpharetta, GA/Chattahoochee) figure to round out the starting rotation.

Koken will be the team's closer for 2003. Last year he threw the team's first no-hitter since GW pitching Coach Dennis Healy accomplished the feat in 1995. Joining Koken in the bullpen will be junior Dennis Gramolini (2-0 3.55 ERA), Avi Rasowsky (1-2 5.00 ERA), newcomer Dave Cutler (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) and freshmen Garner, Phil Kluczynski (Erie, PA/Mc- Dowell) and Sam Schaffer (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury).