Following a disappointing 9-40 season to finish last overall in the MAAC in 2010, Iona’s baseball team looks to rebound this season.

In an exclusive interview with Iona’s baseball coach Pat Carey, Carey showed confidence for this year’s team.

When asked about the start of the season for the Gaels (which starts on Feb. 16), coach Carey said, “I expect our team to come out ready to play and win games.  Our schedule is challenging but our players have been working very hard to improve on the positives that have been laid down in past years.”

Carey also expects the team’s competitiveness to be the strongest feature of the squad. When discussing the teams’ level of competition, Carey commented by saying, “Our fall was set up to compete against each other everyday and we did a good job with that.”

This year, Carey also expects an experienced group of Gaels to lead the team.   Senior catchers Chris Griffin and James Beck will do the majority of the catching.

The two back-stops are very good offensive players who have gotten much better defensively.  The duo should be in the middle of the line up regularly. 

Sophomore Sean Menickella has made a lot of improvements and will give the Gaels a solid back up catcher.

In the infield, junior Mike Chiaravalloti will start at first base. He played great defense last season making only one error all year and hit .292 with nine home runs and 30 RBI’s. 

Nick Rossetti, a fifth year senior, who hit .337 with five homeruns and 34 RBI’s, is back and looks good from both sides of the plate.  Rossetti was second on the team with 63 hits. 

Junior Eric Capowski and sophomore Matt Kriss can play everyday at short and both can play some at second.  Both have plus arms and good range. 

Kriss hit .311 and was named MAAC Conference Rookie of the week last year.  Eric has played in 85 games in two years and started 81 of those. 

At third base, Junior Chris Burke has stepped up as a team leader.  Chris has settled into third base very nicely and should be the Gaels’ third hitter in the lineup.

That gives the team a lot of experience in the infield, they have a combined 361 games started in the last three years.

In the outfield Sophomore Anthony Muccio returns as the starting center fielder.  He is a leadoff type hitter and plays a great center field.  Junior Dean Dignelli who has a lot of power has had 11 home runs in two years and a .303 career batting average. He can also play all three outfield positions. Sophomore Kyle Charron can also play in the outfield as well as third base.  Charron is a very good hitter with a lot of speed.

The pitching staff looks to be deep with fifth year senior Justin Wiley leading the staff.  Wiley is a lefty and was the ace last year. 

Following Wiley is junior Colin Lyall, who is also a lefty. He also spent some time in right field last season.  Lyall has an explosive arm and just pitched in the fall, he was also awarded the team Cy Young award. 

Two junior right handers follow Tom Kriss and Matt Marley started conference games as freshmen.  Both look great and could be used as starters or out of the pen. 

In the bullpen juniors Anthony Castellito and Jordan Gilruth, along with sophomores Pete Ladis and Kenny Dietrich look to have solid springs after great falls. Any of the men out of the bullpen could close or be middle relievers. Senior Brian Callahan could be used as a starter or reliever this year, as well as senior Sean Darsee.