Photo By Abigail MacMillan, Editor-in-Chief
By Cam Eberly
Ahead of the 2024 spring season, the River Hawks baseball team look to make history within the Landmark Conference. No team has ever repeated as conference champions in back-to-back seasons. With many key pieces from the 2023 roster returning, the team looks poised to make another deep postseason run.
Last season, Susquehanna finished fourth in the conference during the regular season but played their best baseball when it beat Scranton twice on championship Sunday to take the crown. The team won two games in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament but dropped out in regionals. One of the key pieces to Susquehanna’s playoff run was sophomore, now junior Tony Rossi.
In the 2023 season, Rossi emerged as a dominant force in the middle of the River Hawks lineup. He led the offense as he hit .356 with 12 homeruns, 16 doubles, and 18 stolen bases. A third of his homeruns came in playoff games, one being a grand slam to give the River Hawks the lead against top-seeded Arcadia. Due to his phenomenal season, Rossi was named as 1st team All-Landmark Conference third baseman along with all-region honors as well.
“My whole mindset is to win. This is going to sound very cliche, but I want to win more than any of the personal things,” Rossi said. “Obviously, I want to do well but winning as a team is the most important to me. Ever since, the end of last year I have just wanted to get back on the field. I cannot wait, I love baseball.”
Along with Rossi, the River Hawks return sophomore Dylan Heyduk and senior Sean McCulloch who earned second-team All-Landmark Conference honors. Heyduk had a fantastic rookie year as he finished the season with a batting average of .324 on 46 hits. McCulloch currently holds the school record for stolen bases with 67 for his career and is on pace for 100 with another strong season.
The River Hawks will rely heavily on a veteran pitching staff this year as well. Aidan Martin, Ryan Redmond, Tyler Rigot, Teagan Duffie, Brice Gregory, and Vin Mariella all return after a very solid 2023 campaign. “We have a lot of guys back on the pitching staff and offensive side of things,” said head coach Denny Bowers “I am really excited about what we have returning; I think all of these guys got better as well. We are definitely going to miss the pieces that graduated though. However, I think we have some guys that will step up and help us get to that goal of winning the conference again.”
The River Hawks will look to fill the void of players like Dillan Weikel, Brock Veit, and JP Yore who all graduated from the 2023 team. Dillan Weikel was the ace for the River Hawks last year and a work horse. He pitched 70.2 innings, the most on the team, and started 14 games. They will definitely miss his leadership and tenacity on the mound as he was a key cog to the staff the past couple of years. JP Yore and Brock Veit each hit over .300 at .319 and .320 respectively. Along with that, they both were magnificent in the field and came up with some clutch hits and plays last season.
The River Hawks will open up play this Saturday as they head to Mary Washington.