FLUSHING, N.Y. – The 2022 Queens College baseball team will be looking to achieve new heights as the season gets underway Friday (Feb. 25) afternoon.

Last season the Knights finished 14-13 overall, 12-9 in East Coast Conference play, and made their second consecutive postseason appearance. 

The Knights have seen vast improvements under head coach Chris Reardon who enters his ninth season in Flushing in 2022. Reardon has the baseball program headed in an upward trajectory as the Knights have finished the past two seasons with a winning record and expectations are even higher this upcoming season.

The list of goals to achieve is long but the Knights will be taking it by one game at a time in the 47-game season. 

A roster consisting of 33 players is led by five All-Conference honorees in sophomore outfielder Andrew Smith(Hampton Bays, N.Y.), junior lefties pitcher in Liam Pulsipher (East Moriches, N.Y.), Dean Fazah (Queens, N.Y.), sophomore Utility player Reed Hoskins (Freeport, N.Y.) and senior third-basemen Lou Antos (West Islip, N.Y).

Queens return 20 players from the 2022 season that saw the Knights make the East Coast Conference playoffs for the second consecutive season. The Knights have added 14 new players who will be looking to exceed expectations and earn starting roles. 

Antos returns after missing the 2021 season and will be counted on heavily to lead the offense as the West Islip native looks to close out his senior year in style. The third-basemen has his name in the Queens College baseball record in several All-time career categories, first in RBIs (90), total bases (220), doubles (44), second in hits (155), and fifth in runs (83). 

Hoskins had a season for the ages in 2021 as the Freeport native landed First-Team All-ECC before going on to earn D2CCA and NCBWA All-East Region Second Team honors. Hoskins appeared and started in 26 games and finished the season with a team-high batting average of .357, an on-base percentage of 1.022, slugging percentage of .536. He was a pillar in the middle of the lineup for the Knights making 84 at-bat appearances and went on to lead the offense in hits (30), doubles (2), total bases (45) while producing runs (23), RBI (15), triples (2), home run, and walks (18). 

Catchers:

Queens returns three catchers in sophomore Teovaldo Estevez (Bronx, N.Y.), Brad Sakellarides (East Moriches, N.Y.), Nick Barreiros (Seaford, N.Y.), and have added freshman Mike Freda (Dix Hills, N.Y.) a graduate of Half Hollow Hill High School West to the mix. 

Estevez batted .282 in 78 at-bats last season with 22 hits and 14 RBIs. In a must-win situation, the Bronx native blasted the Knights into the playoffs with a two-run home run in the regular-season finale win over College of Staten Island. 

Sakellarides batted .289 with 24 hits, six doubles, 22 RBIs and will be looking to maintain the starting catching role throughout the season. 

Infielders

 10 players will be looking to earn the starting role in the infield but will have to beat out probable starters in Hoskins, Antos, senior Corey Tingo (Selden, N.Y.), while second basemen role up is up for grabs. 

In his first season in Flushing, Tingo earned 24 starts as he batted .295 with 23 hits, four doubles, and eight RBIs. While sophomore Jordan Ramlogan (Hicksville, N.Y.) saw time at second base as the Hicksville native made 17 appearances, earning 10 starts while batting .233 with seven hits, eight RBIs, and three steals. 

Newcomers Joe Leone (Bethpage, N.Y.), Juan De La Rosa (Dominican Republic), Joseph Cornielle (Bayside, N.Y.), Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.), Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) and Dennis Lynch (Seaford, N.Y.) will be looking to impress the coaching staff as they look to lock up the middle infield job. 

Outfielders

 The outfield will see hefty competition as well with junior Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.), sophomores Colin Diez(Levittown, N.Y.), Mike Tagliarini (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Smith, and freshman Justin Ventura (Lindenhurst, N.Y.).

Diez made 25 starts in 2021 batting .315 with 29 hits, 26 runs, two triples, 11 RBIs, and was a base-stealing machine as the Levittown native nabbed 17 bases last year. While Jayson Rodopoulos batted .259 in 23 starts with 22 hits, four doubles, a home run, and 17 RBIs and was perfect in 8-of-8 stolen bases.

Smith quickly impressed the coaching staffing last season as he locked up the right-field job from the first pitch. The Hampton Bays native earned 23 starts while batting .313 with 25 hits, six doubles, two triples, and 13 RBIs, and went on to earn All-ECC second-team honors. It was the second straight season the Knights had a rookie outfielder named to the All-Conference team.

Tagliarini and Ventura will look to impressive early on as they look to steer the starting job away from Diez at left field, Rodopoulos at center field, and Smith in right field. 

Pitchers

It will be a deep pitching staff with several players looking to earn the starting job. The Knights are led by All-conference honorees Pulsipher, Fazah, and the senior duo of Rob Backus (Merrick, N.Y.), and Dylan Hughes(Merrick, N.Y.). 

Last season Pulsipher was a pillar for the Knights in their starting rotation. Starting in seven games, he produced a 3-2 record pitching 38.2 innings with a second-best ERA of 3.26, with opponents batting only .196 against the lefty. Among the Knights pitching rotation, he ranked second in strikeout (40), while tied for eighth among conference pitchers.
 
He opened the season with a win pitching 5.0 IP, allowing 4 hits, an earned run, and struck out five in the Knights’ 7-4 win over Caldwell. On April 10, the East Moriches native produced a complete inning gem as he shut out the D'Youville allowing only three hits, and struck out a career-high 12 batters as the Knights won 8-0.
 
The three-hitter gem performance earned Pulsipher ECC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors on April 12. He earned his first conference weekly award back on March 22 following his outing against Caldwell in the season opener.

Meanwhile Fazah showed his experience as one of the backbones in the Knights pitching rotation. On the season, he appeared in eight games and made four starts to finish the regular season with a 3-1 record. He pitched 32.0 innings, while leading the Knights in strikeouts (42), with an ERA of 3.94, and held opponents to a .260 batting average. He is tied for sixth among conference pitchers in strikeouts.

Backus started the 2021 season strong before an injury derailed the righty for the rest of the season. The Merrick native made three starts as he went 1-1 on the season including pitching a masterful one-hitter with a career-high 10 strikeouts in the victory over Bridgeport on March 27th. 

Last season Hughes made eight appearances and earned four starts and picked up two saves on the season. Against Lincoln (Pa.) the Merrick native pitched 4.2 innings while allowing two hits and struck out a season-high eight batters in the win. In the must-win against Staten Island, Hughes pitched 3.2 innings allowing four hits, and struck five to earn the save. 

Senior Johnnie Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) will be a key component for the Knights out of the bullpen as he made seven appearances last season with two saves. Sophomore Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y.) made seven appearances out of the bullpen and will be looking to play a larger role in victories to come this season.

Also looking to earn a starting rotation will be graduate student Julien Arcos (Glenwood, N.Y.), a transfer from LIU Post, sophomore Chandler Giovinco (Newfield, N.Y.), junior Terrence Beeker (Bayside, N.Y.) a transfer from State College of Florida. 

While returners senior Stephen Castro (Bayside, N.Y.), sophomore Dante Interlandi (Massapequa, N.Y.), Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.), freshman Joshuel Rodriguez (Bay Shore, N.Y.), and newcomer Blake Jefremow (Bayside, N.Y.) will look to provide quality innings out of the bullpen in the long season. 

East Coast Conference Poll

Queens have been tabbed to finish fifth in the ECC preseason poll after going 14-13 overall, 12-9 in ECC Play last season. The Knights advanced to the postseason for the second straight season after ending a 21-year drought in 2019. 

Conference play will start on Friday, March 25 in Buffalo, New York as the Knights take on D'Youville University Saints.

Myrtle Beach Opening Trip

The Knights’ season opener sees them going up against 2021 NCAA East Region defending champions and nationally ranked no. 9/11 Southern New Hampshire University Penmen. Friday’s meeting will be the seventh meeting between both sides with Queens still searching for their first win over the Penmen. With the first meeting dating back to the 2013 season, the Penmen lead the overall series 6-0. 

The Penmen are currently ranked No. 9 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball Poll and No. 11 in the NCBWA poll. Southern N.H. also is ranked first in the NCBWA East Region Poll.

On Saturday, (Feb. 26), Queens will take on Post University Eagles in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. Saturday meeting will be just the third and fourth meeting between both programs since the 2003 season. The Knights won the first meeting 11-7 in Waterbury, CT before the Eagles took the return game 11-2 in Flushing. 

The trip concludes against Felician University Golden Falcons who are ranked No. 8 in the NCBWA East Region Top 10 poll. It will be the 11th meeting against the Golden Falcons with the Knights trailing the overall series 3-7 dating back to 2007. 

Under head coach Chris Reardon, the Knights are 3-2 against the Golden Falcons since 2015 which includes two wins in Flushing. 

Watch the Knights in Flushing
All home games will be live-streamed on the QC Sports Network and ECC Network and fans can follow along on live stats

For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), Queens College Baseball (@QC_Baseball)and Instagram (qcknightsny), QC Baseball (QC baseball)