FLUSHING, N.Y. – Coming off a tremendous 2022 season which saw the Queens College baseball team post their best season in program history in 24 years with an overall record of 26-17, 15-6 in East Coast Conference play, head coach Chris Reardon '98 who enters his tenth year in charge of the program and his coaching staff of John Smith, Paul Sasso, Carlos Pena, Alex Nikolic, and Julien Arcos will be looking to take the program one step above. 
 
Last season, the Knights advanced to their first ECC championship game since the 1998 season and were one swing away from their first championship crown as they were led by two of the most decorative players in program history in third baseman Louis Antos and second baseman Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.).
 
While Antos has graduated, he would leave his mark as the third baseman went on to earn ECC First-Team All-Conference honors and All-Regions honors and break roughly every offense record in program history, but the dangerous bat of the sophomore Cisco returns who will look to pick up right where he left off in 2022.  

In his first year in Flushing, Cisco took the conference and region by storm as the Long Island City native knocked in one of the best seasons in conference and program history as he went on to earn ECC Player and Rookie of the Year, All-ECC First Team honors. He would then go on to add All-Region honors before becoming the first Knights to earn All-American honors, the first Knights since 1998 to earn the highest accolade in program history. 
 
Last season Cisco started in all 43 games as he finished with a team-high batting average of .435 with a .526 OBP, and a .747 slugging percentage knocking in 67 hits, 12 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, 49 RBIs, and 33 walks in 154 at-bats. 
 
The Long Island City native recorded 20 multi-hit games, and 13 multi-RBI games, and the sophomore is carrying a 13-game hitting streak and 27-reached base streak into their first game of the new season.
 
Having earned national and regional recognition last season, Cisco begins this season where he left off as he earned top preseason honors from the conference coaches as he has been named ECC Preseason Player of the Year, and earned Preseason All-Region and All-American Team honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). 
 
Along with Cisco, it is a squad not short on experience which includes the trio of seniors in Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.), Reed Hoskins (Freeport, N.Y.), Colin Diez (Levittown, N.Y.) to help power the offense. 

Last season Rodopoulos, Hoskins, and Diez combined for 121 hits, 95 runs, 18 doubles, 50 RBI, and 71 walks in 410 At-Bats. 
 
Rodopoulos and Diez would go on to earn All-Conference honors in 2022, while Hoskins earned All-Conference and All-Region honors in 2021. 
 
The first baseman sophomore Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) showcased his talent as he finished the year with a batting average of .314 with 49 hits, 25 runs, 17 doubles, five home runs, and 47 RBI as he played all 43 games while earning starts in 42.
 
Filip would go on to earn All-Conference Second Team honors and will not be short on confidence going into the new season as he tallied 17 multi-hit games, 12 multi-hit RBIs games, and is carrying a nine-game hitting streak and a 10-game reached base streak into the first game of the season. 
 
Junior catcher Nick Barreiros (Seaford, N.Y.) was the workhorse playing in 38 games with 33 starts as he knocked in 18 hits, five doubles, four home runs, and 19 RBI to go with 15 runs. This season he will look to expand on those numbers while keeping his defensive work at a higher rate as he fielded a .980% with 303 catches, and 281 putouts while allowing only seven passed balls.
 
Other returns in junior Teovaldo Estevez (Bronx, N.Y.), sophomore Mike Freda (Dix Hills, N.Y.), and sophomore Joseph Cornielle (Bayside, N.Y.) will look to provide a bigger role throughout the season.
 
Reardon and his staff have bolstered the offense by adding junior  Francis Segarra (Bronxville, N.Y.) a transfer from College of Southern Maryland who earned First Team All-Region, Region 20 Shortstop honors, and All-Maryland Juco First Team honors. 
 
Segarra who was named Juco Third-Team Academic All-American in 2021 led Southern Maryland with a batting average of .445 knocking in 53 hits, 14 doubles, 42 RBIs, 41 runs and six home runs will be looked at to keep the offense runs flowing this season. 
 
Sophomore catcher Alex Zavala-Rios (Queens, N.Y.) a transfer from Ulster County Community College, and senior first baseman Anthony Fontana (Wantagh, N.Y.) a transfer from Division I Hofstra University will add depth with their playing experience. 
 
In addition to the transfers on the offensive side are newcomers in Andrew Ramirez (Walnut, CA) a graduate of South Hills High School who come to Flushing from the west coast where he was a two-time First All-Leaguer, Joey Patane (Commack, N.Y.) a graduate of Commack High School and Jorsixt Jimenez (Queens, N.Y.) a graduate of Veritas Academy as they look to earn quality time out in the lineup as Queens looks to continue their rise in what will be a tall task in the conference and east region. 
 
On the pitching side, the Knights graduated a total of 150 innings between Rob Backus, Dylan Hughes, and Arcos who combined for 159 strikeouts as they helped Queens to 12 wins, and six saves in a total of 37 games played. 
 
Arcos now will provide his playing experience and look to mentor the Knights pitching staff as he enters his first year as an assistant coach in the bullpen. 
 
Queens will look towards two experienced lefties to lead the way who have been part of the Knights rotations since 2021 in Liam Pulsipher (East Moriches, N.Y.) and Dean Fazah (Queens, N.Y.).
 
Pulsipher and Fazah earned ECC All-Conference honors during the 2021 season, while last season the duo combined for six wins, and three saves as they pitched a total of 87.2 innings in 27 games of action with 14 starts. 
 
While junior righty Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.) will be looking to take the next step in his Knights career coming off a career-high 34.1 innings pitched with 33 strikeouts as he tallied two wins in 14 games with three earned starts.
 
Last season righty Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y.) was the first call out of the bullpen pitching 25.2 innings in 13 appearances with one start as he recorded one win with 33 strikeouts and will look to carry the workload asked of him once again. 

Senior Johnnie Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) was effective out of the bullpen with eight appearances and one start as he recorded a 1.38 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work throughout eight games with one start will look to be reliable along with Stephen Castro (Bayside, N.Y.) and Dante Interlandi (Massapequa, N.Y.) out of the bullpen. While sophomore Blake Jefremow (Bayside, N.Y.) who missed last season due to injury will be looking forward to his Knights debut this season. 
 
Newcomers in righty Christopher Naronis (Floral Park, N.Y), a graduate of Floral Park Memorial High School, righty Ben Nosovitch (Carle Place, N.Y.), a graduate of Carle Place High School, Christian Duarte along with transfers student Nick Kozerski (Hicksville, N.Y.) from Nassau Community College and Bryce Martino (Smithtown, N.Y.) from Hofstra University add depth to the bullpen.

2023 Myrtle Beach College Baseball Spring Training 

The 2023 trio captains in Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.), Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.), and Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y.) will lead the Knights out on opening day as Queens begins their season in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the second straight year.
 
Queens first pitch comes against defending East Regional Champions in Southern New Hampshire University Penmen for the second straight year on Friday (Feb. 24) afternoon. 
 
It will be the eighth meeting in program history against the Penmen who have started the year 3-0 and are ranked ninth in the nation and first in the East Region in the NCBWA poll released on Wednesday (Feb. 22) afternoon. 
 
Queens are searching for their first victory over the Penmen in program history. In their last meeting, the Knights fell 12-7 in their opening game. 
 
On Saturday (Feb. 25) afternoon, the Knights will play their first doubleheader of the season as they match up against the Eagles of Post University who have started the year with an overall record of 3-4. 

Last season Queens swept the Eagles 4-0 as they earned the DH sweep in Myrtle Beach before defeating them in Flushing and Waterbury to take a 5-1 overall series lead.
 
The trip concludes on Sunday (Feb. 26) afternoon against the Griffins of Chestnut Hill College who open their schedule in Myrtle Beach as well.
 
Sunday's meeting against the Griffins will be the second meeting in program history with the Knights having fallen 2-1 in their lone meeting back on February 27, 2013. 
 
East Coast Conference Baseball Preseason Poll (Link)

The Knights have been voted to finish second behind defending champions Molloy University Lions who earned all seven first-place votes. The Spartans of Saint Thomas Aquinas College have been slotted to finish third, while the Mavericks of Mercy College earned the fourth spot to round out the top four postseason spot. 
 
The Saints of D'Youville University have been voted to finish fifth, followed by the Dolphins of College of Staten Island and Lions of Lincoln University (PA.). 
 
Queens opens ECC play on Friday (Mar. 24) against the Dolphins in Flushing. 

The ECC Double-Elimination tournament is scheduled from Thursday to Saturday (May. 12-14). 
 
All home games will be live-streamed on the QC Sports Network and ECC Network and fans can follow along on live stats.
 

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