While the pros are working back into form, Gotham's best and brightest in the college ranks are already opening their respective seasons. For the third year, Gotham Baseball highlights who's who among the top collegiate players in the tri-state area going into the 2008 season with our Preseason All-Gotham Collegiate Team. Follow their progress through the spring here!
Three years ago, the Pre-Season All Gotham Team was started as a chance to introduce Gotham Baseball's readers to some of the top talent in local college baseball. Last year, continuity was created, as several players were able to repeat as Pre-Season All Gotham selections, while others followed up on their selections as part of the inaugural Post Season All Gotham team.
Last year, of the 16 players selected on the pre-season team, seven repeated on the Post Season team. Two players were selected to all four teams (Army’s Milan Dinga and Rutgers Todd Frazier) while another handful (Army’s Cole White and Nick Hill, Manhattan’s Matt Rizzotti, St. John’s Scott Barnes, TCNJ’s Gerard Haran) were selected to three of the four.
However, college athletics, by its very nature, place limits on players repeating, due to graduation or the call of professional athletics. So there will be many new faces on the 2008 Pre-Season All Gotham Team from the 2007. There will also be some familiar names.
In 2008, pitching, once again, will be the strongest position. There is also a greater concentration of talent amongst a few teams on this team than any before. One thing is almost certain – the Post Season team will evolve very differently from the list below.
Pitchers
Scott Barnes (St. John’s University) - Heading into his junior season, Barnes has been highly decorated by GBM as well as by the Big East. A unanimous selection to the All-Big East team, this hard throwing left-hander is expected to be the top draft prospect amongst GBM’s college players.
With a 7-2 season as one of the country’s top rated sophomores, Barnes fanned 92 batters in 86 innings in leading the Red Storm to a tie for first in the Big East and an NCAA Tournament bid.
Barnes was selected last year to the Pre and Post Season All Gotham Teams.
Brad Brach (Monmouth) - Heading into his senior season, this lanky right-hander is one of the region’s most accomplished starters, and has post-season experience as well. Finishing 2007 with a 9-3 record and 2.89 ERA. Brach was the Hawks' starter in their NCAA Tournament opener with Arizona State, coming out on the short end of a 5-3 result.
Still, the junior held the Sun Devils high scoring offense in check, allowing four runs and nine hits in seven innings in picking up the loss, striking out three. For the season, Brach allowed only 94 hits in 99.2 innings, striking out 84. He tossed six complete games and four shutouts, while walking only 20 batters.
Brach’s competiveness and change-up are the two items that has scouts raving about this right-hander.
Ryan Buch (Monmouth) -Buch is the second half of Monmouth’s lethal 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, and this super sophomore is a Wallace Watch nominee as one of the top players in college baseball. Buch ended a super freshman season with a 9-2 record, and a no-decision against Nebraska in the elimination game in last season’s NCAA tournament. (The Hawks dropped a 6-5 decision.)
As a freshman, Buch held opposing batters to a .223 batting average, and had one complete game on the season, while being part of two combined shutouts. Striking out 76 in 81 innings, Buch is expected to continue to improve as his collegiate career continues, and was named by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Atlantic Collegiate League in 2007.
Tom Costigan (Manhattan) - Another super soph, Costigan jumps to the head of the Manhattan rotation after an 8-3, 3.84 freshman season in 2007. The MAAC Coaches pre-season selection as the league’s top pitcher, Costigan steps forward to take control of a staff that has kept the Jaspers on top of the MAAC for the last few seasons.
With the loss of slugging first baseman Matt Rizzotti and catcher Nick Derba to the processional ranks, Costigan is going to have to build off his success if the Jaspers are going to make a return visit to the NCAA tournament.
Tom Davis (Fordham) - One of Gotham’s top pitchers in 2007, Davis ran out of gas down the stretch, just missing out on Post Season All-Gotham honors a season ago. Finishing with a 8-3, 4.05 ERA in 2007, he returns for his senior season as the ace of the staff of a team that is once again a favorite within the Atlantic-10.
A durable hurler who has thrown over 80 innings in each of his three collegiate seasons, Davis was a second team A-10 selection a season ago. Unheralded, Davis is not a strikeout pitcher (53k in 86.2 innings) but limited A-10 hitters to a .245 batting average while going 6-2 in conference play.
Joe Testa (Wagner) -The winner of the “Pitcher You Don’t Want To Face” poll by CollegeBaseballInsider.com in a survey of the league's coaches, Testa is the pitcher everyone loves, but can’t seem to win games. A year ago, the left-hander went 4-6, with an impressive 3.02 ERA, striking out 82 in 80.2 innings.
His career mark of 12-13 is not impressive, but his 228 strikeouts in 209 innings, 10 complete games and two shutouts is.
Closer: Colin Lynch (St. John’s University) - Lynch is a man with a goal in mind - to re-establish himself as the East’s top closer after a solid regular season a year ago ended with two bad outings in the NCAA tournament. Still, as a sophomore, Lynch posted a 2-2 record with 11 saves, and a 2.86 ERA in 34.2 innings, spanning 26 appearances.
A power pitcher who struck out 34 hitters in 34.2 innings in 2007, Lynch returns to give St. John’s the pre-eminent closer in the league and was named to the Stopper of the Year watchlist heading into 2008.
Catcher: Chris Drecshel (Wagner) -A two-time selection to All-NEC teams, Drecshel is the returning leader for Wagner is 2008. Twice a second team selection, Drecshel (.298, 2, 18) is known as a strong defensive player, and gunned down a third of enemy base stealers a season ago. Coming off a strong summer season in the prestigious Cape Cod League, is the pick of a talented group of catchers throughout Gotham.
First Base: Andy Meyers (Monmouth), Tom Edwards (Rutgers) - This is the first time that two players will share a position on the All-Gotham team, as Meyers and Edwards are too close to split apart at the moment.
Meyers, an offensive machine in 2007, will look to handle more leadership in 2008 as the Hawks lose a few of their top offensive contributors. The 2007 All-Gotham Post Season selection, comes off a season where he hit .393, slugging 9 home runs and driving in 65 runs.
Edwards, a draftee of the Texas Rangers who decided to return to the
Scarlet Knights for his junior season, is one of the few returning big
bats for a Rutgers team that hit its way into the NCAA Tournament. The Pre-Season All Big East first baseman hit .340, with seven home runs and 48 RBI in 2007 and is expected to be a key figure in the Scarlet Knights defense of their Big East Co-Championship.
Second Base: Eric Reese (Fordham) - Coming off a .362 batting average, with four home runs and 36 RBI in 2007, Reese is the A-10 pre-season choice at second base from Fordham, the consensus second best team in the league. A speedy runner, Reese swiped 13 bases a seasons ago, and is being counted on to help stabilize the Rams defense up the middle.
Reese reached base safely in 52 of 56 games in 2007, while setting a Fordham mark with 224 at bats, and being the second player in school history to have over 80 hits and 55 runs scored in a season.
Shortstop: Jeff Toth (College of New Jersey) - Each year, GBM gets tons of complaints about who gets overlooked and who gets picked. One of the more controversial happening on any All-Gotham Team is when a Division III player makes the team over all Division I players. So, expect this pick to be no different.
Toth, who accepted a scholarship to Rider out of high school, decided the school was not for him, and transferred to Middlesex Community College for his freshman year, where he was named a JUCO All America. Last year at TCNJ, he slugged eight home runs while batting .368., and the speedy infielder stole 26 bases in 27 attempts a year ago for the Lions, while being selected second team All-NJAC.
Finally, in his first season in three years where he is not making a transition, we expect the junior to explode upon the scene.
Baseball America rated Toth the ninth best prospect in the Atlantic Collegiate League this summer.
Third Base: Matt Prokopowicz (Hofstra) - A Freshman All-American in 2007, Prokopowicz was an offensive machine (.416, 6, 52, 1.065 OPS) a season ago for the Pride playing in the tough Colonial Athletic Association. It was good enough to get him a third team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All America honors this pre-season, but not enough to be selected to the CAA’s pre-season All Conference team.
Well, GBM can find a spot on our team for this slugging third baseman, who we believe could find himself next year in the top three rounds of the major league draft if he can improve his fielding (18 errors as a freshman).
With Hofstra rebuilding in a very competitive CAA, the good news coming out Hempstead should be primarily sutrounding Prokopowicz in 2008.
Outfield
Kevin Kallert (St. Peter’s College) - The MAAC coach’s choice as their pre-season Player of the Year, Kallert is the Peacocks key player in 2008. A .376 hitter with six home runs and 29 RBI in 41 games in 2007, Kallert is also a member of the Peacocks pitching staff, compiling a 3-1 record, in 9 appearances, including seven starts. But it is 6-3, 210 lb outfielder’s bat that is expected to carry last year’s surprise team in the MAAC back towards the playoffs in 2008.
Brian Kemp (St. John’s University) - One of the fastest base runners in Gotham, Kemp (left) is another Freshman All-American from the 2007 season that figures to be a mainstay on All-Star teams for the next few seasons. The prototypical leadoff hitter, Kemp batted .348 a season ago, with 25 steals in 29 attempts, driving in 33 runs and scoring 53.
Chris Anninos (St. John’s University) - Anninos (right) came on strong at the end of the 2007 season, and was one of the best hitters for the Red Storm in the post-season. Not that his .325, 8 HR, 38 RBI season was anything to sneeze at, but St. John’s is expecting even more from this big Texan, who is the leading power threat returning in 2008 for the Red Storm.
Designated Hitter: Peter Allen (Fairfield) - Starring in relative anonymity, Allen makes the Stags a contender in the competitive MAAC due to his powerful bat. While his five home runs may not seem to be a lot, his 23 doubles and .626 slugging percentage show that he is one of the East’s most dangerous power hitters. A member of the Wallace Watch for the nation’s top player, Allen once again will carry Fairfield’s hopes on his broad shoulders.
There are two things you can pretty much count on every time you watch Fairfield play. Allen will strike out once (39 times in 45 games) and reach base twice (89 times in 45 games.) Primarily Fairfield’s designated hitter, Allen might see time at first base or in the outfield as well, but his bat will also be in action.
Utility: Cole White (Army) - Cole White is not your average college baseball star.
Need a starting pitcher? White is now the ace of the Army staff, and is coming off a 7-3, 3.49 season a year ago after pitching the previous two seasons as the Black Knights second starter behind All-Gotham lefthander Nick Hill.
Need a hitter? The Patriot League Player of the Year hit .408 last season, while leading the Black Knights in RBIs with 29 and home runs with four.
Need someone to play the field? White, an All-Patriot performer in the outfield and at first base during his first two seasons at West Point, split time between the outfield and second base last season.
When asked last season about his moving around the field, White talked about how it was expected that you needed to move around the field while playing for Army, and then summed it with the simplest, clearest statement on the matter.
“Doesn’t matter where I play, as long as I can help the team,” White said. “It’s just baseball.”
Wherever he is on the field, White contributes. Which is why White continues to be named to All-Gotham teams each year.
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers honored White with a third team All America selection at this position on their 2008 pre-season team. If it were not for the Utility position, White would probably occupy a spot on the pitching staff and in the outfield.
So there you have it! Be sure to check Gotham Baseball's college coverageregularly to check on the progress of these players, their teams, and whoever else may emerge throughout the season in what is shaping up to be a highly competitive college season!
While the pros are working back into form, Gotham's best and brightest in the college ranks are already opening their respective seasons. For the third year, Gotham Baseball highlights who's who among the top collegiate players in the tri-state area going into the 2008 season with our Preseason All-Gotham Collegiate Team. Follow their progress through the spring here!
Scott Barnes (St. John’s University)
Brad Brach (Monmouth) - 
Meyers, an offensive machine in 2007, will look to handle more leadership in 2008 as the Hawks lose a few of their top offensive contributors. The 2007 All-Gotham Post Season selection, comes off a season where he hit .393, slugging 9 home runs and driving in 65 runs. 
Edwards, a draftee of the Texas Rangers who decided to return to the
Scarlet Knights for his junior season, is one of the few returning big
bats for a Rutgers team that hit its way into the NCAA Tournament. The Pre-Season All Big East first baseman hit .340, with seven home runs and 48 RBI in 2007 and is expected to be a key figure in the Scarlet Knights defense of their Big East Co-Championship. 
Second Base: Eric Reese (Fordham) -
Shortstop: Jeff Toth (College of New Jersey) - 
Third Base: Matt Prokopowicz (Hofstra) -
Kevin Kallert (St. Peter’s College) - 
Designated Hitter: Peter Allen (Fairfield) -
Utility: Cole White (Army) - 
