By Joe Manganiello
SYRACUSE, NY – Zach Lauricella has had a wild ride this year. Adjusting to life as a collegiate freshman and as a starting third baseman on a nationally ranked St. Johns team provided a lot of changes for the 18-year-old.
As of June 16, Lauricella is now providing big changes in the offensive and defensive rotation of the NYCBL’s best team: the Syracuse Junior Chiefs.
Lauricella, who only left St. Johns University last week after an improbable, dream-like run to the Super Regional of the NCAA tournament, first reported to the Junior Chiefs on their road trip to Boonville, NY, as the team prepared to take on the Trailblazers.
Manager Casey Scott was not planning on using him on his first day, but when the Junior Chiefs took a 15-8 lead heading into the ninth inning, Scott decided to give a Lauricella a pinch-hit at bat. Lauricella entered the box and proceeded to humbly ground into a 4-6-3 double-play to end the inning.
Anyone around the Junior Chiefs team had to smile after the play, as the irony of one of the most talented amateur baseball players in the country joining the team and grounding into a double-play in his first at bat is somewhat comical. Lauricella certainly seemed to take it well, as he hustled all the way down the first baseline and back into the dugout without any outward anger at himself or anyone else.
But the moment sparked a lot of questions about the Syracuse Junior Chiefs, the most important of which being how the team figured to acclimate a player of Lauricella’s abilities into a lineup and rotation that had already produced a startling 76 runs through the first seven games. Additionally, the double-play begged the question if meddling with the team’s lineup in the middle of winning streak was going to work out for the Junior Chiefs.
Through the team’s first three games, the typical lineup consisted of Frank Salerno, Tim Locastro, Christian Knott, Dave Wolak and Kyle Stoudt at the top of the order, with the bottom of the lineup and just about all defensive positions interchangeable. When Stoudt pitched in game-four and had a season-ending elbow injury, Ryan Sonberg became the everyday first baseman, and the team began scoring runs at an expeditious rate.
The foundation of the game-four lineup became the base of the team’s lineup moving forward: Salerno leading off and at second base, Locastro batting second and playing third base, Knott batting third and playing either left field or at designated hitter, Wolak batting fourth and playing corner outfield or at designated hitter, Brian Witkowski batting about fifth and playing outfield, Alex Sanchez Jr. batting about sixth and playing shortstop, Corey Caswell batting about seventh and catching, Sonberg batting about eight and playing first base and center fielder’s Zach Blanden (right-handed batter) and Riley Moonan (left-handed batter) batting ninth and alternating based on pitching match ups.
This main rotation led the NYCBL in batting average, runs per game and on-base-percentage, and elevated the Junior Chiefs into first-place in the East Division at 5-2. When Lauricella arrived from St. Johns University, it became patently unclear how Scott was going to squeeze in a Big East third baseman who slugged 30 RBIs for an elite national team.
When Lauricella started his first game at designated hitter against the Utica Brewers on June 19, the offense struggled to put runs on the board. The defensive lineup remained intact, as Lauricella was slotted at designated hitter and batting fifth, which kept Locastro at third base, Knott and Wolak in the corner outfield and the red-hot Sanchez at short stop. Scott also elected to start Witkowski in center over both Moonan and Blanden, seemingly for offensive reasons, as he was already starting McClure (.143) at catcher over the NYCBL’s leading batter Caswell (.529) for a normal day off.
Despite scoring two runs in the first inning, the team failed to score in six of the seven remaining frames, as the Junior Chiefs left seven runners on base and struck out six times in the game. Only Knott and Lauricella had multiple hits in the game, as Salerno, Locastro and Wolak combined for one hit and no RBIs.
Lauricella played great in his first start with the team, going two-for-four with a triple that advanced him to home after an over throw by their second baseman. The four runs that the Junior Chiefs scratched together would be enough to beat the Brewers that day, as an amazing start from Alex Basso (6.0 inn, 0 ER on five hits) and a shut-down save by Kevin Carroll earned the team its fifth consecutive victory.
After clearly under performing offensively against Utica, and looking for a better performance against Geneva on June 20, the Junior Chiefs started their most dissimilar lineup of the season. Locastro, who had not missed a game since the season opener, did not start and instead the number two hitter was Witkowski, who had not batted higher than fifth all season. Although Salerno, Knott and Wolak were in their common offensive and defensive positions, and David Lostaglio and Blanden starting was not surprising, Lauricella getting the start at third base and batting fifth in the lineup for a second consecutive game answered at least one major question: Lauricella will be an everyday player for the Junior Chiefs this season.
The Junior Chiefs struggled out of the gate, getting shut out with just one hit through the first four innings. In fact, entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Junior Chiefs were down 5-0 at home against Geneva, the last team to beat them this season. Keenan Stare struggled in his start, allowing five earned runs in 4.1 innings, before Robert Frank relieved him to finish the top of the fifth.
But then Lauricella led off the bottom of the fifth for the Junior Chiefs, and the strangest thing happened: the Junior Chiefs came all the way back. Lauricella hit a 3-1 pitch right on the screws and forced an error on Redwing shortstop Chris Ray. Than Sanchez singled and the hustling Lauricella made it all the way to third base. Sonberg was hit by a pitch to the load the bases, all with no outs.
Then Lostaglio hit a fielder’s choice to score in Lauricella and advance Sanchez to third base, opening the flood gates. In total, the Junior Chiefs scored five runs off two hits, two errors and a pair of walks. For the first time all season, the Junior Chiefs were down by five runs and instead of panicking, they fought back and tied the ball game.
So much for a team that can only win blowouts.
In fact, the Junior Chiefs rallied a second time later on, in the bottom of the ninth no less, to win the game. Christian Knott brought home two runners on a walk-off single, getting mobbed by his over-joyed teammates after learning that their winning streak would see another day.
And at the forefront of their success on Tuesday and Wednesday was the much talked about new guy: Zach Lauricella. He runs the bases well, hustles on every play, has poise well beyond his years and can flat out hit the ball; the triple he hit at Delutis Field landed about 370 feet away from the plate and would have been a monster, home-run at most NYCBL ballparks.
So the answer is yes, it is probably going to be a challenge to divvy up at bats among players like Locastro, Witkowski, Sonberg, and Sanchez in order to have Lauricella in the lineup everyday. But nobody in the NYCBL has the talent the Junior Chiefs do. That is a special advantage worth protecting, even if it means some guys lose playing time.
Most importantly, no other team in the NYCBL has a player like Lauricella, and the new guy looks like a problem eraser for a second-year franchise looking to shake up the NYCBL standings through late July.
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