Xaverian hopes to avoid senioritis and repeat as City champions

April 14, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Head coach Frank Del George (right) thinks that Xaverian has enough talent to repeat as city champions, but it’s a matter of the pitching stepping up and the seniors not suffering from senioritis. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

Share this:

The Xaverian Clippers were supposedly rebuilding last season and went on to win a city championship. This year they have the majority of the team coming back, so expectations are a bit higher — it’s another title or bust.

“Anything less than a championship will be a disappointment,” head coach Frank Del George said. “This is the team that was supposed to do it this year; we’ve got a lot of veteran guys coming back and just two guys are out on that field that weren’t there last year.”

It’s true — the Clippers return a ton of talent from last year’s squad, but despite the similarities, the few players they lost were huge parts of that team. Del George expects that with so many players returning, the team’s experience will be a strength. But as a few players noted, the absence of last year’s seniors does make a big difference.

“It’s definitely a different team than last year,” said left fielder Nick Meola. “We’re still trying to find ourselves, trying to find out who our leaders are going to be. I think we’ll put it together.”

Of the players who have departed, the biggest name was Anthony Sigismondi, Xaverian’s ace starter who helped lead the Clippers in their quest for glory.

“Siggy was tough; he led us,” said starting pitcher Rob Amato. “Now we’re just trying to find a leader that can do the same thing.”

Amato might not become the team’s leader the way that Sigismondi was, but he’s expected to take his spot as the top starter in the rotation. Del George believes Amato will be able to step up in that role after playing a large part on last year’s team, but the question remains as to whether John Bini and Andrew Watters are ready to fall into place behind him.

“The only thing that is going to hurt us this year is on the mound,” Del George said. “Not having Siggy and [Jeff Manzi], those are two guys that had a lot of guts. I’m not sure if the new guys are really ready.

“We need Bini to be able to fill that No. 2 spot, and Andrew Watters has to step up and be our stopper. If they can do that, then we’ll be fine.”

The lineup is missing some bats, too. Brandon Torres, Anthony Barbati and Chris Amato are the most notable differences. But the Clippers won with pitching and defense last year, and they know they’ll have to do it that way again this year in order to repeat.

Timely hits are important, though, so they’ll lean on Phoenix Hernandez at the top of the order and Anthony Scotti, Joseph Vitacco, Nick Meola and Chris Nierva in the middle of the lineup to come through in the clutch. Sophomore Xavier Vargas and third baseman Michael Costello are the new bats, for now, but early on this season nothing is set in stone.

“Last year’s team, we were tough, we wanted to win,” Amato said. “This year this team, we have the chemistry together. The seniors know how to do it. I feel like every senior still has the will to win just as much as we did last year. We want to show everybody that we’re the real deal.”