Senior Casey Chiola of Colonia will be a veteran presence behind the plate, and with his bat, in 2024. (Source; @coloniahsbaseball on Twitter)
With 28 players in the Colonia baseball program, 19 are freshmen or sophomores.
That’s a considerable amount of youth back for the Patriots, but they do have some experience still at key positions.
That’ll be the theme – at least early on – as Colonia looks to assert itself in the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division, coming off a 9-14 season that followed a very respectable 16-11 campaign in 2022.
Mike Scialfo, now in his seventh season as head coach, will have some figuring to do on the mound. That’s where they lost more than 80 innings to graduation between Dylan Conklin (3.20 ERA, 46 Ks to 18 walks) and Vincent Tripaldi (2.98 ERA, 14K, 4 walks).
But that’s where the return of junior Corey Pascarella will loom large. He was on the shelf last year due to injury, but threw a near-team best 47 innings in 2022 with just a 2.23 ERA. He’ll could very well be the Opening Day starter – weather permitting – when the Patriots open the season Thursday at home against Woodbridge. (Tuesday’s opener at Woodbridge was rained out.)
That’s a 4:00 start, but the teams may play a doubleheader. They plan to meet Wednesday to discuss potential times to get around the rainy weather in the forecast. (The good news is that both schools have turf fields.)
Back to the pitching, sophomores Colin Kroner and Dylan Chiera – both well-known last names in Colonia – will be next in line behind Pascarella..
Behind the plate, and at the plate, is Colonia’s “best player,” according to Scialfo. Ramapo-bound senior Casey Chiola will be a good veteran presence behind the dish. In the batter’s box, he hit .380 last season, with 15 runs batted in and four extra base hits (three doubles, one triple).
But as Scialfo sees it, even the sophomores are experienced. They went through a baptism by fire next year, and the more experience they get this year, the better off they’ll be. It’s just a matter of when it starts paying off.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Colonia head coach Mike Scialfo about the Patriots’ 2024 season:
Discover more from Central Jersey Sports Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.