Picked to finish third in the A-10 this season, baseball hopes to make another run for a conference title. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
After finishing just above .500 in 2021 with a record of 28-26-1 and losing in the conference semifinals, there’s plenty for the University of Rhode Island Baseball team to build off of heading into their 2022 campaign.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 season was filled with inconsistencies. Just as the momentum would start to roll for the Rams, cancellations and positive tests would arise and derail them from their path. At one point, they had seven straight games canceled.
However, Head Coach Raphael Cerrato is hopeful that COVID-19 related issues are a thing of the past for his team.
“We feel a little better about keeping guys on the field,” Cerrato said. “We had a lot of guys miss time last year with contact tracing. A day before a series, you didn’t know if you were going to be able to play.”
The team will be going without a few familiar faces this year, most notably star outfielder Austin White, who transferred to Coastal Carolina. White had a career year in 2021, batting .326 while scoring 39 runs and tallying 22 RBIs. This season, the team brought in La Salle University transfer Jack Cucinotta. Cucinotta transferred to URI after La Salle opted to drop their baseball program in the offseason, and Cerrato hopes he can replace the production that White had.
“Defensively, he is outstanding,” Cerrato said. “He is a little different type of hitter than Austin is, but I think he is possibly our lead off hitter.”
Cucinotta had a great offensive season for the Explorers last season, scoring 44 runs, driving in 30 runs and stealing 30 bases while batting .223. However, his biggest strength is his defensive play. He did not commit a single error in the entire 2021 season.
“He can track down a ball anywhere in center field,” first baseman Xavier Vargas said. “He’s very fast.”
While White’s absence was filled seamlessly, another loss for the team came with the departure of catcher Sonny Ulliana.
“It is definitely a loss offensively, but I think we have multiple catchers this year that are going to get an opportunity,” Cerrato said. “Those being Jordan Laske, Rob Butler, Eric Genther and Addison Kopack. We feel really good with all four.”
Cerrato also said his team’s main strength is their depth.
“There are 13 or 14 position players that I would love to play everyday, but obviously there are only nine on the field,” Cerrato said. “So there are going to be a lot of players that get opportunities early. We are not the kind of team that is just going to have nine guys playing the field every game”.
Vargas also said that the team has a very strong pitching staff.
“We have a lot of veterans and a couple new guys that can really help the team as well,” he said.
This upcoming weekend the Rams will travel down to Williamsburg, Va. to take on William and Mary in their first series of the season. The Tribe finished below .500 last season with a record of 14-29.
“I expect us to go down there and show the country what we’ve got and I expect us to come out of there with two or three wins,” Vargas said.
Coach Cerrato just wants his team “to be ready to play.”
“They are usually a very good program and we expect them to be very good this spring,” he said. “We expect to go down there and play well enough to win games.”
URI was picked third to finish in the Atlantic 10 this upcoming season behind VCU and Dayton. Their run for potentially their third conference title begins Friday afternoon with the first of a three-game series against William and Mary. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.