Team Preview: Colby-Sawyer
- Updated: February 24, 2024
NEW LONDON — The Colby-Sawyer baseball team is ready to win in 2024 after a pair of rebuilding season under head coach Tom White. The Chargers finished 2023 with an 8-25 overall record and a 4-13 record in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), but they expect to make a playoff push in 2024.
Not Young Anymore
Headed into 2024 the Chargers will have 29 returners, including all three GNAC All-Conference Team selections and all seven pitchers who made a start for the team in 2023.
Leading the way is outfielder Cooper O’Brien (Vergennes, Vt.), who returns after starting 33 games for Colby-Sawyer and being named to the GNAC All-Conference Third Team in 2023. Cooper ended last year with a .324/.412/.574 (AVG/OBP/SLG) slash line with a team-leading six home runs, 24 RBIs and 30 runs to go with nine doubles and nine stolen bases.
“Coming back this year we have a lot of older guys,” O’Brien said. “I believe we have a lot more talent this year with our experience growing and with the added boost of the first years so our expectations are high going into this season. Coach White continues to do a good job at building off the mental side of the game and he keeps building us up and keeping us positive.”
Another one of the team leaders returning is the ace from last season senior Zach Rogers (Mashpee, Mass.). Rogers ended the year with a 3-3 record, making eight starts and three other relief outings. Zach tossed 50.2 innings of work for Colby-Sawyer allowing 33 runs (25 earned) on 51 hits with 38 strikeouts and 17 walks for a ERA of 4.44. Rogers was later given the Chargie for Male Most Improved Student-Athlete of the Year and is ready to win in 2024.
“Everyone is hungry,” Rogers said. “We have a lot of guys who want to win, which is the most important part. This is an important year for our upperclassmen to develop fully and compete at that high level. Our pitching staff is a lot different from last year with a lot more depth and good young arms to push everyone to be great.”
Junior pitcher Jack Mullen (Norfolk, Mass.) is also looking to grow in 2023 continuing as a key piece of the rotation.
“We want to win this year,” Mullen said. “You can’t just really expect to go out there and win, but we expect to play hard every single time we get out on the field and give us a chance to win in every single game we play.”
Junior infielder Griffin Wheeler (Penacook, N.H.) continued to echo the rest of the leaders and believes this is the year they get back to the playoffs.
“The expectations are high for this team,” Wheeler said. “We are not a young team anymore and our experience will lead us. We are just going to compete because that is all we can do.”
Newcomers
Head Coach Tom White brings in 11 newcomers to the Chargers in 2024 with three coming from New Hampshire.
Colin Burchard (Upton, Mass.) (Pitcher / Outfielder), Jesse Chaves (Taunton, Mass.) (Catcher), Mike Krouse (Peabody, Mass.) (Infielder), Evan Dennis (East Rygate, Vt.) (Pitcher / First Baseman / Outfielder), Vinny Digiacomo (Marstons Mills, Mass.) (Pitcher / Outfielder), Noah Staffier (Beverly, Mass.) (Catcher), Trevor Robichaud (Leominster, Mass.) (Pitcher), Eli Calhoun (Swanton, Vt.) (Pitcher), Brady Young (Stratham, N.H.) (Pitcher), Sean Roeger (Salem, N.H.) (Infielder) and Hayden Goerlich (Amherst, N.H.) (Outfielder / Pitcher)
What to Know
Colby-Sawyer was ranked ninthin the GNAC Preseason Poll. Johnson & Wales were selected in first place with 11 first place votes.
The Chargers open the season on March 2 on the road at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in a doubleheader. After the two games Colby-Sawyer will head to Myrtle Beach from March 9-16 playing in 10 games. The Chargers open up at home on April 6 in a doubleheader against New England College.
Senior outfielder Jack Matarese (Ashland, Mass.) returns to Colby-Sawyer for his senior season in 2024 and is ready to go.
“No one likes to see being ranked low in the preseason poll,” said Matarese. “It is only up from here. Our goal is to obviously make playoffs and we are all pushing for it. We have a great group of guys all working hard so we can accomplish our goal and prove the poll wrong.”
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