St. John's University Athletics
SJU Baseball Players Enjoying Solid Summers
7/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Red Storm finished 31-22 overall last year and placed fifth in the BIG EAST with a 13-13 mark under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Ed Blankmeyer. The team lost only two players to graduation and will return its entire starting pitching rotation, as well as six starting positional players.
Leading the St. Johns players are senior outfielder Billy Graiser (Muttontown, N.Y./Miller Place) senior third baseman Jason Kane (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford). Both players have been starting for the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, who reached the All-Star break at 19-14 and in second place in the American Division. Both Graiser and Kane were selected to play in the leagues all-star game, which the American Division won on Sunday, 9-5.
Graiser, who was selected to the NECBL All-League team, ranked fourth in the league in batting with a .337 average through 29 games (37-for-11), with 20 runs scored. In addition, Graiser had stolen 26 bases, third in the league, and was second in the league with a .467 on-base percentage.
Kane, meanwhile, had been starting at third base for the Gulls and went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI during the leagues all-star game on Sunday. He was batting .333 (40-for-128), with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 28 RBI. Kane was fifth in the league in batting, tied for the lead in RBI and third in hits.
Other Red Storm players competing in the NECBL include junior Geno Orsogna (Norfolk, Mass./Bishop Feehan), pitching for the Keene (N.H.) Swamp Rats; sophomore outfielder Anthony DeRosa (Salem, N.H./Salem), playing for the Concord (N.H.) Quarry Dogs; sophomore Jeff Ford (Hamden, Conn./Notre Dame), pitching for the Riverpoint (R.I.) Royals; junior second baseman Chad Cambra (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) and senior pitcher Brian Dorsey (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown), who are both playing for the Middletown (Conn.) Giants.
Junior Tom Klemm (Salem, N.H./Salem) has been pitching for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod League, considered the most prestigious summer baseball league in the country.
Several St. Johns team members have been playing in the Atlantic Coast Baseball League. Seniors Charlie Bilezikjian (Staten Island, N.Y./Port Richmond), Jason Fischette (Staten Island, N.Y./Port Richmond) and Marc Goldberg (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) are playing for the Metro Cadets, senior Vinnie Mannese (Marlboro, N.Y./Marlboro) is pitching for the Newburgh Generals and senior second baseman J.P. Cirigliano (Flushing, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) is playing for the Long Island Collegians.
In other news, incoming freshman Jim Wladyka (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) was recently named an All-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine. A pitcher, Wladyka (pronounced WAD-ick-uh) finished his scholastic career with a 25-5 record, including an 18-2 mark the last two years. He threw five no-hitters in high school including a perfect game and no-hitter in back-to-back games this year and began his sophomore year with two back-to-back. Wladyka led Rutherford to 25-5 records in each of the last two seasons and helped the team win the league championship both seasons. He went 8-1 this year with two saves and a 0.68 earned run average. In one stretch of 55 innings between his first game and the end of the season, the hurler allowed only one earned run. Wladyka was also named first-team all-state by the Newark Star Ledger and first-team all-state as a utility player by the Associated Press.
