After an unceremonious end to the 2024 season, the Ithaca College baseball team looks to step back into the batter’s box for another shot at the postseason. This year, a combination of veteran leadership and breakout underclassmen are hoping to lead the Bombers to the promised land for the first time since 2013’s Cinderella run to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship ended in a third-place finish.
A year ago, the Bombers won 31 games for the second consecutive season and the Liberty League Championship title for the third time under head coach David Valesente. Unfortunately, they crashed out of the Cleveland Regional without winning a game. They were eliminated by the combination of a University of Lynchburg squad from Virginia that went on to upset the No. 1 team in the nation, and an Alvernia University team from Pennsylvania, that made its first appearance at regionals since 2019.
“We played [Lynchburg] tough and feel that we should have won that game,” Valesente said. “We had the lead going in late into the seventh inning and unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. When you get to that level of baseball, the competition is extremely strong and the teams are very good, so it can go in any which direction. That’s what makes it so fun and challenging.”
The only player to score a run in both regional games was senior outfielder Collin Feeney, who led the Bombers in runs last year with 40. In addition to being one of the 2024 team’s most productive hitters — slashing a .319 average, .456 slugging percentage and .889 OPS across 41 appearances — he was also one of the most disciplined, leading the Liberty League with 31 walks. He said the disappointment could be felt throughout the clubhouse after the end of the season.
“It was really tough,” Feeney said. “Because it feels like you let some of the upperclassmen down. You know those guys won’t play baseball again. That’s your motivation towards the end of the season, and having that be a factor is definitely sad for most of our guys.”
Now, following the graduation of outfielder Louis Fabbo ’24, the program’s all-time hits leader, Feeney finds himself as one of 12 players in that same last-chance scenario. Amongst them are senior outfielder Ethan McDonough, whose 1.014 OPS led the team in 2024 and put him 11th in the Liberty League, as well as senior first baseman Ryan Laubscher, senior infielder Riley Brawdy and senior catcher Tyler Pugliese.
This veteran leadership carries over to the pitching staff as well because 84.5% of last season’s total innings pitched returns for 2025. They are led by two all-region players: senior second-team starting pitcher Colin Leyner, who placed atop the Liberty League in innings pitched at 86.2 last season and is looking toward the school strikeout record, and senior third-team reliever John Griffin, whose 2.89 ERA in 37.1 innings pitched ranked third in the Liberty League.
But the underclassmen look to make massive impacts too. Players like junior outfielder Matt Curtis and sophomore first-baseman/outfielder infielder Camden Laney stepped up last season in the field. Curtis had one of the plays of the season when he hit a walk-off grand slam to sweep Vassar College in a doubleheader, and Laney was especially impressive, nearly leading the team with a 1.012 OPS as a first-year student.
This goes doubly so for the pitching staff, which saw two first-year pitchers, Jack Picozzi and Danny Drotos, starting on the mound in key postseason victories last season. Drotos mainly filled in as a starter down the stretch and performed very well in that time, pitching to the tune of a 1.27 WHIP and sub-4.00 ERA. The All-Liberty League honorable mention Picozzi operated as the team’s second starter for much of the season, and this offseason Picozzi has worked on improving his biggest deficit — the amount of walks he gave up.
“That’s been my biggest focus from the moment that season ended and the offseason began; just being able to throw more strikes and get more guys out and to limit my pitch count,” Picozzi said. “I feel good about the work that I’ve put in, and I feel confident that I’m going to be able to make a significant improvement on that from last year.”
Picozzi’s stats show that he was an elite strikeout pitcher by Liberty League standards to the tune of fourth in the league in total strikeouts and a 10.7 K/9, but he also led the league in hit batters and fourth in base on balls, with 20 and 29 respectively. While he has worked on his control, Picozzi said new strength and conditioning coach Andrew Parker has worked with this squad to help give it some much-needed strength.
“He has revolutionized the way that we’ve got after it in the weight room this offseason, and it’s been noticeable,” Picozzi said. “Everybody just looks bigger and stronger, the way that we’ve been playing, and you can just tell that there’s a significant difference in everybody physically compared to last year.”
Valesente said the Bombers’ philosophy this year has more to do with getting on base and deceiving batters when on the mound than simply seeking home runs or blowing by fastballs. At the same time, he said more power certainly would not hurt. After a 2023 season that saw the Bombers hit 47 home runs, the most since 1984, that number was nearly halved to 27 this past season. While much less drastic, the pitching staff’s K/9 dropped from 8.3 — good enough for 71st in the nation in 2023 — to 7.8, which was not top 100 in 2024.
The new additions should help; from the transfer portal comes graduate student outfielder Andrew McDermott, who hit four home runs and racked up a .930 OPS 130 OPS+ in 29 appearances last season for the Division I Queens University of Charlotte and is expected to make an immediate impact for this team. Valesente said several first-year players will be looked at to play significant roles as well.
As the pressure of the opening day draws nearer, Feeney elaborated on the importance of keeping that pressure off.
“At the end of the day the most important thing you need to do is have fun and do it for your teammates,” Feeney said. “It sounds cliche, but as soon as you simple it down, baseball is a children’s game. There’s kids who are 5 years old who play the exact same game as you. So if 5-year-olds can have fun and play it well, then you can too.”
