Stevenson’s baseball team starts their season hoping to outdo last season’s 9-27 overall record.

Stevenson was picked sixth in the 2025 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Poll, which was released on Tuesday morning.

The Mustangs have an exciting season ahead, including a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from March 6-8. The Mustangs will have three games on their road trip as they look forward to a great team bonding experience.

Key returning players include:

• Dalton Reinhart, outfielder/pitcher
• Christopher Manco, outfielder
• Kaige Garrity, outfield/pitcher
• Matt Perri, catcher

“The biggest goal of the season is to help the team win games.” Reinhart said. “This team can shock some people and we want that.”

Head coach Matt Righter will enter his second season in charge of the baseball team. Righter is excited about his team’s chances this season. 

“The main goal is to see growth from last year,” Righter said. “What that looks like is an increase in quality at bats. Throwing more strikes. Improving their approaches are all things I’m looking for. We’re really focused on approach and process.”

Here’s a look at the roster that has lots of returners as well as some new talent. With the influx of talent, positions and players could be rotating and featuring different guys throughout the season.

Catcher

The pitcher to catcher dynamic is arguably the most important in baseball, so you need a guy who you can trust behind the dish calling pitches and leading his team. 

Fourth-year catcher, Matt Perri, had his season cut short due to injury last year. However, he was still able to lead the team in on base percentage (.469) among qualified batters (mim. 50 AB), and raked 17 hits, four doubles, a homerun, and .949 OPS. 

Third-year John Padousis is another reliable catcher that the team can count on. Padousis stepped up last season when Perri went down. Padousis was able to hit .297 with 19 hits, 4 of them being doubles, and a .357 OBP. 

First base

Righter could have some tough decisions to make for who plays first this season for the Mustangs. Some guys in the mix are fourth-year Jack Gitterman, third-year Liam Houghton and third-year Vincent Licor. 

Gitterman is looking to command the position after getting limited opportunities last season. While only totaling 11 at bats, Gitterman was able to get four hits and four RBI’s. He had two walks as well, showing a good feel at the plate.

Houghton is a transfer from Stevens Institute of Technology. Houghton through two years had a .250 average, six hits with four of them being doubles, and seven RBI’s. 

Licor has had limited at bats last season. In 15 at bats, Licor managed to get three hits, one double, and one homerun. Licor had four RBi’s as well. 

Second base

Righter plans to take second-year Connor Wilkerson up a level this season after he showed flashes last season. Wilkerson only batted .177 last season, but when he made contact, it was solid contact. Five out of Wilkerson’s 11 hits went for extra bases and he had 11 RBI’s to his name. 

Shortstop

Manning the shortstop position is a tough responsibility for any baseball team. Stevenson will turn to second-year Jaylon Surell to secure that position. Surell was able to appear and start in 23 games in his first year last season where he batted .200 and had 15 hits. He’ll look to improve those numbers this season and be a big contributor offensively and defensively. 

First-year Sam Batiancila looks primed to be in the mix for an infield position as well. The young player is looking to earn his stripes this season. 

Third base

Third-year Brandon Perillo seems to be the guy for third base. Perillo was able to hit .292 last season with a .670 OPS, as well as a .333 on base percentage.

Outfield

In right field, fourth-year Dalton Reinhart looks to have another successful campaign this year after having a breakout season last year.

“Dalton Reinhart had a really good season last year. He works really hard,” Righter said.

Last season, Reinhart led the team in batting average (.386), hits (44), home runs (3), slugging percentage (.526), and totaled seven stolen bases. Reinhart made the All-MAC Commonwealth Second Team last season. 

Out in left field, third-year Kaige Garrity is looking to build off his prosperous season last year where he batted .280 while tallying 33 hits, led the team with 11 doubles, had a triple, and a homerun. He will fight for a corner outfield starting spot.

Center field looks to be a battle. Second-year Nick Griffin and third-year Graham Sears are two competent guys both with the bat and the glove. 

Griffin is coming into this year with some pop in his bat. He’s worked hard all offseason and looks to build off that this season and take a step forward and be a legit contributor for Stevenson this season.

Sears is returning from last season where he appeared in 34 games. Sears was able to log a .236 average with a .695 OPS. Sears was able to tear up the base paths, logging a team leading 15 stolen bases while never being thrown out once. He flashed some power as well, smashing two home runs and six doubles. 

Designated hitter (DH)

A designated hitter is a position where you want a guy that can rake at the plate. Second year Christopher Manco does exactly that. Last season, Manco had a .303 batting average, totaling 33 hits, five doubles, and a homerun. Manco also had a very impressive eye at the plate, amassing 22 walks to only 21 strikeouts in 109 at bats. Not only is Manco dangerous with the bat, but he also managed to steal 11 bags and can be a good option in the outfield as well. 

Pitching

Pitching brings a lot of questions to the forefront. The Mustangs will have to improve in that area after posting a team ERA of 8.51 last season. As noted earlier, Righter is looking for guys who can throw strikes consistently. The loss of Jason Labrador brings even more questions about who Stevenson can hand the ball to.

Second-year Jake Treasure is expected to be heavily leaned on this season, as he had the second most innings pitched last season (52.2). Treasure had a 2-6 record last season. Treasure had an impressive outing against Albright last season, where he went for seven innings and only gave up four runs. He had a whopping eight strikeouts that game. He’ll hope to string some starts like that consecutively this season. 

Another starter is second-year John Delgado. He had a 1-1 record last season while pitching in 9 appearances, tallying up 20.2 innings pitched. He had an ERA of 8.27, a number he’ll be looking to improve this season. 

Mason Gove is a first year player this season looking to make an instant impact. “He’s a young guy we’re excited about.” stated Righter. He’s a really talented player”. 

Third year-Brendan Phillips has been pitching for the Mustangs since his freshman year. He has a career ERA of 6.37 through 41 innings pitched. Phillips has doubled the amount of strikeouts to walks ratio (27K:13BB). 

A number of other guys could be in the mix as well: Carl Sansbury, Sommers Turner and a recent call up after a dominant season with the club team, Zane Stone.