Stetson baseball coach Steve Trimper will open his sixth season with the Hatters on Friday afternoon when the Hatters square off against the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware in the first of what will be a six-game weekend of college baseball at Melching Field.
 
The Hatters will also face Notre Dame on Saturday and Manhattan on Sunday, while the teams not facing Stetson each day face off against each other.
 
For Trimper and the Hatters, there has been many changes since the end of the 2021 season, starting with his coaching staff, which now includes Shane Gierke, Shane Opitz and Colt Chrestman in addition to the veteran of the staff, Associate Head Coach Dave Therneau.
 
While Therneau continues to work with the Stetson pitchers and Gierke oversees recruiting efforts, Gierke and Opitz are working together to help the Hatters score more runs this spring, thereby putting less pressure on the Hatters' pitchers.
 
Trimper does have 20 letter-winners returning from the 2021 season along with 20 newcomers to the program. The team also has three players – two freshmen and one returnee – who are sitting out the 2022 season due to injuries.
 
Here is a quick overview of the 2022 squad:
 
PITCHING
Therneau is blessed with a deep and talented staff, but if the 2021 season proved anything, you can never had too many quality arms. The Hatters go into the new season with 18 eligible hurlers, but perhaps the two biggest names of the group – redshirt sophomore Nick Durgin and redshirt junior Daniel Paret – are not available for the opening weekend of the season.
 
That leaves Stetson with only graduate Chris Gonzalez has a proven starter, and he is slated to fill the role of a swing-man this spring, making occasional starts among frequent relief appearances.
 
Redshirt junior Danny Garcia, who has primarily been used as a closer during his career, will be the opening day starter against Delaware. Garcia appeared in a team-high 20 games last spring, making a pair of starts late in the year. He has made 56 career appearances for the Hatters with just three in a starting role. His 8-4 career record and 2.51 career ERA shows he has the ability to be a front of the rotation hurler.
 
He will be followed opening weekend by sophomore left-hander Jonathan Gonzalez. The younger of the Gonzalez brothers appeared in nine games last spring, with just one start, ending the year with a 2-1 record and a 5.00 ERA.
 
The third member of the weekend rotation will be a fellow sophomore, right-hander Cole Stallings. Stallings caught the eyes of the Hatters coaches with a strong performance in the fall after making just four appearances in relief last spring.
 
In addition to the older Gonzalez brother, the starters will be backed by old hands like graduate left-hander Nick Chiseri, redshirt junior right-hander Bret Neilan, graduate transfer Rasesh Pandya and junior transfer Tanner Martin. Pandya was a back-end reliever for three seasons at Wofford before pitching in a set-up role for Clemson last year. Martin spent two seasons at Tallahassee Community College where he pitched as a starter and reliever.
 
If they stay healthy, the trio of Chiseri, Pandya and Martin at the back end of the bullpen could shorten a lot of Stetson games this spring by shutting down opponents in the late innings.
 
Other returners to the pitching staff are sophomore left-hander Anthony DeFabbia – who will also see time in the outfield – and sophomore right-handers Austin Amaral and Jonathan Velazquez. They will be joined by a host of first year players looking to make a mark. That list includes junior right-hander Seth Klaiber, who missed the 2021 season with an injury. Freshmen hurlers include right-handers Dominic Stagliano, Zane Coppersmith and Jackson Edelman along with left-handers Cooper Smith and Dillon Haines.
 
If that group can hold down the fort until Durgin, the Hatters' only preseason All-ASUN selection, and Paret, the 2019 ASUN Freshman of the Year, are healthy, then Stetson will be armed and ready when ASUN play begins in March.
 
CATCHERS
As has been the case for the last two years, redshirt sophomore Christian Pregent will get the lions' share of the work behind the plate. Pregent's defense and pitch-calling experience give the Hatters' pitchers the confidence to throw their best pitches in the toughest situations because they know if one gets away from them, Pregent is there to keep the ball in front of him and keep base-runners in place.
 
The third-year captain will have some newcomers helping him out this year. Junior college transfer Craig Palidar played in 66 games at Lansing Community College in Michigan, and provides some additional offensive power. Redshirt sophomore Daniel Labrador spent a year in the Miami program before playing at St. John's River State last spring. Freshman Jeb Despard was a multi-sport star in high school and brings additional depth to the position.
 
INFIELD
The middle of the Stetson infield will be without Jorge Arenas for the first time since the 2015 season, but fifth-year graduate student Kyle Ball returns to shortstop where he played last spring and, now sporting a captain's C on his chest, he will be looked to for leadership. Redshirt junior Banks Griffith also returns and will take over full-time duties at second base.
 
The corner infield positions will look significantly different. Redshirt freshman Jake Bullard came back in the fall and left no doubt about who should be on the field at first base, despite the presence of two older, and more experienced players on the team. After being the most consistent offensive performer in the fall, he is expected to hit in the middle of the order.
 
True freshman Yohann Dessureault, like Bullard, seized his opportunity in the fall and won the job at third base with his bat and glove. Among all of the freshmen on the team, he has the chance to make the biggest impact this year.
 
Infield depth will come from sophomore Camden Traficante, and freshmen Juan Correa, Dominic Scavone, Evan Mastromauro, Connor O'Sullivan and Andrew Estrella.
 
OUTFIELD
Only graduate Nick DiPonzio returns to roam the spacious outfield at Melching Field where he will continue to patrol from the left-field line to deep left center. He will be joined by redshirt senior Cameron Hill, a transfer from Kentucky who has speed and range in center. With Bullard now at first base, redshirt sophomore Brandon Hylton has moved out to right field where he adjusted well during the fall.
 
DeFabbia, another solid defender in the outfield along with sophomore Dylan Brazil, give the Hatters more available speed to cover all that grass. Redshirt senior Connor Kehl will also see plenty of action and brings with him the kind of arm that could see him get time on the mound. Redshirt freshman Chance Pollard, a junior college transfer, missed much of the fall with an injury, but is another speedy weapon in the outfield.
 
DESIGNATED HITTER
More often than not, the Hatters will have another Kentucky transfer, redshirt junior Trae Harmon, penciled in as the DH for most games. Rated two years ago by D1Baseball.com as one of the top 30 sophomore hitters in the country, he will make up for some of the pop lost to the graduation of Hernen Sardinas from last year. Like Hylton, Harmon could also see some time at first base.
 
OPENING WEEKEND
Stetson will get tested early with the first three games of the year against Delaware – with coach Jim Sherman just one victory away from 800 in his career – defending ACC champion Notre Dame and Manhattan, a perennial contender for the MAAC title.
 
After that opening weekend run, the Hatters will host No. 9 Florida on Tuesday next week.
 
Saturday's festivities will also include the annual Special Ride to the Park for area Miracle League players and Special Olympians. Make sure to get to the stadium early to see these special athletes arrive at Melching Field in sports cars and fire trucks and then walk the green carpet into the field for special pregame ceremonies. The smiles on their faces will light up the skies around Melching Field for hours.
 
The schedule for the weekend round-robin at Melching Field will include two games each day. Games between Stetson and Notre Dame on Saturday and Stetson and Manhattan on Sunday will be broadcast on ESPN+. All of the other games this weekend will be broadcast on HatterVision's YouTube channel.
 
Season and single-game tickets to watch Stetson baseball are available through the Stetson Athletics Ticket office by visiting www.GoHatters.com/tix or calling 386-738-HATS.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.