*Originally posted April 14, 2017
Baseball (17-6, 8-1) A-
After a similar start to 2017 through their first 13 games, despite the club’s eight-game winning streak to start 2016, the Lakers have once again gained traction in SUNYAC play. The Lakers were ranked inside the top-15 in preseason polls, a better mark than last season.
They have blown games in late innings on more than one occasion, and Scott Landers’ team has not moved much in the rankings because of this. Despite that, they still earn the highest letter grade of any of the four sports ranked.
With the combo of Mitchell Cavanagh and Tim Cronin, and his electric fastball, the Lakers have a deeper rotation, giving them a much better shot to win key weekend series. Their ability to go deep in key games has been on display so far and needs to continue.
Eric Hamilton is concluding his historic career by rewriting the Oswego State record books. After a little bit of a slump, by his standards, the former gold glove third baseman will need to lead his team down the stretch at the plate.
Women’s Lacrosse (5-5, 3-1) B
Britt Howard’s team seems to have become more comfortable underneath her, after a rocky 2-5 start, where they allowed 56 goals. The team got shellacked by the College at Brockport to start SUNYAC play, but beat a decent SUNY Oneonta team and took care of business against the two bottom teams in the conference to set themselves up to control their own fate in the final four matchups of the season.
The Lakers have five serviceable scoring options in Teresa Shattuck, Montana Garrett, Gemma O’Kane, Toni Laneve and Kendall Appelbaum. The offense does not quite stack up against other teams in the conference, but those five give the Lakers enough of a shot to keep up offensively.
The defense is what this team relies upon the most. Their 83 goals against is second in the conference, behind only the College at Brockport, which gives them added hope to make a run in the postseason. Angela Ponto is a driving factor behind this. This week she earned SUNYAC Women’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week, helping steady the team and trying to move past the early season growing pains.
Men’s Lacrosse (4-7, 1-2) C+
The freshman class is setting up the team for success in future seasons, since it is not about winning this year. Although, head coach Drew Bezek will not chalk this up as a rebuilding year. Bezek is doing a good job of giving the underclassmen all the chances they need to get comfortable and grow, and the results are already coming to fruition.
Not many people expected much from this team. They have their holes, but the promise this team is showing this year is an encouraging step for the up-and-coming program.
Softball (6-12, 2-2) C-
A 6-12 record cannot sit well with the team as the SUNYAC portion of their schedule has just begun. The Lakers registered their first two conference wins after a sweep over SUNY Fredonia, but the Blue Devils are nowhere near the top of the standings either.
The bright spot for the team is the pitching staff, especially Rebecca Vilchez. Coming in as a freshman and posting a stellar 1.75 earned run average is no easy task. Jessica Roe, another freshman on the pitching staff, has been showing signs of promise with 40 strikeouts, in 13 appearances, over 62 innings.
