WILKES-BARRE, PA (March 5, 2021) -- When the King's College baseball team takes the field on Sunday to begin the 2021 season, it will be exactly one year from when they last played a game prior to the 2020 season coming to a sudden end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of wondering what could have been in 2020 after a very successful trip to Florida, the Monarchs are excited to get back on the field and compete for a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) title in 2021 with 27 returners and 12 newcomers.

King's lost just four student-athletes to graduation and returns much of their core from 2020 that went 6-4 over the first 10 games including a 4-4 record against quality opponents in Florida. They will look to pick up right where they left off after a 15-12 game two victory over Neumann University and a run-ruled 12-2 victory over Cornell College to close out the trip to Florida. The Monarch offense averaged 8.3 runs per game last spring, which was the second highest in the MAC Freedom, and scored 10-plus runs in four of those games. The offense hit the most home runs in the conference with eight and were ranked third with a .289 batting average and second with a .416 on-base percentage and .442 slugging percentage.

KC returns nine pitchers who saw action last spring of a staff who had a conference-leading ERA of 3.75. In 72 innings, the Monarchs allowed just 37 runs on 75 hits and 28 walks with 50 strikeouts. King's also had the best fielding team in the MAC Freedom and was ranked 17th in Division III with a .977 fielding percentage. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.79 was the second best in the conference while their WHIP of 1.43 and walks allowed per nine innings of 3.50 were the best.
 
AROUND THE DIAMOND OUTLOOK
INFIELDERS
Matt Mellinger has started pretty much every game at first base in his first three years at King's. The righty has hit .314 over his career with 24 doubles, a triple, and his first career homer last spring. He is three hits shy of reaching 100 for his career and will look to hopefully hit that milestone on Sunday. Mellinger has been clutch for the Monarchs over his first three seasons knocking in 69 runs including 10 last year. Cole Heitzman is expected to see some time at first when Mellinger is on the mound or is just being given a day off. The sophomore is a very talented player who saw action in one game last year. He is very strong defensively and will be challenged for time by Stewart Caladie. Caladie had a very strong fall at first and on the mound in his first year as a Monarch. The business major is from Mountain Top, PA and graduated from Crestwood last spring.

The Monarchs have added some depth to their middle infield from a group that had a lot of new faces last year. Junior Matt Bound along with sophomores Will Hronich and Pat Noone gained a lot of experience in the shorten season with Hronich playing in seven of the 10 games while Noone and Bound saw action in five each. King's has added a pair of first year players who will look to see a lot of immediate playing time in Joshua Baiera and Brennen Schneider. Baiera is a local product from nearby Pittston Area while Schneider, who will also get some time on the mound, is from Forest Hill, MD and a graduate of Harford Technical. Liam Hughes and Justin Yannece will provide senior leadership to the group while also competing for playing time.

At the hot corner KC is looking for a big year from junior Seth Laky. The righty had a great start to his career before his rookie season ended early due to injury. He came back last spring and showed signs of being back to the level he was playing at in 2019. He will have competition from sophomore Will McIntosh who batted .333 in nine plate appearances over five games last spring. McIntosh has a big bat and could be called on in late game situations as a pinch hitter.  
 
CATCHER
The Monarchs are very deep at the catcher position with four great returners who will share time at one of the most grueling positions on the field. They have also added two new faces to the mix giving the squad six total catchers. Noah Adams, Paul Helman, Chris Burke, and Shane Beyer have put up some amazing numbers over the past two seasons no matter who has been behind the plate. Adams is back for a fifth season while he completes his education getting his master's degree in healthcare administration. The righty saw action in half of the games last spring after capitalizing on his increased opportunities behind the plate in 2019 due to injuries batting .306 in 22 games. Helman also capitalized on his opportunities in 2019 and finished 2020 with a career-best game knocking two homers including a grand slam against Neumann.

Burke has seen great success in his first two seasons at King's despite both coming to an unexpected early end. In just 17 games he has a .393 batting average with seven doubles, two triples, and four home runs. He is poised to show the conference just how good of a player he is having yet to play in a conference game. Shane Beyer will split his time behind the plate and on the mound this year and has been very serviceable for the Monarchs in 16 games played over his first two years. He has a strong arm and very good eye at the plate. Gregory Ahlstrom is one of the new players who will add a little more depth to the Monarchs and has been very impressive during fall and winter workouts. The righty is from Huntington Station, NY and a graduate of Chaminade. Scranton graduate Jacob Loch rounds out the catcher position for the Monarchs as the first year will look to compete for time among the veteran crew.
 
OUTFIELDERS
The outfield will be led by upperclassmen with Matt Dobeck, Burke, Andrew Steidle, Cole Keating, and Brendan Mozeleski expected to see most of the action. Sophomore Isaac Tucker along with newcomers Devin Maciejewski and Chase Yochem will also see a lot of time in a very deep and very good position group. Dobeck has established himself as one of the top leadoff hitters in the conference batting .365 in his first two years at King's including an outstanding .406 to begin last spring. He is also an excellent fielder and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield recording 56 putouts and four assists for the Monarchs. Burke is an outstanding athlete with a strong arm and a big bat that is tough to keep out of the lineup. Steidle moves to the outfield after being a middle infielder his first two seasons. The junior will also see time on the mound. Keating is very similar to Burke in which he has a big bat and can change a game with just one swing. He is also a very strong defender that hit .375 in nine games last spring. Mozeleski joined the squad last year after a couple years on the football squad. He is another tremendous athlete on this team and was just starting to get in a rhythm on the mound and at the plate down in Florida last spring. He had three hits in each of the Monarchs' final two contests and batted .471 in 17 at-bats.

Tucker is a great defender who will look to see a lot of time in center. He will be joined by Maciejewski and Yochem as players who will see time in both the outfield and on the mound. Maciejewski is from Muncy, PA and a graduate of Hughesville while Yochem is another local product who played at Wyoming Area. Holy Redeemer product Carl Yastremski and Wilkes-Barre native Alex Rubbico will give the outfield more depth to play with as many of the outfielders also will see time on the mound.
 
PITCHERS
Last season the Monarchs entered the year not knowing exactly what they would get out of the pitching staff. A lot of the questions were answered as the Monarchs winded up with one of the top-ranked staffs in the conference. This year a lot of the staff returns, and the upperclassmen will look to have big seasons picking up right where they left off last spring. Jacob Lupas had a breakout year in 2019 and then was dominant on the mound in three victories last spring. In 16.2 innings pitched the righty did not allow a run and gave up just 11 hits and five walks with 11 strikeouts. His 2-0 week in Florida earned him his first career conference Pitcher of the Week award. Colby Toth emerged as one of the top pitchers in the conference after a fantastic rookie year in 2019 and 5-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 13 appearances during his career. The junior has struck out 30 batters in 57.1 innings pitched.

Beyer, Brandon Moffitt, Landon LaBar, Jake Monaghan, and James DeNara are all expected to eat up a lot of innings for the Monarchs. Seniors Moffitt and LaBar have been very good out of the pen in their careers while DeNara and Monaghan are looking to impress in their first collegiate appearances. The Monarchs are also very excited about the group of pitchers they brought in this year including Jordan Stefanski, Schneider, Maciejewski, Denysh Polanco, and Caladie. Stefanski is a product of Hanover Area while Polanco is a Wilkes-Barre native and graduate of Meyers. Other pitchers that will look to earn time this year include Austin Funair, Anthony Neri, Matt Leahy, and Thomas Jankowski.
 
SCHEDULE
The Monarchs are scheduled to play 28 games against the seven other conference opponents. There is scheduled to be four games against each opponent with weekend home-and-home doubleheaders. Each doubleheader will consist of a seven inning game and a nine inning game. The year begins with the program's first-ever meeting with Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday in Hoboken, NJ. The Ducks joined the MAC Freedom last year, but the season was canceled before any conference games occurred. They will then have a weekend series against FDU-Florham, Delaware Valley, and DeSales to wrap up March. The Monarchs will have little travel in April beginning with the second half of their Stevens series at Lipo Field. Weekends with Wilkes and Misericordia follow that and then the Monarchs close with Arcadia who moved over to the Freedom side of the MAC from the Commonwealth this year. All eight teams will make the MAC Freedom Tournament this year with quarterfinals scheduled for the weekend of May 1-2. The semifinals and finals will occur the following two weekends. Each round will consist of a best of three series with the higher seed hosting two nine inning games on Saturday and the lower seed hosting the if necessary game on Sunday. All Monarch home games will have live stats and live video available.