ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca College baseball team heads into the 2025 season this weekend in Washington, D.C. following their third consecutive season as Liberty League champions. The Bombers also notched their third straight season of an NCAA tournament appearance and hit the 30-plus win mark in 2024.

Ithaca is set to take on four ranked opponents in the regular season, Coach David Valesente said, "It's a testament to how we view ourselves, as a team that can compete with anyone in the country day in and day out. We've got a veteran team that has played in some big games, and we want that regional feel as often as we can throughout the season. We want to prepare ourselves for post Liberty League play, because that is who we believe we are."

The Bombers open February 21, in Washington, D.C. with a three-game trip being played at Catholic University. They will take on Stevens Institute of Technology, Catholic and No. 2 Salve Regina. The next weekend the Bombers head to Kings Point, N.Y. for a double-header against USMMA on March 1, and a single game against St. Joseph's (Long Island) on March 2.

The next weekend, IC will take its spring break trip to Lexington, S.C. to play four straight games against No. 13 Baldwin Wallce, No. 14 Case Western Reserve, Arcadia (RV) and Swarthmore. On their return to New York, the Bombers will head to Marietta, Ohio for another three-game set from March 14-15 against Johnson & Wales, Marietta and Spalding.

Following this, the Bombers begin their Liberty League play at home, hosting St. Lawrence in a three-game series on March 21-22. IC will also play Liberty League six other foes throughout the season: Clarkson (March 28-29), RIT (April 4-5), Skidmore (April 12), RPI (April 13), Rochester (April 18-19) and Hobart (April 25-26).

The Bombers' non-conference slate consists of: St. John Fisher (March 25), Hamilton (April 8), Oswego (April 15), No. 15 Cortland (April 22) and Brockport (April 29). The Liberty League Crossover Series takes place on May 3-4, followed by the Liberty League Tournament on May 9-11.

Ithaca's roster is projected to be just as talented as previous years as they return a pitching staff who made up 87-percent of their total innings pitched last year. Including their two All-Region pitchers from last year, Colin Leyner and John Griffin. The two right-handers look to match last year's success as Leyner closes in on the IC record for career innings pitched and strikeouts. He is just 69.0 innings away from surpassing the record of 307.0 innings pitched and 65 punchouts away from the all-time mark of 255.

IC will return two younger standout arms in Jack Picozzi and Danny Drotos who were impact players as first-years in 2024. The Bombers also have reliable arms in Sean Kelly, Jack Colyer and Dan Kellachan returning to the rotation. Ithaca also will look to Sophomore arms, Trevor Greene, Cooper Albert and Jake Remian to step up for the Bombers this year.

When asked about the depth of his staff, Coach Valesente said, "We've got a strong staff that brings a lot of different aspects to the table. We cover all three phases of the game with our staff: starting, relieving and back-end guys. We lost a guy who closed out a lot of games for us, but we know we have guys
who can step up into that role. Overall, I think our staff matured, improved their game and we'll
have a bunch of guys step up for us this year."

Although Ithaca lost a few notable key hitters, they are still returning a majority of their offensive firepower. Captain and First Team All-Liberty League outfielder Collin Feeney returns along with Ethan McDonough and Colin Dunn in the outfield. The Bombers infield will look quite similar with Ryan Laubscher, Connor Pedersen and Riley Brawdy all returning for their senior seasons.

Camden Laney looks to build off his elite freshman year with the Bombers where he hit .337 with 34 hits and 19 runs batted in. Matt Curtis and Lucas Orlovitz are also certain to be impactful bats in the Bombers lineup. Last but certainly not least, Ithaca boasts one of the most stacked catcher's rooms in Division III, highlighted by Tyler Pugliese, Logan Scully and Ethan Daddabbo.

Ithaca currently has 13 first-year players on their roster, including: six pitchers, three infielders, three outfielders and a catcher.

The jump from high school baseball to college baseball is quite the acclimation for most athletes, but Coach Valesente accredited his first-year players by saying, "I've been impressed with the way our guys have adjusted to college baseball. It speaks volumes about the leadership that our team has and credit to the upperclassmen for helping with their transition. I think it shows the culture and expectations we set here and we're glad that our guys have bought in. The pace of college baseball is quite different from high school ball, but they've been preparing throughout the fall and winter season. I am excited to see them continue to progress."

Another successful season and run through the Liberty League will give the Bombers their fourth straight conference championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament. If all goes well, Ithaca will make its 52nd all-time trip to NCAAs and victories in regional and super regional play will send IC to the World Series for the first time since 2013. A 27-victory season will also give the baseball program 1800 wins.
 

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