Five conferences have been predicted, leaving three to go. Up next is the Little East Conference. Regarded as one of the top conferences in the country, the LEC has been extremely competitive over the last three seasons. Last season, it was sixth-seeded Rhode Island College emerging victorious, exactly six years to the date of its last conference championship. My believe is the parity continues in 2012, with Southern Maine winning its first title since 1999.
Click ahead to see how I think the LEC will turn out in 2012.
1. Keene St.- The Owls lost Bobby Doyon and Tyler DiPrato to graduation but the return of Erik Bergstrom and Greg Bates will help offset those losses. Keene also welcomes back one of the best pitchers in the conference in Jeff Pelkey and will hope that Kyle Morrill can have another outstanding year at the plate.
2. RIC- With one of the best returning groups of players in the conference, the Anchormen won’t go under the radar this year. Kyle Allaire is one of the best players in the conference and he’ll be joined by Dan and Brent Hopkins, two top power threats in the league. CJ Tsoumakas won seven games last year and will have to be a staff ace again.
3. Eastern Connecticut- The Warriors youth will be tested early in the season and they can only hope their young players adjust quickly. Jim Dimon will be asked to be dominant on the mound and Steve Cammuso and Danny O’Connell will both have to lead offensively.
4. Southern Maine- The Huskies lose two very good players but also return a strong core of very good players. Forrest Chadwick, Nick Grady and Tucker White are three of the best hitters in the league and Nick Douglas and Dustin Stanton are seasoned on the mound. A healthy Huskie team will play its best baseball late in the season.
5. Mass-Boston- A huge hole is left by the departure of Ryan Walsh but the Beacons get a big boost with the return of Tim Fontaine behind the plate. Mark McCormack is back for his senior year and is a spark at the top of the lineup. Dan Heefner and Tom Cole will have to be good on the mound.
6. Western Connecticut- Conor Bierfeldt and Mike Yates will make the Colonials good on offense but they’ll need someone to take over for Billy Armstrong on the mound.
7. Mass-Dartmouth- Pat Lavey is one of the best relievers in the conference but the Corsairs will need to get him the ball. Bob Prince will have his hands full in his first year in North Dartmouth.
8. Plymouth St.- Luke Merrill and Mike Cappiello are two of the Panthers top hitters that return. If they repeat their performances from a year ago, the Panthers could climb out of the basement.
Playoffs
Keene will host just the second conference tournament that has been held at someplace other than Eastern Connecticut or Southern Maine. The ECSU-USM first round matchup will be a good one and makes the Owls victory in round one not seem like one at all. Southern Maine is bested on day one but they respond to rewrite the script from 2008, winning two games on the final day.
Player of the Year- Kyle Allaire (RIC)
Pitcher of the Year- Jeff Pelkey (Keene)
Coach of the Year- Ken Howe (Keene)
Up next on my conference prediction is the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Will Western New England continue to dominate?
