2024 Brings New Faces, New Energy For Bonnies Baseball

A lot has changed with St. Bonaventure baseball since the Bonnies took the field last May.

With 19 new faces on the roster this spring, it could be understood if team members were still getting to know all the first-year Bonnies names themselves.

But with all the newcomers comes a roster with the type of depth the Bonnies haven’t seen in years – and, hopefully, a season where the program takes the next step in the competitive Atlantic 10 Conference.

“We’re really excited about the talent that has come in,” head coach Jason Rathbun said. “We could sense all fall that there was an attitude about these guys, the way they carry themselves, their own expectations. We haven’t had to set expectations as a coaching staff, they’ve done that themselves.”

As the Bonnies prepare to open the 2024 campaign at The Citadel Feb. 16-18, get to know this year’s roster.

BEHIND THE PLATE, Bona is again anchored by fifth year senior captain Jackson DeJohn. 

Already considered one of the A-10’s top defensive catchers as well as one of the league’s top arms behind the dish, DeJohn took the next step last season as he showed a much improved hit tool.

A year ago, DeJohn hit a career-best .262 and flashed power with a career-high seven home runs to lead the squad. He started 43 of 46 games played, including 37 behind the plate, and recorded a .364 on-base percentage. Near the end of the season, he was named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List as one of the nation’s top catchers. 

DeJohn missed fall ball following an offseason injury, and while he is expected back healthy this spring, he should have a little more help on the depth chart.

Freshman Antonio Cordeiro led the team in homers and walks during the fall and has shown great catch and throw ability. He was a standout at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High and did not make a single error in 126 innings behind the plate last year. 

Fellow true freshman Jeremiah Atwell was a First Team All-Conference pick at Willoughby South (OH) High and utility man Robert Mannino, who started his college career at Purdue after being a top-ranked recruit in New Jersey out of high school, could see time at catcher as well. Upperclassman Jack Pawlowicz brings experience with the program and additional depth to the position. 

“WE REALLY FEEL STRONG about our infield this year,” Rathbun says, and on paper it certainly appears to be a strength of the squad this year.

Up the middle, the double play duo of senior Kyle Caccamise at second and newcomer David Marshall, a junior college transfer, at shortstop bring an added level of experience over last season.

Caccamise, who becomes the first player Rathbun has ever coached for four seasons after following him from Herkimer CC, fought injury from Opening Day on last year and never truly found a rhythm. He still hit .297 with a .376 on-base, making just one error for a .988 fielding percentage in his first year at the Division I level. At Herkimer, he was the 2022 NJCAA Division III Defensive Player of the Year on Rathbun’s national championship team.

Marshall was the team’s best hitter in fall ball. An all-region player at the College of DuPage in native Illinois, he hit well over .400 with 62 RBIs last year and also ranked fifth nationally with 44 walks drawn for a gaudy .563 on-base percentage. 

The hot corner sees the return of graduate Jack Putney, another fifth-year captain who took great strides last season.

Putney led the team in nearly every offensive category a year ago, hitting .320 with team bests in doubles (12), RBIs (26) and on-base (.385) while smacking three homers. He figures to be an anchor of the lineup once again this year.

First base will feature two newcomers from the junior college ranks: Morgan Little slashed .346/.448/.547 in two years at West Virginia Potomac State where he was an all-region performer with a left-handed power bat and strong defense. 

Ryan Davis also impressed with his 6-foot-6 frame and left-handed bat with pop. He played two seasons at Paris Junior College in Texas where he too was a first team all-region pick with a .402 batting average and 78 hits as a sophomore last spring. 

Redshirt junior Artin Biageyian will also be a top option at second and short and will get a lot of at-bats as a right-handed option behind the two lefty bats of Caccamise and Marshall. The California native made 37 starts in his Bona debut last year and turned in a strong fall season after returning to campus for his second year in Western New York. 

The team will also benefit from the return of Jagger Nucci, a utility player who can play second, short, third and outfield. He missed all of last year due to injury and served as the team’s first base coach while recovering. 

Third baseman Harrison Kaufman is another junior college transfer from Washington State. 

THE BONNIES OUTFIELD FEATURES a mix of familiar and new.

Redshirt senior Adam Rankie solidified himself as one of the team’s top hitters last year. 

Rankie hit .305, starting 45 of 47 games, recording three homers and 15 RBIs. A midseason 17-game hitting streak represents the third-best in program history and the longest since 2010. 

He likely returns to a corner outfield spot this spring; he entered last year as the projected left fielder, but injuries necessitated a move to center. 

One of multiple extremely harmful injuries to the team last year was a season-ender to Jayce Tharnish after just 13 games.

Tharnish, who was slated for a spot in the Cape Cod League before his injury, hit .261 with three doubles and eight runs in his small sample size at the top of the lineup last year. He projects as the starting right fielder this year though 12 of his starts were in center last year.

Redshirt senior Paul Vossen will be one of the guys manning center this year. The Nevada product started his college career at Iowa and moved to Utah Valley where he started 48 of 49 games while leading the team in triples (four) along with 10 stolen bases. When in the lineup, he could provide a spark as a leadoff man with speed on the bases as well as a left-handed bat, or an option to turn the lineup card over in the nine-hole. 

Sophomore Chris Hoalcraft provides a potential left/right platoon option in center as he impressed the staff with a strong fall. 

A utility player as a freshman, Hoalcraft primarily played in the middle infield during his Bona’s debut. 

Redshirt junior Mark Darakjy adds another corner outfield/DH option after hitting .225 with two homers, 15 RBIs and a .376 on-base percentage in 29 games last year. 

True freshman Gavin Constantine will provide depth at numerous positions as the Texas native brings the ability to play infield and outfield and was a three-time Perfect Game All-Tournament Team and preseason Rawlings PG All-American at McKinney North High. 

Mannino also could play in the corner outfield spots.

PERHAPS WHERE THE BONNIES HAVE THE MOST ADDED DEPTH is on the mound where they should have a lot more options than seasons of the past.

“I’m excited about the pitching staff. It’s a deep staff; we can go 17 or 18 guys deep with guys who all offer something different,” Rathbun said. “We can have some matchups that we didn’t have last year. It’s a much deeper staff and they’ve only been getting better through their winter workouts.”

Sophomore Michael Salina will get the first crack at top-of-the-rotation duties after displaying electric stuff during the fall. He sat at 95-98 mph with good command after coming to Bona’s from George Mason where he had a 2.61 ERA last year. 

Salina will pair with lefty Gabe Watts who has the most experience in the rotation.

Watts has seen continued improvement in velocity and command over the past year and joined the A-10 rotation last year after working out of the bullpen as a freshman. He struck out 47 batters in a team-high 59.0 innings last season.

A strong competition will take place in the early season trips south for the No. 3 rotation and midweek starter roles. 

Sophomore Noah Czajkowski owns some of the best stuff on the staff, including often the staff’s most impressive spin rates, and showed marked improvement in the fall after pitching in 17.2 innings last year as a freshman. 

Coach Razz describes junior transfer Kade Walker the “surprise of the fall.”

A 6-foot-3, 175-pound lanky left-hander, Walker could fill a variety of roles as either a starter or key bullpen arm this season. A Chicago native, he spent the last two years at Cuesta College in California.

Junior right-hander Tristan Ciampa could also be one of the headliners of the recruiting class after being named a juco All-American at Northern Essex CC last year while ranking third nationally in wins with nearly 12 strikeouts per nine. He fanned 72 batters and walked just 16 in 54.1 innings for a 1.05 WHIP last year, beginning the season as a starter before helping his team lock down a run to the NJCAA Division III World Series out of the back of the bullpen. 

Redshirt junior Ryan O’Connell could see closer duties in 2024 after striking out 30 batters in 26 frames a year ago. He was at his best in A-10 play, locking in two saves with a 2.76 ERA in nine conference appearances last spring. 

Junior Luke Roggenburk has made 26 appearances and 14 starts over the past two seasons, but missed the fall due to injury. 

Sophomore southpaws Andrew Ayers (12 appearances, 21 strikeouts in 24.2 innings) and Bobby Finn (nine appearances last year) as well as sophomores righties Chase Playfair and Tucker Fenton also return off last year’s staff. 

Lefty Cam Demos along with right-handers Joel Connors, Chance Moore and Aiden Starn all join the staff from the junior college ranks along with freshmen right-handers Alex Barger and Ethan Catney-Forbes. 

BONA’S NON-CONFERENCE SLATE is an impressive one: after starting the year at The Citadel, the Bonnies make the first of multiple Power 5 trips with a three-game set at perennial power Louisville. The team will also play at Penn State and Pittsburgh along with other trips south to Presbyterian and Middle Tennessee and Mount St. Mary’s before swinging back north.