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Baseball Preview: Young Additions Look to Mesh With Vets as Lynx Head to Florida

Baseball Preview: Young Additions Look to Mesh With Vets as Lynx Head to Florida
Posted: Mar 05, 2020

MEDFORD, MA. -- The Lesley Lynx baseball team began their 2020 season this Tuesday with a game against Pine Manor and are now heading down to the RussMatt Invitational in Central Florida next week. They'll play a total of seven games against several teams from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

The Lynx were ranked sixth in the Preseason Coaches Poll, but hope to prove the doubters wrong. New head coach Seth Kaplan comes in to lead a young group after the departure of several seniors. The Lynx are looking to improve on last year's 12-25 finish (8-8 in conference) and develop a young core that will hold strong in the NECC for years to come.

The team will be led by returning seniors Javi Martinez and Steven DePalma and junior Brett Dabrowski. Martinez hit .328 with ten doubles, three triples, and three home runs last season, with a .921 OPS. DePalma appeared both on the mound and in the outfield for the Lynx, hitting .205 and striking out 11.32 batters per nine innings. Dabrowski started nine games for the Lynx last season and struck out nineteen batters. The Lynx also return outfielder Zach Rossi, who hit .256 last season, and catcher Brendan Fairchild, who committed only three errors in 22 games behind the plate last season.

DePalma opened the season strong for the Lynx with a ten strikeout performance against Pine Manor, but the game was ultimately a loss. The Lynx are developing a young core of relievers that they hope can hold leads as they grow and gain more experience as the season goes on. Freshman Zane Mikula was first out of the bullpen against Pine Manor and, despite taking the loss, looked impressive in his first collegiate action. Mikula gave up some runs, but still struck out four batters and showed he has the stuff to help the Lynx this season.

Lesley's first game of their Florida trip will be a showdown against Muhlenberg at 5:30 PM on Friday March 6th. They will follow that up with games against Wartburg, MSOE, UMass-Dartmouth, Juniata, and a doubleheader against Wentworth before returning home to begin conference action against Dean next weekend.