After moving to Oneonta in 2010, the organization has returned home, starting with Thursday night’s season opener under a new name—the Saratoga Brigade.
Co-owners Keith Rogers and Dan Scaring, who started the organization in 2004, have brought the collegiate baseball team to its original location but with the new identity and as part of a different league.
The Brigade leaves the New York Collegiate Baseball League and is now part of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, making them the league’s most western team and first outside the New England region.
While the organization goes through changes, Rogers and Scaring have brought back one familiar face. Garett Baron, the skipper who led the 2006 Phillies to their only league title and a 32-14 record that season, is also making his return to Saratoga since leaving in 2007.
“I’ve kind of kept in touch with Keith and Dan and we’ve always had a pretty close relationship ever since I coached the team back in 2006–07,” Baron said. “I think when they had the idea of bringing the team back, I was kind of their first call. I always loved it up here in the summertime. It was a quick decision for me.”
The Brigade joins the Ocean State Waves (Rhode Island) and the Plymouth Pilgrims (Massachusetts) as new additions to the 13-team NECBL. Saratoga will compete in the West Division, along with Danbury, Holyoke, North Adams, Vermont and Keene. Nearly 100 NECBL alums have reached the Major Leagues and more than 250,000 total fans came out to NECBL games in 2012.
“It’s exciting that the team is coming back and I think it will also be exciting being in a different league now and a higher quality league,” Baron said. “The competition will be tougher and means that we need to be a little bit better.”
One of those teams is the Newport Gulls, who won the league last season.
Baron has coached baseball at Albany High this past spring and has coached at the University at Albany, but this is his first summer stint as a head coach since his days with the Phillies.
The Brigade looks good on paper, Baron said, but with the team just getting in this past week and the full roster not yet in town, it is still difficult to tell what the Brigade will be this season. With the college post-season still wrapping up, the team had just one practice under their belt heading into Thursday’s season opener against the Mystic Schooners.
Eventually, the Brigade will have a full roster that includes players from some of the top college baseball teams in the country, such as the University of Virginia, Oklahoma State, North Carolina State and Michigan.
One thing Baron is looking forward to is the strength of his pitching staff and stability behind the plate.
The Brigade bring in three Division I catchers in Oklahoma State’s Gage Green, Santa Clara’s Zach Looney and local star Brian O’Keefe, who plays ball at St. Joseph’s University and played for Colonie High. Green is a left-handed swinging catcher who batted .287 and had a team-high 107 total bases this season.
In addition to O’Keefe, the Brigade will have local players Nick Cioffi (Averill Park/Towson), Garrett Bernardo (La Salle/Maine) and Shenendehowa’s John Prendergast.
Prendergast and No. 7 ranked Ithaca finished third in the Division III College World Series this year in a record-setting year that came to an end with a 5-4, 13-inning loss to Southern Maine at the DIII Baseball World Series at Fox Cities Stadium. Prendergast was 10-0 for the Bombers with a 2.04 ERA.
Another pitcher to keep an eye out for is Barry University sophomore Adrian Benitez. Benitez posted a 5-1 record and 2.77 ERA in 39 innings pitched, in which he had 40 strikeouts.
The Brigade also has East Tennessee State’s top two starting pitchers in Griffin Kreif and Jimmy Nesselt.
One position player Baron is excited to see in action is Oklahoma State first baseman and pitcher Tanner Krietemeier. The junior led the team with a .314 batting average in 60 games this season and also led the Cowboys in RBIs (45), hits (72) and runs (42) in addition to his .990 fielding percentage.
The franchise has had multiple players earn a trip to the pros, including J.D. Martinez (Houston), Mike Fiers (Milwaukee), Darin Mastroianni (Minnesota) and Casper Wells (Chicago White Sox), who are all currently rosters. Miles Mikolas (San Diego) and Michael Schwimer (Toronto) have also made their MLB debuts, while Andrew Carraway is starring at Triple-A Tacoma (Seattle).
The team will play all its home games at East Side Recreation Field throughout the course of the 44-game season, which will end with playoffs in early August.
