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St. John the Baptist Returns Key Contributors and Hopes to Contend for League Title

Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series

by Max Edelman

In one of New York’s toughest leagues, the St. John’s the Baptist Cougars have constantly put winning teams on the field, and last season was no different. The team finished with a 16-10 record. However, St. John’s came up short of their goal of winning the Catholic League championship. Head coach Ryan Dalton, who is entering his fourth year as the team’s head coach, looked back fondly on last season.

“We dealt with a lot of adversity last year.” Dalton said. “We had our top two starters out for the year two weeks into March. And then we lost our starting second baseman as well to injury. Our whole mindset for the year was ‘next man up’ and that someone on the team had to step up.”

Two of the players that Dalton mentioned as part of the “next man up” crew will not be returning to the Cougars this year, having graduated from the school. Joe Randello, who played a big role on the mound last year, is now attending SUNY Old Westbury and Brady Leichtman is now at Utica. Additional impact players that are now playing college baseball are Jacob Schmutz, who slugged three homers during his senior season is now at Sacred Heart, Marco Pipia is now at Iona and John Cullinan is now at Manhattanville. 

However, as Dalton said, his team has a next man up mentality, and a lot of the weight will now be placed firmly on the shoulders of his returning players. At the very top of the list of key returning players is Binghamton-commit and All-League senior Keegan McElligott. He has been on the varsity team since his freshman year, and hit .284 with two homers and 16 RBIs last season. 

“He’s been a big part of our program.” Dalton said. “We’ve been very lucky to have him. He has a chance to compete and contend for player of the year this year. He’s a great leader and pushes everyone to be better both on and off the field. He’s the heart and soul of our team as well.”

After missing nearly the entirety of last season due to injury, the Cougars are looking forward to the return of Adelphi-commit Aidan Casey. As a sophomore, Casey allowed only four earned runs across 31 innings pitched. 

“I expect him to come back healthy and compete to be one of the best pitchers in the league.” Dalton said. “He’s a true gamer, and he’s someone that everyone wants to have on their team. Last year, he was very devastated to be out for the year, but at the very end of the season he was able to come back and pinch hit for us. Just seeing how happy it made him after being out the whole year just showed what type of great kid he is, we’re very happy to have him back. 

Much like Casey, NJIT-commit Ethan Schmutz missed the entirety of his junior season. Dalton cited the physical differences Schmutz has gone through since last year, and expects him to be a key contributor both offensively and defensively this season. Lucas Christman batted .328 last season. With his senior year on the horizon, Dalton expects Christman to play a major role in the lineup.

“He was the anchor of our order last year.” Dalton said. “He was our nine hitter last year but I expect him to be in the middle or top of our order this year. He’s a phenomenal outfielder, has a lot of range and has made some tremendous game saving catches over the years.”

Having also missed much of the season a year ago, the Cougars are looking forward to the return of Dom Witt. Dalton thinks Witt is going to be a key member of the pitching staff and also pitch in offensively. Gino Milone, who had 15 hits at the bottom of the order last year, is another name that Dalton believes could jump to a spot higher in the lineup. Behind the plate, Jack Affenita caught nearly every inning for the Cougars, and Dalton believes that Affenita has a bright future ahead of him, both on St. John’s and potentially beyond.

“He’s one of the hardest workers around.” Dalton said. “He’s another guy that has shown tremendous physical growth since last year.” We have a young staff, and I think his leadership is going to be a huge part in their growth this year. I think he’ll be able to help them big time. 

CJ Everett is expected to have a major impact for the Cougars this season. Everett hit .333 in 2025, and went 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts. 

“He’s another guy that’s going to move himself to the top or the middle of the order.” Dalton said. “He’s a very smart player, always hustling and giving it his all. He had a stretch last year where he had eight straight hits in eight at bats towards the end of the season. He also went 7-for-16 in the playoffs with his very impressive for a sophomore.”

Two other names that Dalton mentioned are Ryan Audette, who Dalton expects to be a big piece in the team’s pitching staff, and Michael Garcia, who hit .271 as a freshman with a .747 OPS and was featured as part of our “Up Next” series.

When it comes to the big strength of his team, Dalton is very excited to see how far his offense can carry his team, after years of strength in other areas.

“I always want to say defense and pitching.” Dalton said. “But I think our defense is still going to be top notch. I think in my four years as head coach this is definitely going to be our best offensive team. I’m very excited to see how it pans out. We have a lot of speed and a lot of guys who are very experienced at this point. I think we’re going to put up some runs and move guys around pretty well this year.

The St. John’s Cougars will open the season on March 24 against Chaminade.