Here's the 2025 outlooks for South Florida non Division-I college baseball teams
Jorge Perez is the dean of Dade/Broward college baseball coaches.
Perez is entering his 16th season coaching the St. Thomas University Bobcats.
Elsewhere, Rich Witten is set to start his third season at FIU. Starting their second season at their current posts are Miami's J.D. Arteaga, Nova Southeastern University's Adrian Morales and Miami Dade College's Lazaro Llanes. And starting their first season are Barry University's DJ Price and Florida Memorial's Will Ramos.
With three of the aforementioned teams opening their seasons on Friday, here's a quick look at the local non-Division I baseball programs:
▪ Barry (NCAA Division II): The Bucs won their first regional ever in 2023 but slumped to 28-22 last year.
Enter Price, who had been Barry's junior varsity coach the past four years.
Among the top Bucs players are Friday night starting pitcher Billy Eich and switch-hitting outfielder Harry Vargas Seguera.
Eich, a big right-hander at 6-7 and 225 pounds, throws 93-to-95 mph.
Seguera looks like a linebacker at 6-3 and 225 pounds. At Southern New Hampshire (NCAA Division II) last year, he stole 48 bases on 54 attempts while hitting .333 with seven homers.
Two other Barry players to watch are Kendry Noriega, an outfielder from St. Thomas University; and pitcher Aiden Ewe, who throws 97-98 mph but needs to find his command.
▪ NSU (Division II): The Sharks went 28-19 overall and 18-12 in the Sunshine State Conference last year.
This season, the Sharks have been predicted to finish tied for second in the league, along with Florida Southern.
The Sharks, who will start their season at home on Jan. 31 against Catawba, are led by pitcher Keyler Gonzalez, outfielder Justin Wachs and first baseman Boris Pena.
Gonzalez was 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA and two saves as a freshman last season. This season, he will be a starter.
Pena hit .346 with nine homers and a 1.048 OPS.
Wachs was a first-team All-SSC selection last season, hitting .353 with seven homers and a 1.033 OPS. He started a combined total of 10 games in his first three years at NSU before his breakthrough in 2024.
'He was persistent,' Morales said.
▪ St. Thomas (NAIA): Perez has led the Bobcats to second place in the World Series in 2015 and again in 2019. In 2018, the Bobcats set a school record for wins (56-10), reaching the World Series again.
Last season, the Bobcats had a modest record (27-24).
The Bobcats, who open their season with a home doubleheader on Friday against Montreat, have a pair of potential pro prospects in Erick Ballenilla and Ozzie Martinez.
Ballenilla, who is from the Dominican Republic, can play every position except catcher.
At a junior college last season, he hit .340 with 13 homers. He also throws 91-95 mph, and he will be used in relief.
Martinez, who has improved his control, could be STU's closer. His fastball has a range of 92-97 mph.
▪ FMU (NAIA): The Lions last season went 21-26 overall and 6-18 in the Sun Conference.
Ramos will make his debut on Friday at home against Atlantis.
In his previous college-coaching job, Ramos took over at Talladega, which had gone 12 years without baseball.
Talladega, an NAIA school in Alabama, had two losing seasons when the program returned from its absence (2009-2010). After that, however, Ramos led them to five straight winning seasons, going a combined 51 games over .500.
Things fizzled out in 2016 as Talladega went 25-28-3, and Ramos left the program.
Now, he's back as a college coach.
'There are some challenges (at FMU), but I think anybody would love to coach college baseball in Miami,' said Ramos, a 48-year-old native of Puerto Rico.
Ramos, who arrived at FMU in August, said the Lions have 14 returners and 18 newcomers.
Leading the Lions this season will be freshman catcher Christopher Marte and senior left fielder Rey Rivera.
'Next year, we've got to get older to compete,' Ramos said. 'About 95 percent of our recruits next year will be junior-college guys.'
▪ Miami Dade College (junior college): The Sharks went 28-26 last season, losing in the regionals.
This season, the Sharks return six starters, and they have added some top transfers such as pitchers Brandon Olivera from the University of Miami and Jack Garvey (College of Central Florida).
Enrique Sierra and Luis Rodriguez are returning starting pitchers.
Watch out for three freshmen: shortstop Yendy Gonzalez; third baseman Cian Copeland; and outfielder Michael Petite.
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