For the first time in 36 years, a new face will be calling the shots in the St. Bonaventure baseball team’s dugout when the first pitch of the 2022 season is thrown.
Though Larry Sudbrook, Bona’s winningest coach in any sport, has retired, a familiar face will take the reins as B.J. Salerno transitions from an assistant role which he held for the past eight years to the position of interim head coach, leading the program he shined with as a student-athlete.
“You always hear St. Bonaventure is this special place, how when someone gets on campus they know this is the place for them. It was the same for me. I had a tremendous four years here not only as a player, but academically, socially, everything about the place is just special,” Salerno, a 2009 graduate, said. “Learning from Coach Sudbrook, I couldn’t ask for a better mentor and friend. Taking over the program he built is a tremendous honor. It’s a dream come true.”
AS A player, Salerno was one of the best catchers in program history. During his collegiate playing career, he started 152 consecutive games and served as a team captain. He helped lead the Bonnies to the Atlantic 10 Tournament in three consecutive years, including a runner-up finish in 2006. But it was a stint on the injury list that set the stage for his future in coaching.
After suffering a broken hand on a foul tip as a senior, Sudbrook had Salerno call pitches for his freshman replacement.
“It made me want to be a part of the game going forward. Sitting beside Coach day in and day out calling pitches made me want to get into coaching and teach young men how to play,” Salerno said.
And now, Salerno has the opportunity to guide his alma mater, alongside Donovan Moffat, now an assistant coach after his own successful five-year run as a pitcher for the Bonnies that ended last spring.
“I’m hoping to build on what Coach Sudbrook built,” Salerno said. “I want to keep building on what he did for the past 36 years here. I learned something new every day on and off the field from him.”
THE 2022 Bonnies have veterans who hope to put together a strong season. Perhaps most importantly, they will have a sense of normalcy this spring.
After playing a condensed, nearly conference-only slate last year due to the pandemic, Bona will play 18 non-conference games before A-10 play begins. Last year, it played just 31 games total.
“We felt the bats and the pitching staff were clicking like normal by the end of the season last year, but what usually would be our mid-season was the last series of the year with the shortened schedule,” Salerno said. “This year we have almost 50 games scheduled and we’ll be able to start with games down in Florida and Alabama as well as bring back mid-week games. That’s huge. Last year, when we first started, the teams we were playing had already played 17 games. We were behind the eight ball in terms of being ready. Having early season games is going to be tremendous for us when A-10 play starts.”
Bona opens the new campaign today against Marshall in Port Charlotte, Fla., and will play a pair against the Thundering Herd, plus a doubleheader vs. Merrimack, before traveling to Florida Gulf Coast and Alabama State for three-game sets. Non-conference trips against Mount St. Mary’s, UMBC, Lehigh, Valparaiso and Penn State follow before A-10 play gets underway April 1.
THE BONNIES will return all but one starter from last season, though that one loss is huge as Tyler Kelder, one of the program’s best-ever power hitters, graduated last spring. Included in that group are outfielder Brendyn Stillman, an All-American in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and Olean product Garrett Boldt, whose 2021 season was cut short due to injury, but who returns to a starting role in centerfield.
“We return mostly everyone,” Salerno said. “On the infield we should be really solid, both defensively and with guys who can get on base and create some offense. We’re looking to get some guys back to full strength in the outfield and we’re excited about what they can do. Up and down the lineup we think we have guys who have experience and we have solid depth. Offensively and defensively we feel good about where we are at.”
On the mound, left-handed senior Liam Devine served as the team’s Friday starter in A-10 play last year, striking out 25 batters in 28 2/3 innings. Devine had displays of brilliance, striking out six in a two-run showing while defeating Saint Joseph’s and finishing the year with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings and just three runs allowed vs. Fordham.
Bona has been able to get more preseason work in for their non-conference trips thanks to moving practices from Butler Gym on campus to the Bona Fitness Center in Olean. The baseball and softball teams have dedicated spaces in that building this winter, with added room to do more with their practice time than in the cramped spaces of Butler during years past.
“That transition has been tremendous,” Salerno said. “There’s a ton more room for guys to get more reps both offensively and defensively. We can work on more drills and prepare more for the first games of the season.”
As the new season begins, Salerno hopes to leave his stamp on the program – one heavily influenced by the leadership of Bona’s revered former head coach.
“It’s trusting the process and how we’re preparing. We want to be a scrappy bunch of guys who attack every pitch,” he said. “I want teams to walk away from us saying, St. Bonaventure is tough. They battle every pitch.”
(Courtesy of Scott Eddy, St. Bonaventure assistant athletics director for athletics communications)