Baseball adjusts to injuries

In an April 5 game against George Washington, Bonnies senior catcher B.J. Salerno took a foul ball to his throwing hand, breaking his knuckle and theoretically ending his career. With that foul ball, the Bonnies (21-17, 7-11) lost 164 career starts, 132 hits and 65 RBI. They lost the conference's best arm, according to collegebaseballinsider.com. They also lost an outspoken team leader and a strong competitor.

The team lost Salerno; Mike Grieco gained an opportunity.

The freshman from Washington Township, N.J., caught the last 16 games for the Bonnies, batting .275 with 51 hits and 5 RBI on the season.

While he's no Salerno, Grieco has contributed well for someone in his situation, coach Larry Sudbrook said.

"He's given us a chance (to win), Sudbrook said. "He gets good at bats. He's come up with some timely hits. He takes walks. He's received the ball pretty well."

Sudbrook said Grieco had a tough job to do and a tough player to replace.

"He's trying to replace a guy that's one of the two or three best catchers I've had here in 24 years. That's a tough shoe to replace when you're a freshman," he said.

Grieco said he understands Salerno's importance to the lineup and realizes the standard set for him as a succeeding catcher.

"B.J.'s an unbelievable catcher," Grieco said. "He's a huge factor in why this team wins games, and I realize I've got a shot to be that guy."

While unable to make a tangible impact on the game, Salerno still makes contributions from the bench, calling the pitches so an inexperienced Grieco doesn't have to.

Sudbrook said having Salerno signaling pitches helps the rookie Grieco handle veteran pitchers.

"The veteran pitchers aren't saying, 'Gee, that's a freshman catcher. Does he know what he's doing?"

Grieco said Salerno offers advice and helps him manage the game mentally.

"He helps me with just knowing situations. He helps me (forget) if I make a bad throw, if I make a mistake to just not worry about it," Grieco said.

Sudbrook said Grieco has to improve with runners on base. With Salerno behind the plate, the Bonnies stole two times as many bases than their opponents. With Salerno out, teams have found more success stealing against the Bonnies.

"Teams have run on him," Sudbrook said. "He's got to get better at throwing people out, and he knows that."

Grieco cited paying attention as his biggest challenge behind the plate.

"It's tough for me. I struggle to stay focused a lot, but I've been getting better at it, and I have to be paying attention all the time because that's what's important," he said.

With each start, Grieco said he's been more comfortable, something he wants to continue in order to find success.

"In my opinion, I have the ability to do well. It just gets all in your head at some point," Grieco said. "I just need to stay comfortable and confident."

In his first start after Salerno suffered the injury, Grieco did not have the comfort or the confidence.

"I'm not going to lie. I was scared," he said.

With Grieco behind the plate, the Bonnies have gone 8-8, losing to Buffalo Tuesday, 14-5, in the first round of the Big 4 classic and defeating Niagara, 4-2, in Wednesday's consolation round.

During that stretch, the Bonnies have adjusted to other injuries as well. Already with senior first baseman Tristan Mulcahy (torn ligament) and their number two starter, senior Matt Stewart (torn labrum), out for the year, the Bonnies lost senior pitcher Brian Hardner (wrist) and senior second baseman Kevin Suminski (hamstring).

Sudbrook commended sophomore first baseman Ryan Mosher for moving back and forth between first and second base to fill in for the injured infielders.

"He's just comfortable and confident doing it," Sudbrook said. "He's just one of those guys who's a baseball guy from the time he was a little kid."

Mosher said Mulcahy helped him adjust to playing first base, a position he never played before.

"Once he went down and found out I was going to first, he really took me in and taught me the ropes over there," he said.

Impressed with Mosher's versatility, Sudbrook listed him as the team's emergency backup catcher.

Mosher said, "At first base, it's one thing because you're still in the infield. Going behind the plate, I would have no idea what I'm doing back there."

He said filling in for players and learning other positions helped him gain experience after starting 12 games last year as a utility infielder.

"Having to do everything always makes you a better ballplayer, just because you're that much more educated with everything," Mosher said.

Sudbrook said contributions from guys like Mosher and Grieco helped his team take series against Richmond and Xavier to stay within reach of an Atlantic 10 Championship berth.

"For our guys to be still in the hunt here and winning games against fully scholarshiped schools, they're doing a hell of a job," Sudbrook said after his Bonnies took two of three games in a series against Richmond last weekend.

They'll continue their conference schedule this weekend at Massachusetts with a three-game series beginning today at 3 p.m.