Spartans Baseball Set for Strong Season

A deep rotation and talented lineup have Cayuga Community College Baseball hoping to capture another conference crown and reach the next round of the postseason in 2026.

 

Cayuga is looking to build on a 28-19 finish to the 2025 season, one in which they captured their third Mid-State Athletic Conference title in four seasons and finished third in Region III's East Division. The Spartans made the opening round of the Region III playoffs, where they lost to Finger Lakes Community College.

 

Cayuga Coach John Rizzo said the goal for this year's team is the same as in seasons past: Win the conference, take the region and reach the World Series.

 

"We're bringing back a great core from last season, and we brought in talented freshmen and transfer classes," said Rizzo. "Our returning group has strong leadership who have set high expectations, they have good control of the team, and they're leading by example for the rest of the roster."

 

The Spartans return a dozen talented sophomores from the 2025 team, including reigning MSAC Player of the Year Jeremy Recio, who batted .458 with 51 RBI last season. Catcher Jakson Ross (.343 average) and infielder Alejandro Diaz (.314 average, 38 RBI) also starred at the plate. Recio was also named First-Team All-Region, and Ross was Second-Team All-Region in 2025.

 

Rizzo said roster flexibility will allow the team to score runs regardless of who's in the lineup.

 

"Our depth in general is a strength this year. We have options to play the guys who are hitting well at that moment, or if we want to play different types of lineups, we can do that too. We haven't always had that flexibility in past seasons," he said.

 

Cayuga returns incredible depth on the mound with Dylan Gordon, Isaac Allison, Ashtyn Traugott-Knoll, James MacLean, Kyle Peryer and Jack Stemerman. The six pitchers combined for almost 220 innings last year, with Peryer (Third-Team All-Region) finishing with seven wins in 51 innings, both team-highs. Allison, MacLean and Traugott-Knoll each had five wins, with MacLean posting the team's lowest ERA and Allison also batting .328.

 

"That's about two-thirds of our innings coming back from last year's team, which is great depth for us, better than we've had in past years," said Rizzo. "That will definitely help us this season."

 

The schedule, as always, is likely to be a challenge. They open on the road at #6 Surry Community College, have two-game sets against #4 SUNY Niagara and #15 Genesee Community College, plus four-game slates with #10 Hudson Valley Community College, #14 Herkimer College and traditional power Erie Community College. They also play NJCAA Division II schools Monroe Community College and Sussex County Community College.

 

Rizzo and the Spartans wouldn't have the schedule any other way.

 

"Our divisional schedule is always challenging, and each year we get about a dozen or so games that we can schedule on our own. We made sure we picked as many top opponents as we could this season. We want to challenge ourselves, so we picked the best opponents we could find," he said.

 

Helping Rizzo this year are assistant coaches TJ Gamba, Dan Flanick and Bill Ashby, plus newcomers Brendan Williams and Alex Wurster, both of whom excelled for Cayuga as players in past seasons.

 

"Brendan was one of the better pitchers we've had and went on to play at UMASS-Lowell, and Alex was a strong hitter, baserunner and outfielder who continued his career at SUNY Oneonta. They've both done a great job working with this year's team," said Rizzo.

 

Cayuga opens the season Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 with doubleheaders at Surry. Their home opener at Falcon Park is scheduled for March 1 against SUNY Niagara.