May 3rd, 2022
Behind a few key returners and a ton of new pitching, the Glens Falls Dragons and head coach Jon Mueller are looking for consistency and depth on the mound as they enter a new season.
Glens Falls will be bringing in a number of new pitchers to make the pitching staff the best it can be. One of those arms include Daniel Cohen, a Yale commit who is one of the highest-ranked pitchers in the country by Perfect Game USA. They will also have a trio of Siena teammates in Armando Ricci, Eddie Girtler and Joe Lauer.
They will also be returning a pair of arms that helped them last year. They bring back Riley Orr (Castleton), who made eight starts for the Dragons last summer as well as Cameron Derrow (SUNY Adirondack), who made seven appearances last year. Matt Chase (Ithaca) is also back after pitching to a 4.74 ERA across 24 2/3 innings pitched. Two-way player Reece de Castro (Castleton) also returns to help on both sides of the ball. De Castro hit an even .300 at the plate last summer as a third baseman on top of three pitching appearances, two of them starts.
All of this is in an effort to make Glens Falls have one of the better pitching staffs in the league, something that Mueller wants to see improved.
“That’s my main goal here because that’s what we’ve been lacking, that’s what we lacked last summer. I took a really big emphasis on recruiting pitchers this year. Guys will have their innings but they also won’t get overused, which is good as well, especially coming out of a long school season,” Mueller said.
All of this is part of a change that Mueller, who will be entering his second year as head coach this summer, and the program as a whole wants to undergo.
“Being in the league for the first time as a head coach and just being a part of the league for the first time was definitely an eye-opener. Definitely going to be a lot of adjustments made this year due to roster selections, numbers on the pitching staff and defensively,” he said. “I’m really trying to come up here and change the culture in year two, start something new, get it going again. It’s a very, very competitive league.”
A large part of that is getting players to come to the team and the league as a whole, which is a goal and the first step to making that change.
“It’s just trying to get guys more directed to understanding ‘hey, upstate New York is great opportunity to be a part of a summer league, especially the Perfect Game League,’” Mueller said. “It’s one of the most competitive leagues to be a part of and one of the most well-known. A lot of the guys in the league, they come from very successful programs.”