Stockton Baseball will look to add to the history of the program after becoming the first Osprey baseball team ever to win the NJAC regular season title and earn the No. 1 seed for the NJAC Tournament in 2024. The Ospreys have 25 returning letters from that squad, which won 22 games, just one shy of the school record for the second year in a row.
 
Head coach Rich Gawlak has an experienced squad led by eight returning field players who started at least 34 of Stockton's 40 games last year, plus two more who made 19 starts apiece. On the mound, the Ospreys return three pitchers who each tossed at least 47 innings plus two relievers who made 14 appearances or more.
 
Stockton, which was ranked fifth in the NJAC preseason coaches poll, should once again use an aggressive approach on offense that led to the Ospreys leading the NJAC in hit by pitch and ranking second in triples plus fourth in stolen base attempts and on-base percentage last season.

• The infield will lead the way with senior Jordan Nitti who should continue to assault the school record book after another fine season. The junior was one of two players to start all 40 games and batted .323 with 54 hits (2nd on team), 12 doubles (T-1st on team), 29 runs, 27 RBI and two homers last year.
• Nitti, who made just four errors and posted a .976 fielding percentage in 2024, has a chance to break the school career records for runs, hits, doubles and RBI this season.
• Junior Nick Avagnano will play first base, coming off a breakout season in which he batted .342 while leading the team with 42 runs (10th in NJAC) and six homers (T-7th in NJAC). Avagnano finished third in the conference in hit by pitch (16), eighth in OPS (1.027) and ninth in slugging percentage (.570). He also tied for the team lead in doubles (12).
• Junior Evan Bresnen returns as the starting shortstop after batting .284 with 24 RBI and 22 runs on offense plus playing a part in 16 double plays on defense in his first season at Stockton. Bresnen also was an NJAC Player of the Week honoree once last season.
• Senior Robbie Ford also returns to the infield full of veterans. Ford was Stockton's top hitter in conference play last year, batting a team-high .355, with 22 hits, 18 RBI and 10 runs. Overall, Ford tallied 30 hits and brought his career total to 98 hits.
• Senior Austin Beard, juniors Jimmy Silvano and Gavin Malave and sophomore Joe Sclama add depth in the infield. Beard hit .294 with 17 RBI and 16 runs in 26 games played last year.
• Junior transfer Joe Gmitter, who batted .356 with 55 RBI for Mercer County College last year, and freshmen Sal Cassano, Kevin DiPede, Chris Galasso, and Dom Vizzoni add to the depth.
• In the outfield, seniors Tucker Elder, Max Kaplan and juniors Michael Antonucci and Tony Gatti will form a solid foursome. Kaplan was an NJAC First Team selection after batting .308 overall and finishing second in the NJAC in hit by pitch (17), tied for sixth in on-base percentage (.478) and 10th in walks (27). The outfielder compiled a 31-game reached base streak during the season.
• Gatti led the team in hitting (.358) and became just the fourth Osprey to bang out more than 60 hits (62, 9th in NJAC) in a season. Gatti also topped the team with 25 steals (3rd in NJAC) and three triples (T-5th in NJAC) on the way to an NJAC Honorable Mention spot.
• Elder contributed 33 runs (3rd on team), four homers (T-2nd on team) and 27 RBI (T-2nd on team) while walking 24 times (3rd on team) last year. He also was a perfect 10-10 in steals.
• Antonucci will look to rebound after his season was cut short due to injury. In his rookie season of 2023, he batted .302 with 32 hits, a .415 on base percentage and a team-high 14 stolen bases (T-5th in NJAC).
• Sophomores Russell Halvorsen, Conner Praschil, and freshman Matthew McCloskey, give the Ospreys multiple options off the bench. Halvorsen played 26 games including 19 starts and scored 13 runs last season.
• Behind the plate, junior Cooper Fiore is a key returned after leading the team with 35 walks (T-2nd in NJAC) to break the school record that was set in 2010. Fiore led the team with a .485 on-base percentage (3rd in NJAC) and fashioned an incredible on-base streak of 58 straight games dating back to the 2023 season.
• Senior Tim Mastrogiovanni joins Fiore as a returnee at catcher while Stockton adds transfer Joe Giori, who brings experience from Kean and Mercer County College, plus freshmen Evan Palmer.
• Pitching hopefully will be a strong suit, led by juniors Zack McCabe and Stephen DeMilio, sophomore Antonio Sansone and senior Rob Jeans. DeMilio led the team with five wins, 56.0 innings pitched and 50 strikeouts last year. He tied for second in the NJAC in batters struck out looking (21) and tied for sixth in wins.
• McCabe won three times and was second to DeMilio with 50.2 innings of work. He finished sixth in the NJAC in opposing batting average (.232) and eighth in ERA (team-best 3.37) to go with 35 strikeouts.
• Jeans came on strong late in the season as a starter and finished second on the team in ERA (4.21) and strikeouts (39) while hurling 47.0 innings and collecting three wins. Sansone, who missed last season due to injury, will look to build on his freshman season when he went 2-2 with 39 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched.
• Transfers Dominic Mallamaci (Marymount) and Jeffrey Erschen (Northampton CC) should provide quality innings, with freshmen Justin Prekop and Jack Tiernan looking to give the starting rotation depth.
• Reece Miller leads the pen after becoming Stockton's first-ever NJAC Fireman of the Year with eight saves to lead the league and finish sixth in NCAA Division III with the second highest season total ever at Stockton. Miller struck out 26 hitters in 21.2 innings, won two games and posted a 2.91 ERA. His 11 career saves place him second all-time at Stockton.
• Stockton will have experienced depth out of the pen with seniors Kyle Cipolla (14 games, 2 saves), Chris Gonzalez (seven games), and sophomores Anthony Mehmet (5 games) and Danny Snyder (8 games) who will provide quality depth in front of Miller.
• Freshmen RJ Coleman, Joseph Loreti, Jack Cahill, Ryan Zimmer and Tim Welsh will look to push for time on the bump.