St. John’s off to best start since 1981 season

Don’t look now but the St. John’s college baseball team is off to its best start since 1981 when former MLB standouts Frank Viola and John Franco helped the Red Storm win 26 of their first 27 games.

NEW YORK >> Ed Blankmeyer expected his St. John’s baseball team to have a solid start this season. But not even the veteran coach could have predicted the Red Storm to roll like this.

They’re 19-2, the program’s best opening to a season since the 1981 squad that featured future major leaguers Frank Viola and John Franco won 26 of its first 27 games.

Baseball America has St. John’s ranked No. 14 in the country, tying its highest spot in that poll since that squad 36 years ago.

“For us to get off to this type of start, you have to be running on all cylinders,” Blankmeyer said. “And at this point, we’re lucky to be running on all cylinders.”

St. John’s, which beat Wagner 6-2 on Wednesday, was tied for second in the country with a .334 team batting average. The Red Storm’s 2.61 ERA ranked eighth, making them the only Division I team to place in the top 10 in both categories.

“It’s unusual to have everybody getting off to such a good start, really unusual,” Blankmeyer said. “That’s something that was nice to see because what that’s done is we’ve gained momentum.”

The Red Storm are also at No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, their best ranking since the school’s last College World Series team in 1980 — also with Viola and Franco. St. John’s is ranked No. 13 in both the USA Today Coaches’ and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls, and No. 15 by D1Baseball.com.

“It’s been a blast,” said redshirt-junior first baseman John Valente, who had a school-record 30-game hitting streak snapped last week. “I think it all comes down to everyone on the team having fun this year. We have a different chemistry than past years, I believe. Everyone’s pulling the same rope and we’re excited, especially with all these wins.”

Among those victories, St. John’s has beaten defending national champion Coastal Carolina and nationally ranked North Carolina — both on the road. The only losses for the Red Storm, whose RPI ranks 12th in the country, have come at East Carolina and Liberty.

“When you look at our team, you don’t see a bunch of power guys or like the Vanderbilts or LSUs, where they have the potential No. 1 draft pick or something like that,” senior righthander Ryan McAuliffe said. “We kind of just have a group of 30 guys who play together and have fun.”

People have noticed, too, with those lofty spots in the polls serving as a sure sign of respect.

“Obviously, it’s cool to look at, but I think it’s more for our friends and family back home,” said McAuliffe, from North Reading, Massachusetts. “For us, we know how good we’re playing and know that we’re very talented. I think the rankings just add to it.”

It’s a terrific start for a team based in the Northeast, where programs are traditionally stuck working indoors all winter before heading outside in mid-February — usually warming up in better temperatures on the road to open their season.