As most of the country’s elite college baseball teams were getting ready for their seasons in 70-degree weather, St. John’s players were shivering. The conditions were less than ideal at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
“Usually we have to practice out in the snow,” junior pitcher Matt Carasiti said. “We have to hit inside. We don’t get a feel for the field. I think most of the time, Northeast teams are a step behind.”
Teams from warm-weather areas “get a head start” as Red Storm coach Ed Blankmeyer puts it. St. John’s has been among the elite Northeast teams recently, though. After winning the Big East tournament Sunday for a record seventh time, the Red Storm will be playing in the NCAA tournament for the seventh time in nine years.
What St. John’s hasn’t done is make it past the regional round, not since advancing to the College World Series in 1980 behind John Franco. The Red Storm open up in the Chapel Hill Regional 11 a.m. Friday against East Carolina.
“I think our whole team feels like this is the year to finally get over that regional hump,” Carasiti said.
St. John’s won the Big East tournament and regular-season title this year for the first time in program history. The Red Storm feature three players who are expected to be selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB First-Year Player Draft — Carasiti, pitcher Kyle Hansen and outfielder Jeremy Baltz.
“We’ve proved we could play,” Blankmeyer said.
St. John’s isn’t the only local team that has. Both Stony Brook and Manhattan College have earned berths in the NCAA tournament, too. Like St. John’s, Manhattan has managed to develop a winning tradition despite the weather conditions.
The Jaspers practice at 6 a.m. early in the year because it’s the only time they can get full access to their gym. They also play their home games at Van Cortlandt Park, a public park where they are the ones who maintain the field. Manhattan uses it to its advantage, winning all of its 18 home games, the only Division I program to do so.
“In some sense it may hurt us, but it also makes us a tougher team,” center fielder Anthony Vega said.
The Jaspers are coming off a memorable MAAC tournament, becoming the first team to lose the opener and go on to win it all. Senior submariner Taylor Sewitt was named the tournament MVP after picking up three of the Jaspers’ four wins and pitching 22 shutout innings over the span of three days. He will get the ball Friday at 4 p.m. against defending champion South Carolina, the eighth overall seed in the tournament, in the Columbia Regional.
“It gives us an opportunity to really open some eyes,” Vega said.
Under 22nd-year coach Matt Senk, Stony Brook has become a Northeast power in its own right, compiling back-to-back 40-win seasons and is making its third trip to the NCAA tournament in five years. he Seawolves, who won a program-record 46 games this year and compiled the nation’s lowest ERA (2.89), are hoping to better their 2010 trip to the NCAAs, when they knocked off N.C. State for their first regional win.
Ranked 25th in the country by Baseball America, Stony Brook will open with Miami Friday at 7 p.m. in the Coral Gables Regional.
“We know how to win, we’ve proven we can win, we’re trying to give Stony Brook a bigger name than it’s already become,” said outfielder Travis Jankowski, the America East Player of the Year.
All three teams are hopeful for the weekend, underdogs or not. A big regional for anyone would speak volumes for strides the area has made in recent years.
“It would be good for Northeast baseball if any team advances to the Super Regionals or Omaha,” Blankmeyer said..
zbraziller@nypost.com