The expectations aren’t changing at Arcadia. The Knights have been here before, and they plan to be there again.
Coming off a 33-14 season and a third straight trip to the NCAA Division III Regional, Arcadia was picked to finish second in the 2025 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) Preseason Coaches Poll. The Knights earned their first-ever at-large bid in 2024 and made it all the way to the regional final before running into No. 10-ranked Johns Hopkins. Now? They want more.
“We expect to get back to the NCAA tournament and take that next step,” head coach Chuck Thielmann said. “This is a really competitive conference, but our goal is to reach the Super Regionals.”
And let’s be real: If Arcadia is going to get there, it starts with one guy.
Anthony Bruno.
The senior first baseman is back after leading the nation with 81 RBIs last year. Not the conference. Not the region. The nation. And now? He enters 2025 as a Third Team Preseason All-American, as announced by D3baseball.com.
Last year, he slashed .352/.432/.657 with 68 hits, 14 doubles, 13 home runs, and 54 runs scored. He racked up honors along the way—Fourth Team All-American, First Team All-Region IV, and First Team All-MAC Freedom. And now, he joins an exclusive club as just the fourth All-American in program history, alongside Bryan Gillen (‘18), Owen Margolis (‘22), and Alex Madera (‘23).
But here’s the thing about Bruno: He’s not just about the numbers. He’s got a little bit of folk-hero status going on.
“We had iPads set up recording live at-bats in practice the other day,” Thielmann said. “Bruno laces a line drive up the middle—smashes straight through the screen and right through the iPad.”
And that was it.
“Yeah, we ended practice early that day,” Thielmann said, laughing. "He's one of the most dangerous hitters in the country."
Anthony Bruno.
The senior first baseman is back after leading the nation with 81 RBIs last year. Not the conference. Not the region. The nation. And now? He enters 2025 as a Third Team Preseason All-American, as announced by D3baseball.com.
Last year, he slashed .352/.432/.657 with 68 hits, 14 doubles, 13 home runs, and 54 runs scored. He racked up honors along the way—Fourth Team All-American, First Team All-Region IV, and First Team All-MAC Freedom. And now, he joins an exclusive club as just the fourth All-American in program history, alongside Bryan Gillen (‘18), Owen Margolis (‘22), and Alex Madera (‘23).
But here’s the thing about Bruno: He’s not just about the numbers. He’s got a little bit of folk-hero status going on.
“We had iPads set up recording live at-bats in practice the other day,” Thielmann said. “Bruno laces a line drive up the middle—smashes straight through the screen and right through the iPad.”
And that was it.
“Yeah, we ended practice early that day,” Thielmann said, laughing. "He's one of the most dangerous hitters in the country."
And now the goal is simple: Find Bruno some help.
The hope is that grad transfer Cam Seymour and junior transfer Max Oswald can provide some protection in the lineup.
Seymour, in particular, could be an impact guy. He was a .278 career hitter over four years at Southern Maine and just so happens to be the program’s all-time home run leader with 36.
“Cam has the potential to be a game-changer for us,” Thielmann said. “We need guys like him to step up and take some pressure off Bruno.”
Questions and Aces
If the Knights are going to make another deep run, they’ll need more than just Bruno mashing baseballs into orbit. Arcadia is breaking in 21 new players. The lineup has some unknowns. The pitching staff? That’s where things get interesting.
Grad student left-hander Will Conroy is back, and he’s got ace potential. He went 5-0 last year with a 2.52 ERA, striking out 46 in 50 innings—good enough for Third Team All-Region IV honors and a spot on the All-MAC Freedom Second Team. His 2.52 ERA ranks as the 10th-best single-season mark in program history.
After that? We’ll see.
First-year Braden Kelly, a second-team All-Catholic selection out of Archbishop Wood, could see some action as a starter. So could junior transfer Anthony Rosario, who earned Region XV First Team All-Region honors at Nassau Community College. And with Arcadia posting a 6.78 ERA last season, there’s one clear goal: Get that number down.
“We’re hoping our pitching staff takes another step forward,” Thielmann said. “If we can drop the staff ERA a bit, that’ll go a long way.”
The Knights open their 2025 campaign on February 14th with a non-conference matchup at Kean University. The season ahead? Full of possibilities.
And as long as Anthony Bruno doesn’t take out any more electronics in practice, Arcadia might just be on its way to another special year.
