Baseball Takes Two Top NECC Awards, Lands Three on All-Conference Team

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The Mitchell College baseball team captured two of the four major awards handed out by the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) on Friday, as announced by Commissioner Del Malloy.

Junior Jeff Perillo was named NECC Player of the Year and senior Jeremy Chapman was tabbed NECC Pitcher of the Year. The Mariners also landed three players on the NECC All-Conference First Team, with Perillo and Chapman being joined by sophomore outfielder Ethan Graynor.

Perillo, a third baseman, leads the Mariners in nearly every offensive category. In conference play he grabbed the batting title with a .551 average and recorded a slugging percentage of .918. He started in all 15 NECC contests and hit safely in all but one game, finishing with multiple hits in eight games. Perillo leads the conference in doubles (14) and ranks third in both hits (44) and home runs (4), and he is batting a team-high .468 in 27 games this season. His batting average currently ranks 23rd among all NCAA Division III hitters.

Chapman led the NECC with an amazing 1.03 ERA for his 35.0 innings pitched. In conference play the left-hander went 5-0 and hurled two shutouts, allowing a mere seven runs on 17 hits while fanning 51 batters and walking 13. A four-time NECC Pitcher of the Week and a three-time ECAC Pitcher of the Week selection, he leads the Mitchell staff with a 6-0 record and currently leads all NCAA Division III pitchers in ERA (0.75) and hits allowed per nine innings (3.94). He also ranks fifth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (12.38).

Graynor, Mitchell's starting right fielder and clean-up hitter, batted .346 with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored in 15 conference games. In 26 games this season he is batting .315 with four doubles, two home runs, 27 RBI and 17 runs scored.

Mitchell (15-12 overall, 10-5 NECC) is the second seed in the 2010 NECC Baseball Championship, which will be hosted by Daniel Webster College on May 7-9. The Mariners will face third-seeded Becker College in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. 

2010 NECC Baseball Awards

2010 NECC BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jeff Perillo, Mitchell, JR (Newington, Conn.)
2010 NECC BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Jeremy Chapman, Mitchell, SR (Waterford, Conn.)
2010 NECC BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Darrik Marstaller, Daniel Webster, FR (Spofford, N.H.)
2010 NECC BASEBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: J.P. Pyne, Daniel Webster
2010 NECC BASEBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Newbury College Nighthawks

2010 ALL-NECC BASEBALL FIRST TEAM
FIRST BASE: Weston Meehan, Becker, SO (Thomson, Ga.)
SECOND BASE: Elliot Kilgore, Daniel Webster, FR (Milford, N.H.)
THIRD BASE: Jeff Perillo, Mitchell, JR (Newington, Conn.)
SHORT STOP:  Keith Kandel, Becker, JR (Fresno, Cal.)
OUTFIELD: Darrik Marstaller, Daniel Webster, FR (Spofford, N.H.)
OUTFIELD: Joe Corey, Becker, SO (Billerica, Mass.)
OUTFIELD: Ethan Graynor, Mitchell, SO (Leonia, N.J.)
PITCHER: Jeremy Chapman, Mitchell, SR (Waterford, Conn.)
PITCHER: Kory Kiro, Daniel Webster, SO (Goffstown, N.H.)
CATCHER: Eric Wells, Southern Vermont, SO (Athens, Penn.)
DESIGNATED HITTER: Joseph Guidi, Newbury, SO (Derry, N.H.)

2010 ALL-NECC BASEBALL HONORABLE MENTION
Austin Phillips, Becker , FR, 2B (Thomson, Ga.)
Bruce Brown, Daniel Webster, JR, 3B (Lowell, Mass.)
Brendan Cordeiro, Elms, JR, 3B (Berkley, Mass.)
Pat Curry, Newbury, SO, C (Hamstead, N.H.)
Dan Cook, Southern Vermont, JR, DH (Watervliet, N.Y.)