Baseball Sweeps NECC's Major Awards, Places 10 on All-Conference Teams
MARSHFIELD, Mass. – Mitchell College swept the major awards and had a total of 10 players named to all-conference teams by the New England Collegiate Conference on Tuesday morning as the league announced its annual baseball honors.
The Mariners become the first baseball program in the NECC's 11-year history to capture all four of the major awards in the same season. Freshman Dougie DelaCruz was named Player of the Year, becoming the fifth Mitchell player to earn the conference's top honor. Sophomore Roland Thivierge was selected as Pitcher of the Year while freshman Ryan Solimine was tabbed Rookie of the Year. Travis Beausoleil was named Coach of the Year to round out the NECC's major awards.
DelaCruz, Thivierge and Solimine also earned spots on the all-conference first team. Joining them were seniors Eric Marriott and Markus Melendez, giving the Mariners a total of five of the 13 spots available. All but Marriott were first-time honorees.
Senior Peter Abate and juniors Steve Cochrane, Jakari Pellegrini and Bryce Bedard all earned second team honors. Abate and Pellegrini were repeat all-conference selections while Cochrane and Bedard were honored for the first time.
Senior Steven Pagan, also an all-conference selection a year ago, rounded out the honorees with a third team nod. All awards were determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
DelaCruz, Mitchell's starting left fielder, becomes the first freshman to take home the NECC's top honor. He played in all 16 league games and hit .521 with 23 RBI and 22 runs scored. He led the conference in runs, RBI and total bases (40) and ranked among the top five leaders in hits (25), doubles (7), triples (1), homers (2), on-base percentage (.597) and slugging (.833). In 37 games this season he is hitting a team-high .410 with 48 RBI and 41 runs scored, and he also leads the Mariners in doubles (12) and homers (6).
Thivierge is the fifth Mitchell player to earn the league's top pitching award, as well as the first since 2015. In five NECC starts he went 4-0 with a league-low 1.78 ERA, striking out 27 batters in 30.1 innings of work. He is 8-0 overall on the year and sports the lowest ERA (2.24) of any Mitchell starter. Over 56.1 innings he has racked up 53 strikeouts against only 12 walks.
Solimine was also impressive on the mound in his first season with the Mariners. In five league appearances he went 5-0 and ranked behind only Thivierge with a 1.91 ERA. His 31 strikeouts were also second-most in NECC action, and two of his three shutouts came in conference play. In 10 appearances this year he is 8-1 with a 2.56 ERA and a team-best 58 strikeouts in 56.1 innings. Solimine is the second Mitchell player to nab rookie honors and the first since 2013.
Beausoleil, now in his eighth season at Mitchell, was honored for the second time in his career (2015). He led the Mariners (31-6 overall) to a first-place finish in the conference for a sixth-straight season with a 15-1 record.
Marriott, a starter in center field, played in all 16 league games and hit .424 with eight RBI and 21 runs scored. He led the NECC with 16 steals and also ranked among the offensive leaders in hits (25), runs, batting average and on-base percentage (.514). Over 37 games he is hitting .367 with 27 RBI and team highs of 51 runs scored and 24 steals.
In his fourth season as the starting catcher at Mitchell, Melendez hit .400 in 16 conference games and knocked in 10 runs while scoring 22 times. He also didn't commit an error behind the plate while guiding the pitching staff to the lowest team ERA in the league. He is hitting .346 in 37 games and has 23 RBI and 49 runs scored.
Abate filled the void at second base this season and didn't miss a beat, hitting .304 with 12 RBI and 12 runs scored over 16 league games. He also didn't commit an error in 68 total chances. In 34 games he is hitting .274 with 21 RBI and 29 runs scored.
Cochrane, the final member of the Mitchell outfield, hit .405 with 17 RBI and 20 runs scored in league action. The junior transfer is hitting .402 in his first season with the Mariners and is tied for the team lead with 48 RBI in 32 games. He also leads the team in triples (3) and ranks second in homers (5).
Pellegrini made four appearances on the mound in NECC play and went 3-1 with a 3.79 ERA. He struck out 18 batters over 19.0 innings and held opposing lineups to a .250 batting average. He holds a record of 6-1 on the year and sports a 4.21 ERA with 57 strikeouts over 51.1 innings.
Bedard was one of the conference's top relievers all season. In six NECC appearances he allowed only four hits over 10.2 innings of work and finished with a win, three saves and an ERA of 1.69. He leads the pitching staff with 14 appearances and has logged the most innings (28.0) of any Mitchell reliever, striking out 28 while issuing only three walks.
Pagan, a starter at third base, played in all 16 league games and hit .320 with 17 RBI and 11 runs scored. In 37 game this season he is batting .311 with 36 RBI and 31 runs scored.
Senior Brandon Paiva rounded out Mitchell's award recipients by being named to the Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team. He has played in eight games this season and has six hits in nine total at bats.
Mitchell will wrap up the regular season at Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m. The top-seeded Mariners will host the 2019 NECC Baseball Championship on May 2 and 4-5.
2019 NECC Baseball All-Conference Awards
NECC Player of the Year – Dougie DelaCruz, Mitchell (Fr., OF, Uncassville, Conn.)
NECC Pitcher of the Year – Roland Thivierge, Mitchell (So., P, Portland, Conn.)
NECC Rookie of the Year – Ryan Solimine, Mitchell (Fr., P, Danbury, Conn.)
NECC Coach of the Year – Travis Beausoleil, Mitchell
All-Conference First Team
P – Roland Thivierge, Mitchell
P – Ryan Solimine, Mitchell
P – Nick Powers, New England College
P – Shayne Audet, New England College
C – Markus Melendez, Mitchell
1B – Tanyon Ventres, Becker
2B – Anderson Jimenez, New England College
3B – Xavier Nunez, New England College
SS – Luis Atiles, New England College
OF – Dougie DelaCruz, Mitchell
OF – Eric Marriott, Mitchell
OF – Christian Aybar, New England College
DH - Ryan Pumphret, Lesley
All-Conference Second Team
P – Daniel O'Donnell Jr., Lesley
P – Jakari Pellegrini, Mitchell
P – Bryce Bedard, Mitchell
P – Brent Houle, Eastern Nazarene
C – Jeff Sharnick, Dean
1B – Ryan Pumphret, Lesley
2B – Peter Abate, Mitchell
3B – Steven Pesce, Eastern Nazarene
SS – Nick Guajardo, Southern Vermont
OF – Steve Cochrane, Mitchell
OF – Evan Delaney, New England College
OF – Evan Barrera, Becker
DH - Brian Hadden, Dean
All-Conference Third Team
P – Briley Seiter, Eastern Nazarene
P – Mark Travers, Newbury College
P – Tanyon Ventres, Becker
P – Ryan Richards, Southern Vt.
C – Nathan Ayala, Elms
1B – Ryan Serrato, Southern Vermont
2B – Josue Basilis, Eastern Nazarene
3B – Steven Pagan, Mitchell
SS – Coby Hussey, Becker
OF – Zack Stacey, Southern Vermont
OF – Cameron Griffin, Elms
OF – Alex Hoss, Elms
DH - Michael Bianco, Becker
2019 Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team
Manuel Alejandro, New England College
Dylan Presby, Newbury College
Jack Vogler, Elms
Zack Stacey, Southern Vt.
Brandon Paiva, Mitchell
Willis Pollard, Becker
Ryan Pumphret, Lesley
James Coury, Eastern Nazarene
Jeffrey Sharnick, Dean
