Gilblair & Ficocelli Headline Baseball All-Conference Honorees
WINTHROP, Mass. – Mitchell College collected two major awards, while eight players earned All-Conference recognition when the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) released their All-Conference Teams and major award winners for the sport of baseball on Tuesday afternoon.
Voting was conducted by the league's 13 baseball head coaches following the regular season and did not take postseason play into account.
Freshman Michael Ficocelli (North Providence, R.I.) was named Rookie of the Year, while Shawn Gilblair earned Coach of the Year honors.
The Mariners also had two players named to the All-Conference First Team, as Cole Lalli (Coventry, Conn.) earned one of three outfield spots, and Jack Hayes (New Milford, Conn.) was selected as First Team designated hitter. The two seniors were among 12 players to be named to the All-Conference First Team.
Four Mariners landed on the All-Conference Second Team, including pitchers Camren Varney (Manchester, N.H.) and Chris Gibbs (New Britain, Conn.). The duo was joined by catcher Michael Gajda (New Britain, Conn.) and outfielder Chas Terni Jr. (Montville, Conn.), while Ficocelli was named All-Conference Third Team designated hitter and Adam Vartanian (Cumberland, R.I.) was named to the Third Team for second base.
Ficocelli and Terni Jr. were both named to the All-Rookie Team, and Cole Lalli represented Mitchell on the All-Sportsmanship Team.
Gilblair guided the Mariners to a regular season overall record of 27-10, including a 14-2 mark in GNAC play. The 14-2 GNAC record was tops in the conference, and earned Mitchell the number one overall seed in the GNAC Tournament. Gilbair's squad led the conference during the regular season with a .320 batting average, 401 hits and a .476 slugging percentage, while ranking fourth in the GNAC with a 5.84 ERA. The Mariners also finished the regular second in the conference in on-base-percentage (.415) and sacrifice flies (26). Under Gilblair's guidance, Mitchell secured weekly Rookie of the Week honors twice, Player of the Week honors once, and Pitcher of the Week honors one.
Ficocelli, who split time between catcher, first base, and designated hitter, was selected as GNAC Rookie of the Week once this spring (week ending March 31st), and finished third on the team during the regular season with a .357 batting average among all players who logged at least 50 at bats. Ficocelli played in all 37 games and led the Mariners with 50 hits, was second with 35 runs scored, third with three triples, and fourth with 11 doubles. The freshman remained an elite hitter across 16 conference games, batting .385 with 25 hits, including seven doubles and a triple, to go along with 17 RBI and 17 runs scored. The freshman registered 14 multi-hit games during the regular season, put together a 13-game hitting streak, and had a season-high four hits on two separate occasions.
He enters the Division III NCAA Tournament with a .385/.469/.530 overall slash line, and currently ranks third in the conference with 62 hits and 16 doubles, fourth with four triples, sixth with 87 total bases, seventh with 41 runs scored, and also places in the top 10 in on-base-percentage.
Lalli and Hayes emerged as two of the most dangerous bats in all of the GNAC, anchoring a Mitchell lineup that led the conference with a .320 batting average.
Through the end of the regular season, Lalli led the GNAC with a .407 batting average and was 19th in the nation at the Division III level averaging 1.47 RBI per game. Across 32 games, Lalli also was second in the conference with 47 RBI, and added six home runs, 14 doubles, two triples, and 27 runs scored. In 15 GNAC games, the senior slashed .403/.429/.613, hit eight doubles, one triple, and home run, while driving in 23 and scoring 13 times.
A one-time GNAC Player of the Week, Lalli enters the NCAA Tournament batting .393 in 38 total games played, and has 52 RBI, 33 runs scored, 16 doubles, seven home runs, and a pair of triples.
Hayes slashed .406/.475/.625 across 23 regular season games, collecting 26 hits, including six doubles, two home runs, and one triple, while driving in 20 runs and scoring 17 times. The senior closed the season by hitting safely in 12 of 13 games, and had multiple hits in eight games, including a season-best four hit performance with three RBI and two runs scored against Elms College. In 13 GNAC games, Hayes was a nightmare for opposing pitchers, batting a conference-best .513 with 20 hits, 16 RBI, and 13 runs scored.
Hayes enters the NCAA Tournament batting .368 with 32 hits, including seven doubles, two triples, and a pair of homers, to go along with 24 RBI, 21 runs scored, and 11 walks.
On the Second Team, Camren Varney and Chris Gibbs locked up two of the three pitching spots, proving to be two of the most efficient players to take to the mound in the GNAC.
Gibbs led the conference with seven wins, good for 23rd in the nation at the Division III level, and had a 3.54 ERA with 47 strikeouts and 21 walks in a team-high 56 innings of work. The junior made five appearances in conference play, including four starts, and went 4-0 with one save, ranking ninth in the GNAC with 2.83 ERA. Varney, meanwhile, did a little bit of everything for the Mariners during the regular season, making 15 appearances, including five starts, while posting a 2-1 record with three saves and a 2.54 ERA, good for second in the conference. Varney struck out 43 and allowed just 13 earned runs in 46 innings of work, while proving even more dominating in seven appearances against GNAC opponents, posting a 2-0 record with a save, pitching to a 1.52 ERA, second best in conference play.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Gibbs sports a 9-2 record, a 3.30 ERA, and 66 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched. Varney enters the Regional Round of the tournament with a 3.36 ERA and 61 strikeouts, along with a 4-1 record and four saves.
Michael Gajda joins the pitching duo on the All-Conference Second Team after making his impact felt during his first season in New London. The transfer slashed .301/.391/.540 across 34 regular season games, with seven doubles, four triples, four home runs, 24 RBI, and 23 runs scored. Gajda had multiple hits in seven games, and batted .400 with four home runs, four doubles, 18 RBI, and 12 runs scored in 15 games against GNAC opponents.
The senior enters the NCAA Tournament batting .312 with 28 RBI, 27 runs scored, seven doubles, five home runs, and four triples.
Freshman Chas Terni Jr. was also named to the All-Conference Second Team as well as the All-Rookie Team after slashing .336/.419/.567 in 36 games during the regular season. Terni Jr.'s five home runs were second on the team, and he added 34 RBI, 32 runs scored, and 12 doubles. In 15 GNAC games, the freshman batted .373 with three home runs, 22 RBI, and 15 runs scored.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Terni Jr. is batting .316 with a team-leading eight homers, 39 RBI, 39 runs scored, and 12 doubles.
Along with Ficocelli, sophomore Adam Vartanian represented Mitchell on the All-Conference Third Team, after batting .319 with 38 hits, 27 runs scored, and 19 RBI in 34 games during the regular season. Vartanian's numbers improved in 14 GNAC games, as he slashed .396/.459/.509 with 21 hits and 15 runs scored.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Vartanian is batting .310 with 39 hits, including three doubles and two triples, to go along with 30 runs scored, 20 RBI, 16 walks, and 10 stolen bases.
The Mariners (32-11) open up play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, May 17th, at the Babson Regional where they will face the host Beavers at 1:30 pm to begin the four-team double elimination style round.
2024 Baseball All-GNAC Teams
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
SP - Aidan Vining, So., Johnson & Wales
SP - Matthew Fletcher, Jr., Lasell
RP - Jack Mullen, Jr., Colby-Sawyer
C - Owen Davis, Jr., Johnson & Wales
1B - Tim Callahan, Jr., Lasell
2B - Jack Magane, Sr., Johnson & Wales
3B - Xavier Botelho, Jr., Johnson & Wales
SS - Riley Hasson, Sr., Johnson & Wales
OF - Luis Colon, Jr., Rivier
OF - Cole Lalli, Sr., Mitchell
OF - Trevor Juan, Jr., Johnson & Wales
DH - Jack Hayes, Jr., Mitchell
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
SP - Chris Gibbs, Jr., Mitchell
SP - Camren Varney, Sr., Mitchell
RP - Luke Fox, Gr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
C - Michael Gajda, Sr., Mitchell
1B - Ryan Shaw, Jr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
2B - Scott Lyon, Gr., Lasell
3B - Sean Roeger, Fr., Colby-Sawyer
SS - Kosta Drosidis, Gr., Anna Maria
OF - Cooper O'Brien, Gr., Colby-Sawyer
OF - Chas Terni Jr., Fr., Mitchell
OF - Dylan Watson, So., Colby-Sawyer
DH - Brady Philibotte, Jr., New England College
ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM
SP - Padraig Mac Seain, So., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
SP - Dylan Watson, So., Colby-Sawyer
RP - Justin Markell, Jr., Johnson & Wales
C - Tyler Galenski, Gr., Elms
1B - Shawn Smith, Jr., Albertus Magnus
2B - Adam Vartanian, So., Mitchell
3B - Dom Scalia, So., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
SS - Cam Carignan, So., Colby-Sawyer
OF - Geffen Franus, So., Norwich
OF - EJ Leone, Sr., Johnson & Wales
OF - Jared Wilhelm, So., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
DH - Michael Ficocelli, Fr., Mitchell
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Tyler Carlstrom, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Andrew Denison, Anna Maria
Michael Ficocelli, Mitchell
Jason Figuereo, New England College
Vinny O'Leary, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Troy Piascik, Albertus Magnus
Sean Roeger, Colby-Sawyer
Dom Scalia, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Rylan Secovich, Dean
Ethan Slowik, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Chas Terni Jr., Mitchell
MAJOR AWARDS
Player of the Year - Riley Hasson, Johnson & Wales
Pitcher of the Year - Aidan Vining, Johnson & Wales
Rookie of the Year - Michael Ficocelli, Mitchell
Coach of the Year - Shawn Gilblair, Mitchell
Institutional Sportsmanship - Saint Joseph's (Maine)
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Bobby Arent, Albertus Magnus
Maeson Robinson, Anna Maria
Kenneth Spratt, Colby-Sawyer
Seth Cruz, Dean
CJ Moriarty, Elms
