BOSTON – After winning a fourth straight GNAC Championship, Suffolk baseball was rewarded for its efforts by taking home 17 All-GNAC awards highlighted by Brady Chant's Player of the Year nod and Anthony Del Prete's Coach of the Year, recognition, the league office announced Tuesday.
Suffolk picked up its fourth consecutive conference crown on Sunday with a 6-5 victory over Saint Joseph's (Maine). With the win, the Rams earn their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Championship and eighth overall in program history. The latest conference championship trophy is the eighth time Suffolk has taken home the league crown as four-year head coach Del Prete has guided the Rams to titles in each season as manager since taking over the program in 2015. Del Prete earned his second GNAC Coach of the Year nod and first since 2016.
Chant was named GNAC Player of the Year to become the fourth Ram to win the award. It marks the first Player of the Year in the Del Prete era and first Ram to win the honor since Mike Cunningham did so in 2013.
The Warwick, Rhode Island, native was the top hitter during league play with 19 hits, 15 RBI and 15 runs scored versus conference competition. He was also the biggest threat on the bags with the most stolen bases (12). Overall, the two-time GNAC Corvias Player of the Week recorded 34 hits and 34 RBI on a .357 average with 34 runs scored and stole 22 bags en route to first-team all-league status for the third straight season. The senior center also grabbed gold glove status in centerfield, earning the recognition in each of his four campaigns in blue-and-gold, after playing 40 games of errorless baseball with 115 putouts and three assists in 118 total chances. Chant also garnered an all-tournament nod after helping Suffolk secure its fourth straight title.
Classmate and fellow outfielder Seth Coiley joins Chant on the first-team. The Arlington, Massachusetts, native has held down the third spot in Suffolk's line-up for the majority of his senior season, producing 42 hits and 18 RBI off a .318 connection rate at the plate and scoring 27 runs.
Four student-athletes represented the Rams on the second and third team, respectively.
Freshmen Blasé Cormier and Will Hopkins each picked up the first all-conference accolades of their careers with spots on the second team. Cormier, who calls Wayland, Massachusetts, home, was third on the team in hits (41) and RBI (25) on the third-highest batting average (.306), while contributing 23 runs scored. The first baseman, who started all 40 games in his first season in blue-and-gold, also earned gold glove status after putting together a fielding percentage of .994 with just a pair of errors in 323 total chances. Hopkins, meanwhile, picked up the second-team status after recording the second-most RBI (27) on the second on 39 hits and a .287 average. The leftfielder from Old Rochester, Massachusetts, appeared in the starting line-up in each of the Rams' 40 games and contributed 26 runs and 11 stolen bases.
Suffolk's core starting four arms found spots swept the pitching spots on the second and third team. Charles Batchelder and Mark Fusco received second-team recognition, while Ryan Pordes and Kevin Sinatra were placed on the third team.
Fusco's ERA of 2.49 was just 0.05 off the league's top number as the senior righthander is 6-2 on the year in eight starts with victories over top league foes Saint Joseph's (Maine) and Johnson & Wales. The Malden, Massachusetts, product also helped in the upset over then-No.1/3 UMass Boston March 24 with 2.0 innings of scoreless relief for a save.
Batchelder, meanwhile, headlined the winning effort over the Beacons as the RHP from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, went the first 7.0 innings with just one run on three hits. The triumph came after he dealt his first career complete-game shutout over Stockton in Florida with a personal-best nine strikeouts. Batchelder had a career junior season, putting together a 3.61 ERA through 57.1 innings, nine starts for a 6-2 record and sitting down 35 hitters. The second-team honors mark the first all-league accolades for the two hurlers. Batchelder also represented the Rams on the conference's all-sportsmanship team, which was established to honor one player from each team in the league for outstanding dedication to sportsmanship and for their portrayal of good sportsmanship, fair play and positive attitude.
Pordes and Sinatra, meanwhile earned all-league honors for the second tim in their careers.
Sinatra, a southpaw from East Boston, is 3-3 on the year in eight starts and was a perfect 2-0 in conference contests. His 2.65 ERA stands for the third best in the league with his 32 punchouts sitting fourth on the squad.
Pordes, a senior RHP from Hawthorne, California, received a third-team nod for the second-straight season and also earned All-Tournament honors after shoving a career-high 12 strikeouts in 8.2 innings of work in the semifinals against Johnson & Wales to move to 5-2 on the year. He leads Suffolk's staff with 47 strikeouts on the season and logged a team-high 59.2 innings match over 10 games.
Infielders Rich Gilbride and Trevor Lee picked up their first all-conference accolades with spots on the third team, the pair also took home gold glove honors at short and second, respectively. Gilbride, a sophomore transfer from Sienna, tallied 29 hits and 13 RBI, batting .238, with 25 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. Lee's career campaign featured 31 hits, 16 RBI, 10 stolen bases and 20 runs. In the field, Lee put together a .972 fielding percentage with just four errors in 144 total chances, while Gilbride, who played the most demanding defensive position, had a fielding percentage of .940.
Greg Speliotis completes the Rams' all-league honorees as the designated hitter took home a third-team nod for his first all-conference accolade of his career. The senior from Salem, Massachusetts, stepped up in conference contests, with nearly half of his 25 hits coming in league outings. Overall, the senior brought in and scored 14 runs as Suffolk's clean-up hitter.
Since joining the GNAC ranks in 2000, Suffolk has earned 147 All-GNAC honors, including four player of the year, five rookie of the year, five pitcher of the year, eighth coaches of the year, 62 first-team, 48 second-team and 45 third-team selections. The Rams have received 47 all-tournament selections and eight tournament MVPs including this year's, which was given to Jake Flax are the junior relief pitcher had a hand in each of the Rams' tournament victories.
Suffolk will be idle until Thursday, May 17 when the NCAA DIII Regional Tournaments open up. The full 58-team field will be announced late Sunday, May 13 or early, Monday, May 14.
2018 ALL-GNAC BASEBALL
FIRST TEAM
C – Colby Greenhalgh, Johnson & Wales
INF – Matt Warren, Albertus Magnus
INF – Raimiel Rodriguez, Johnson & Wales
INF – Andre Marchesseault, Lasell
INF – Joey Murphy, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
OF – Jared Gagne, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
OF – Brady Chant, Suffolk
OF – Seth Coiley, Suffolk
UTIL – Sean Doris, Lasell
DH – Edison Mercado, Johnson & Wales
P – Keith Grant, Johnson & Wales
P – Josh Partridge, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
SECOND TEAM
C – Jacob White, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
INF – Nick Genatossio, Anna Maria
INF – Tyler Ferdinand, Rivier
INF – Will Martin, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
INF – Blasé Cormier, Suffolk
OF – Tyriq Harris, Albertus Magnus
OF – Vin Amalfitano, Johnson & Wales
OF – Will Hopkins, Suffolk
UTIL – Rob Ballinger, Johnson & Wales
DH – Tom Crocco, Albertus Magnus
P – Charles Batchelder, Suffolk
P – Mark Fusco, Suffolk
THIRD TEAM
C – Brandon Clark, Albertus Magnus
INF – David Marsell, Lasell
INF – Noah McDaniel, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
INF – Rich Gilbride, Suffolk
INF – Trevor Lee, Suffolk
OF – Christian Bradley, Albertus Magnus
OF – Noah Holland, Anna Maria
OF – Chris Gerossie, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
UTIL – Anthony DiPrizio, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
DH – Greg Speliotis, Suffolk
P – Ryan Pordes, Suffolk
P – Kevin Sinatra, Suffolk
GOLD GLOVE TEAM
C – Jacob White, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
1B – Blasé Cormier, Suffolk
2B – Trevor Lee, Suffolk
3B – Matt Warren, Albertus Magnus
SS – Rich Gilbride, Suffolk
OF – Kevin Lynch, Norwich
OF – Chris Gerossie, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
OF – Brady Chant, Suffolk
P – Jack Marzec, Anna Maria
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Brady Chant, Suffolk
PITCHER OF THE YEAR – Josh Partridge, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Nick Genatossio, Anna Maria
COACH OF THE YEAR – Anthony Del Prete, Suffolk
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Norwich
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Roberto Garcia, Albertus Magnus
Danny Grammel, Anna Maria
Rob Ballinger, Johnson & Wales
Brian Cohen, Lasell
Mike Lesco, Norwich
Daniel White, Rivier
Steven Albert, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Charles Batchelder , Suffolk