BEVERLY, Mass. – For the second time in as many weeks Harry Painter of the Suffolk baseball team earned a weekly award from the Commonwealth Coast Conference office as he was named CCC Player of the Week after anchoring the Rams at the plate in a 4-1 week in which the blue-and-gold outscored its opponents 58-23, the league office unveiled Tuesday.
Of Suffolk's 58 runs over the five games, Painter was responsible for bringing 11 in and scoring 10 himself. In his 22 plate appearances he connected for a dozen hits including four doubles, one triple and one jack, to finish the week with a slash line of .545/.545/.955.
The right-handed hitter opened the week with a 6-RBI effort behind a 2-for-5 plate performance that featured one double and one triple to go along with one run in the mercy-rule, 16-6, eight-inning triumph over Suffolk's Beantown rival Emerson on Patriots Day.
The following day the junior's bat was responsible for 40 percent (2-5) of Suffolk's hits against No. 1 Endicott.
On Saturday Painter compiled a 5-for-9 effort with three doubles, five runs and one RBI in the two-game sweep of Wentworth. In the opener, a 12-2, seven-inning Suffolk win, he matched a personal-best with both of hits good for two bags.
Painter capped off the week with a standout showing in the 23-0 offensive onslaught at Saint Joseph's (Maine). Not only did he pitch a stand-up day with a two-hit, three-walk, 12-strikeout outing in 8.0 innings on the mound, but he hit 3-for-4 with one bomb, with four RBI and four runs scored. He is the first Rams' pitcher to fan 12 batters in a single outing since Mitch Monke sat down a dozen batters in a 16-3, seven-inning win over Norwich, April 10, 2011.
The Essex, Massachusetts product has produced multiple hits in seven straight games. In that stretch he has 18 hits including five doubles, two triples and one homer.
The weekly accolades mark the second for Painter this season. He is the first Ram to collect multiple awards from the CCC in the same season in program history and remains the only Ram in program history to be named the CCC's best player over a seven-day stretch. He became the first with his first collegiate weekly award March 29. The multiple weekly honors are a first for Suffolk student-athlete since Worth Walrod earned a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Pitcher of the Week in 2019.
With Painter's two weekly nods, Suffolk's 2024 weekly award total is now at five. In addition to Painter, Garret Roberts was named CCC Pitcher of the Week March 26 and Colin Flynn and Joe Norris took home CCC Rookie of the Week March 26 and April 17, respectively. The five weekly awards are the most for the blue-and-gold since the Rams earned five from the GNAC in 2018.
Suffolk looks to keep its winning ways going tomorrow, Wednesday, April 24 when it welcomes Salem State to East Boston Memorial Park for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.