BOSTON – Suffolk baseball senior Sean Cameron and Lindsay Pagano of the Rams' softball team have been named the 2016-17 recipients of the Carol Maggio Departmental Recognition Award, Director of Athletics Cary McConnell announced Friday afternoon.
The award is dedicated in honor of Carol Maggio, the department's longtime Administrative Assistant who served the Rams for over 18 years and is given to a person(s) who has been a valuable asset in the day-to-day operations of the Athletic Department.
When not defending one of the toughest spots on the baseball diamond for the three-time defending GNAC Champion Suffolk baseball team or working towards his Bachelors of Science in Mathematics, Cameron was an everyday presence in the Athletic Department.
"Sean's work in the Athletic Department has been instrumental in the evolution of the culture and the opening of the Michael and Larry Smith Fitness Center," Associate Director of Athletics, Head Softball Coach Jaclyn Davis said. "He has proven to be responsible and reliable as a student worker and has helped oversee the management of his peers. Sean's work ethic is second to none, as he has been a part of many different areas of the Athletic Department and has excelled in everything that we have asked of him. Sean is highly respected by our staff and his knowledge about the inner workings of the department will be greatly missed."
Cameron's tangible skills have filled in multiple holes throughout the department and he took on every task, no matter its importance, with a self-motivated, flexible and team-orientated attitude. As helpful as those skills were, it's his intangible skills, that are truly like no other, that will be extraordinarily missed both in the Department and on the field.
As a senior captain, the starting shortstop kept the momentum and moral going for the Rams, who made a historical run at the 2017 NCAA New England Regional Tournament. At the Big Dance, the Milford, Connecticut, product backed up every Suffolk arm that took the mound, making a handful of highlight reel catches, while being the defensive vocalist in the infield to lead Suffolk to the winner's bracket and to Championship Sunday for the first-time in the program's seven NCAA Tournament Trips. Thanks to his finesse on the field, he earned a spot on the all-tournament team to cap off a stellar career in blue-and-gold.
In just three seasons at Suffolk the 2017 All-GNAC Third-Team selection and 2016 GNAC All-Tournament Team honoree, put together a .297 average at the dish with 114 hits, driving in 56 runs and scoring 83 to go along with 27 stolen bases in 118 games played. Cameron led the Rams to three consecutive GNAC crowns to punch three NCAA Tourney Tickets, another first for the storied, 70-year-old program.
Pagano made cemented her place in the Department and on the softball diamond early on. She's the type of person in all aspects of her undergraduate career, whether in the classroom, on the field, or working in Athletics, when asked to jump, she asks how high.
"Lindsay's efforts in and around the department will be greatly missed," Davis said. "She was a 'jack of all trades.' There was never been a task too small or too large for her to take on. Lindsay has provided great work and important services to the Athletic Department over the course of her four years, including winter and summer work study. She has been an invaluable asset as the department has grown and changed over the course of her time here; each year she has proven to be incredibly reliable, responsible and diligent earning the respect of our staff and her peers."
Pagano's reliable and responsible qualities transferred well into her playing position as she cemented herself in Suffolk softball's record book as the Rams' career-leader in putouts with the first baseman racking up 1,234 in 171 games played, the most by an individual in the program's 33-year history. The Wyckoff, New Jersey, native's career fielding percentage of .797 lands second all-time with 1,322 total chances and just 28 errors, while turning 30 double plays over four seasons. Offensively, her numbers of at bats (499, 4th), RBI (84, T7th), sac hits (11, T2nd) and sac flies (7, T2nd), all land among the Rams' top 10 all-time.
The captain, who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology, was a main ingredient in back-to-back GNAC Regular Season titles, four conference post-season appearances, including two championship series runs, and a trip to the ECAC Championships as a sophomore in 2014. The 2017 GNAC All-Tournament Team selection also played a key role in the winningest team in program history, taking the field in all 33 of the Rams' victories in 2016, a season in which Suffolk finished 33-9.