The Suffolk University Baseball team pulled in multiple postseason awards by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) for their 2013 season. Suffolk currently posts a record of 28-10 after this weekend's GNAC playoff tournament with more games slated following final exams week.
Topping the list of award winners was senior Mike Cunningham (Syosset, N.Y.) who was named the conference Player of the Year for 2013. Cunningham currently leads all GNAC players with a .424 batting average and nine home runs, while his 42 runs batted in is the league's second highest total. He currently leads all players in the Division-III New England Region with his nine big flies, while his .513 on-base percentage and .720 slugging percentage also lead the GNAC. The Suffolk cleanup hitter also earned All-Tournament team honors as he was 8-for-25 over this week's GNAC Tournament driving in eight runs over the six-game stretch. He had a two-run double in Saturday night's 4-2 victory over top-seeded Johnson & Wales University and then connected on a two-run opposite field home run to left en route to a game one 7-2 Suffolk win over St. Joseph's College as part of the finals doubleheader. In four seasons for Suffolk, Cunningham has hit at a .334 clip with 12 home runs while driving in 75 runs. Cunningham was one of three Suffolk players to earn first team All-Conference honors.
A pair of juniors also earned first team recognition by the GNAC as juniors Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) and Mike Muse (Milton, Mass.) were selections at the infield positions.
Cintolo continues to torment opposing pitching as he is currently hitting an even .400 (60-for-150). His 18 doubles this season lead the GNAC, while it also breaks the Suffolk single season program record that he already owned with 17 last year. He holds the all-time Suffolk record with 51 career two-baggers and set the GNAC all-time record (49) on April 24 in Suffolk's 26-6 playoff opening victory over Norwich University as he recorded three that evening. Cintolo has previously been selected as a New England Intercollegiate Baseball Assocation (NEIBA) All-Region selection in each of his first two seasons and a GNAC All-Conference selection during those years as well. He has reached the 60-hit plateau now in all three of his seasons with Suffolk as he has collected 198 career hits in 128 games.
Muse is hitting .394 this season (50-for-127) which stands for fifth best among all GNAC players. He is hitting an even .400 (24-for-60) with runners in scoring position while 13 of his 25 runs batted in this year have come with two outs. He has hit safely in 24 of Suffolk's 28 wins this seasons.
A trio of players earned second team All-Conference honors.
Senior Chris Stanley (Placentia, Calif) headlines the list as he is hitting .371 on the season starting all 38 games for Suffolk in leftfield. Stanley is rounding out a four-year career that has him with 182 career hits, placing him ninth all-time in program history. He is currently tied for the GNAC lead in RBI with a team-high 43, while his 53 hits this season are the league's third highest total. Stanley was also tabbed as Suffolk's representative on the All-Sportsmanship team.
Junior Devan Jones (Roslindale, Mass.) was a second team selection an infielder, marking the third time in his career he has earned All-Conference honors by the GNAC. Jones is hitting .303 this season with 17 extra base hits and 39 runs scored.
Sophomore JC Collette (Amesbury, Mass.) was named a second team All-Conference selection at the designated hitter position. Collette has driven in 29 runs this year as his 12 doubles are the fifth highest total in the league, and second among Suffolk players. He had a huge three run home run in Sunday's championship finale as part of a 7-2 Suffolk game one victory. Collette has hit four home runs this season.
A pair of pitchers earned their way onto the GNAC All-Tournament team as well for their efforts in the past weekend's playoff run.
Junior Jonathan Richard (North Reading, Mass.) threw a complete game six-hitter to knock off top-seeded Johnson & Wales University, 4-2 on Saturday evening. Richard collected his GNAC leading sixth victory of the year with the win as he limited the league's top offensive team, aside from Suffolk, to just six singles in the game. The victory moved Richard to a 6-1 mark on the year with a 2.88 earned run average in eight starts.
Sophomore Josh Desai (Shrewsbury, Mass.) put Suffolk on his back in a must-win 7-2 victory on Sunday afternoon. Suffolk topped St. Joseph's College in the first of two games Sunday as the big lefty fired a complete game on 123 pitches striking out a career-high 11 hitters in the win. Desai also worked a scoreless eighth inning in Thursday's tournament game as he finished the weekend punching out 12 Monks' hitters in 10 innings of work. He is 4-3 on the year while logging 50 innings.
Suffolk is currently 28-10 on the year. They lost in heartbreaking fashion to the St. Joseph's College, 7-6 in 10 innings in Sunday's winner take all conference championship game following Desai's gem. Suffolk will continue their season this upcoming weekend as they host Williams College in a non-conference doubleheader at Adams Field on Saturday beginning at 12:00pm as part of senior day. Suffolk will then travel to the University of Southern Maine on Sunday and across the river to MIT on Monday afternoon to round out their 2013 regular season. Suffolk will hope to earn a bid into the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division-III New England Tournament beginning on May 8th.