FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Suffolk brings home
three major awards
WINTHROP, Mass. – Lasell College senior catcher Wes Hurty has been selected as the 2016 GNAC Baseball Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's eight head coaches. The slugging backstop was named to the All-GNAC First Team on Monday after finishing the season with a .348 average, two home runs, 32 RBI and a .960 OPS for the Lasers, who finished third in the regular-season standings.
GNAC champion Suffolk University brought home the three other major awards, as sophomore lefthander Worth Walrod was voted the GNAC Pitcher of the Year, freshman infielder Jake Frasca was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year, and second-year head coach Anthony Del Prete was voted the Coach of the Year by his peers.
Walrod has gone 5-2 over eight strarts with a 2.72 ERA, striking out 45 in 49.2 innings entering the NCAA Tournament, while Frasca led the GNAC in home runs (7) and RBI (38) to go along with a .304 average and .904 OPS.
Del Prete has now won two GNAC Championships since taking over as head coach in the fall of 2014. His Rams own a 33-11 overall record entering the NCAA Tournament and finished second only to Saint Joseph's College of Maine with an 11-3 mark in conference play. Suffolk was tops among GNAC teams this spring in runs (338), hitting (.327), OBP (.415), slugging (.467), stolen bases (94) and ERA (3.32), and took two of three from the Monks this weekend in another thrilling GNAC Tournament.
Suffolk led the way with 10 All-Conference selections, including five on the First Team, while Saint Joseph's had eight honorees.
At First Team Infield, Lasell senior Dan Gagnon, Rivier University senior Taylor Black and Suffolk seniors Drew Carter and Jon Lapolla were all recognized. Gagnon hit .313 with three homers, 25 RBI and 23 runs for the Lasers, while Black hit .322 with 15 extra-base hits and 34 RBI for the Raiders. Carter hit .404 with a .512 OBP for a stellar 1.066 OPS, while Lapolla hit .345 with 10 doubles, nine triples, 34 RBI and 16 stolen bases.
Lasell senior Skylar Beckerman, Saint Joseph's senior Taylor Reuillard and Suffolk sophomore Brady Chant were voted to the GNAC First Team as outfielders. Beckerman ranked fourth among conference leaders with a .376 average and Reuillard hit .347 with a .995 OPS and 28 RBI. Chant, meanwhile, currently leads the GNAC in runs (48) and is second in stolen bases (21) entering the Division III Tournament. He also has a .365 average and a 1.000 OPS.
Suffolk junior Kevin Belskie was voted to the First Team at designated hitter, as he leads the league in hitting with a .467 average in 81 at-bats. He has 12 extra-base hits, 24 RBI, a .667 slugging percentage and robust 1.178 OPS in 35 games for the Rams.
Saint Joseph's junior Taylor Black hit .328 and drew 24 walks for a .478 OBP en route to a First Team Utility selection. He also had 37 runs scored and 21 RBI.
On the mound, joining Walrod on the First Team was Johnson & Wales University right-hander pitcher Jake Marchesseault, who finished second in the GNAC in both innings pitched (64.2) and strikeouts (57) while going 5-1 with a 3.20 ERA.
Hurty, Lapolla, Carter, Reuillard and Chant also garnered GNAC All-Defensive honors at their respective positions, while Norwich University received the GNAC Institutional Sportsmanship Award.
For the complete list of All-Conference honorees and All-Sportsmanship Team choices, please see below.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
First Team
C – Wes Hurty, Lasell (Sr., Windsor, Conn.)
INF – Dan Gagnon, Lasell (Sr., Pomfret, Conn.)
INF – Taylor Black, Rivier (Sr., West Springfield, Mass.)
INF – Drew Carter, Suffolk (Sr., Newburyport, Mass.)
INF – Jon Lapolla, Suffolk (Sr., Providence, R.I.)
OF – Skylar Beckerman, Lasell (Sr., Pensacola, Fla.)
OF – Taylor Reuillard, Saint Joseph's Maine (Sr., Biddeford, Maine)
OF – Brady Chant, Suffolk (So., Arlington, Mass.)
DH – Kevin Belskie, Suffolk (Jr., Norristown, Pa.)
UTIL – Taylor Black, Saint Joseph's Maine (Jr., Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.)
P – Jake Marchesseault, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Wyoming, R.I.)
P – Worth Walrod, Suffolk (So., Dedham, Mass.)
Second Team
C – Nic Lops, Saint Joseph's Maine (Gr., South Portland, Maine)
INF – Matthew Leahey, Anna Maria (Sr., Rutland, Mass.)
INF – Tyler Ferdinand, Rivier (So., Middleboro, Mass.)
INF – Max McCoomb, Saint Joseph's Maine (Jr., South Berwick, Maine)
INF – Jake Frasca, Suffolk (Sr., Darien, Conn.)
OF – Dave Matthews, Johnson & Wales (Fr., Newton, Conn.)
OF – Dennis Meehan, Saint Joseph's Maine (Jr., Gardiner, Maine)
OF – Rob Marks, Suffolk (Sr., Revere, Mass.)
DH – Jameson Collins, Saint Joseph's Maine (Jr., Sandown, N.H.)
UTIL – Brian Baker, Norwich (Sr., Keene, N.H.)
P – Corey McNamara, Saint Joseph's Maine (Sr., West Newbury, Mass.)
P – Kevin Sinatra, Suffolk (Fr., East Boston, Mass.)
Third Team
C – Mike Saia, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Bridgeport, Conn.)
INF – Justin Poirier, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Meriden, Conn.)
INF – Ryan Cabral, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Scituate, R.I.)
INF – Lou Umberto, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Cranston, R.I.)
INF – Jacob Rayner, Rivier (Jr., Billerica, Mass.)
OF – Rob Ballinger, Johnson & Wales (So., South Kingston, R.I.)
OF – Kevin Lynch, Norwich (Fr., Randolph, Mass.)
OF – Seth Coiley, Suffolk (So., Arlington, Mass.)
DH – Brett Sherron, Lasell (Fr., Howard Beach, N.Y.)
UTIL – Hector Coscione, Lasell (Jr., Newton, Mass.)
P – Josh Partridge, Saint Joseph's Maine (Deerfield, N.H.)
P – Kyle Turner, Suffolk (Sr., Nashua, N.H.)
Player of the Year – Wes Hurty, Lasell
Pitcher of the Year – Worth Walrod, Suffolk
Rookie of the Year – Jake Frasca, Suffolk
Coach of the Year – Anthony Del Prete, Suffolk
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Norwich University
All-Defensive Team
C – Wes Hurty, Lasell (Sr., Windsor, Conn.)
1B – Jon Lapolla, Suffolk (Sr., Providence, R.I.)
2B – Jordan Pilarski, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Garnet Valley, Pa.)
3B – Drew Carter, Suffolk (Sr., Newburyport, Mass.)
SS – Max McCoomb, Saint Joseph's Maine (Jr., South Berwick, Maine)
OF – Rob Ballinger, Johnson & Wales (So., South Kingston, R.I.)
OF – Taylor Reuillard, Saint Joseph's Maine (Sr., Biddeford, Maine)
OF – Brady Chant, Suffolk (So., Warwick, R.I.)
P – Lane Compton, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Freeland, Mich.)
All-Sportsmanship Team
Ted Gravel, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Morris, Conn.)
Nick Feola, Anna Maria (Fr., North Providence, R.I.)
Tom Elkow, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Morganville, N.J.)
Skylar Beckerman, Lasell (Sr., Pensacola, Fla.)
Brian Whaley, Norwich (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.)
Mauro Da Silva, Rivier (Sr., Pepperell, Mass.)
Cejay Suarez , Saint Joseph's Maine (Jr., Abington, Mass.)
Luke Ronchi, Suffolk (Jr., Randolph, N.J.)
– #TheGNAC –