2024 GNAC Baseball All-Conference Teams Announced

May 14, 2024

WINTHROP, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced its 2024 Baseball All-Conference Teams and major award winners on Tuesday afternoon. Johnson & Wales and Mitchell each had eight selections to lead the conference.

Voting was conducted by the league’s 13 baseball head coaches following the regular season and did not take postseason play into account.

The Wildcats and Mariners also had student-athletes win major awards. JWU had Riley Hasson and Aidan Vining earning Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, while Mitchell’s Michael Ficocelli was voted Rookie of the Year. Ficocelli’s head coach Shawn Gilblair was chosen by his peers as the Coach of the Year and Saint Joseph’s (Maine) earned the Institutional Sportsmanship award.

The full list of All-Conference honorees, the All-Rookie Team, and the representatives on the All-Sportsmanship Team can be viewed below.

	PLAYER OF THE YEAR Riley Hasson, Johnson & Wales Hasson was a huge offensive weapon for Johnson & Wales this year. He finished the regular season ranking sixth in the conference in batting average (.391), while driving in a league-best 48 runs. He also scored 45 times, which ranked him second in the league in that category. Hasson’s RBI total also ranked him in the national top-40 among all NCAA Division III student-athletes. He also finished second in the conference with 86 total bases, thanks in part to his five regular-season home runs. He had at least one hit in all but seven of his contests this year and had 18 multi-hit games. He had three hits in a game 10 times.
	PITCHER OF THE YEAR Aidan Vining, Johnson & Wales Vining was the ace once again for Johnson & Wales going 6-1 overall during the regular season and 4-0 in GNAC play. He had a 2.33 ERA in conference games, ranking him sixth in the league. Strikeouts were Vining’s forte as he led the league in that category with 49 in conference. He also had 65 overall, which place him in the top-five. He was named Pitcher of the Week twice, in the weeks ending March 24 and April 28.
	ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Michael Ficocelli, Mitchell Ficocelli became a staple in the Mitchell lineup right from the start of his first-year campaign, finishing second in hits with 56. He was in the top-10 in batting with a .357/.458/.479 slash line, while also scoring 35 runs and 24 RBI. After recording his first hit on March 9, he would only be held hitless four more times for the entire season. He also had 14 multi-hit games. He was named GNAC Rookie of the Week in the week ending March 31.
	COACH OF THE YEAR Shawn Gilblair, Mitchell Gilblair and the Mariners proved that a new conference would not be too much to overcome this season as they compiled a 27-10 overall record and a 14-2 record in GNAC play. They earned the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Baseball Tournament, ranking towards the top of the conference in a number of statistical categories. They led the league in hits (401), batting average (.320), home runs (25), and slugging percentage (.476). They also had some tough pitching with the Mariners hurlers holding batters to a .251 average in GNAC play, which was second in the conference.

2024 Baseball All-GNAC Teams

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM

SP - Aidan Vining, So., Johnson & Wales
SP - Matthew Fletcher, Jr., Lasell
RP - Jack Mullen, Jr., Colby-Sawyer
C - Owen Davis, Jr., Johnson & Wales
1B - Tim Callahan, Jr., Lasell
2B - Jack Magane, Sr., Johnson & Wales
3B - Xavier Botelho, Jr., Johnson & Wales
SS - Riley Hasson, Sr., Johnson & Wales
OF - Luis Colon, Jr., Rivier
OF - Cole Lalli, Sr., Mitchell
OF - Trevor Juan, Jr., Johnson & Wales
DH - Jack Hayes, Jr., Mitchell

ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM

SP - Chris Gibbs, Jr., Mitchell
SP - Camren Varney, Sr., Mitchell
RP - Luke Fox, Gr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
C - Michael Gajda, Sr., Mitchell
1B - Ryan Shaw, Jr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
2B - Scott Lyon, Gr., Lasell
3B - Sean Roeger, Fr., Colby-Sawyer
SS - Kosta Drosidis, Gr., Anna Maria
OF - Cooper O'Brien, Gr., Colby-Sawyer
OF - Chas Terni Jr., Fr., Mitchell
OF - Dylan Watson, So., Colby-Sawyer
DH - Brady Philibotte, Jr., New England College

ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM

SP - Padraig Mac Seain, So., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
SP - Dylan Watson, So., Colby-Sawyer
RP - Justin Markell, Jr., Johnson & Wales
C - Tyler Galenski, Gr., Elms
1B - Shawn Smith, Jr., Albertus Magnus
2B - Adam Vartanian, So., Mitchell
3B - Dom Scalia, So., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
SS - Cam Carignan, So., Colby-Sawyer
OF - Geffen Franus, So., Norwich
OF - EJ Leone, Sr., Johnson & Wales
OF - Jared Wilhelm, So., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
DH - Michael Ficocelli, Fr., Mitchell

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Tyler Carlstrom, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Andrew Denison, Anna Maria
Michael Ficocelli, Mitchell
Jason Figuereo, New England College
Vinny O'Leary, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Troy Piascik, Albertus Magnus
Sean Roeger, Colby-Sawyer
Dom Scalia, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Rylan Secovich, Dean
Ethan Slowik, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Chas Terni Jr., Mitchell

MAJOR AWARDS

Player of the Year - Riley Hasson, Johnson & Wales
Pitcher of the Year - Aidan Vining, Johnson & Wales
Rookie of the Year - Michael Ficocelli, Mitchell
Coach of the Year - Shawn Gilblair, Mitchell
Institutional Sportsmanship - Saint Joseph's (Maine)

ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM

Bobby Arent, Albertus Magnus
Maeson Robinson, Anna Maria
Kenneth Spratt, Colby-Sawyer
Seth Cruz, Dean
CJ Moriarty, Elms
Alex Coutcher, Johnson & Wales
Camdyn Ames, Lasell
Cole Lalli, Mitchell
Tyler Gendron, New England College
Michael Sabasteanski, Norwich
Kyle Hsu, Rivier
Dawson Gundlah, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Justin Baker, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)

ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.

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